The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

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This month, I read the final book in The Illuminae Files, Obsidio. I absolutely devoured it; it was a fantastic conclusion that I gave 5/5 stars. In fact, I gave every single book in this trilogy 5/5 stars.

The series starts with Illuminae, and it follows two characters, Kady and Ezra. Right after Kady breaks up with Ezra, their planet is invaded by a corrupt and powerful corporation. Kady, Ezra, and a few thousand people manage to escape onto spaceships, but they have the corporation that wants to silence them right on there tails as well as a possibly murderous artificial intelligence in their way. In each book, we are introduced to two new main characters who are the main protagonists of each book, although the main characters from each previous book make appearances. It's the same format as Amie Kaufman's other sci-fi trilogy that she co-wrote with Meagan Spooner (The Starbound trilogy, I highly recommend them!)

What makes these books so unique is the format in which they are told. They are told in mixed-media format, with IM's, incident reports, images, diagrams, surveillance footage summaries, wikipedia pages, etc (I'll put a few images of my favorites down below). Each book essentially serves as a part of a dossier that has been compiled on the incident that began with the attack on Kady and Ezra's planet. I will also say that the audio books are phenomenal! They are performed with a full cast of characters with really cool sound effects. A lot of people would say that you can listen to the audiobook without missing out on anything from the physical book, but I would have to disagree with that. If you just listen to the audiobook, you miss out on the really cool images. But I think doing a combination of the two is a really good way to experience this series, as you don't miss out on either. You can listen to the audiobook for sections such as surveillance footage summaries, where you really aren't missing out on anything from the physical book, but then can switch back to the physical book to experience the images, and diagrams, and hand-written notes. In my opinion, both are great, but if you just listen to the audiobook, I think you are missing out on some things.

This is a really amazing, and unique series. Even if you aren't a sci-fi person, I think you could really enjoy this, and I think the format has a lot to do with it, as it allows you to fly right through the 500+ pages. I have heard some people say that it took some time for them to get into the books because of the format, but for me, that was the opposite case. The format of the book is what allowed me to become so immersed in this series. I really hope that if you haven't already read Illuminae, you'll give it a read!





XOXO,

Isabella

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