Aurora Rising

[Reread Review]

By Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

So, as I mentioned before, I’m going to give reviewing rereads a go and see what happens, and I chose Aurora Rising to be my first. I won’t dive into those reasons again for my wonderful folks who have already read them.

I do want to start off saying: I definitely enjoyed this book more the second time around.

Why?

Partially for a reason I gave a fellow reader who had, like me, read The Illuminae Files before reading Aurora Rising; there was possibly a part of me looking for Kady and Ezra and Hanna and Nik and Ella and Asha and Rhys and AIDAN, but they aren’t there. Kady isn’t Aurora – or Scarlet or Cat or Zila – and Magellan is NOT AIDAN by any stretch, and I think it might have taken keeping that in mind during this reread that helped me appreciate these characters for who they are, instead of who they aren’t.

Aurora’s adjustment to her new reality seemed a bit off to what I imagined it would be, but still possibly believable – who really knows exactly how someone would respond in a situation like hers? I just don’t think I, personally, would respond the same way. That being said, I’m excited to see more of her going forward – I’m hoping there’s more of her actual personality in Aurora Burning since I feel like Aurora Rising was more focused on her being almost suffocated with her new reality – leaving her really struggling to get a grasp on everything, pushing her personality and identity to the side. If that makes sense?

Tyler is just a slightly off-golden-boy trope, and I’m not exactly sure how I feel about him yet. In Amie and Jay’s hands, though, he has real potential!

Kal . . . I’m interested to see where they take the overly-attractive guy.

Cat . . . there’s more on my opinion of her below the spoiler line, but I was sort of excited for her, and my feelings post-read [and post-re-read] are complicated.

Zila – I’m super, super excited to see where they take her and what her backstory is! I identify a good bit across a lot of these characters, and a good chunk is in Zila. [I think – this will depend a lot on what we find out about her in future books!]

Fin. Sarcastic, witty Fin. My opinions on him are also a tad complicated, but spoiler-free. His reactions to things are obnoxious, but not in the same way as others. His obnoxious responses make more sense to me, and are, therefore, more acceptable to me. I’m really, really looking forward to his character arc going forward – he’s another character I see a good chunk of myself in.

Scarlet. More on her below the spoiler line, but I do see a little bit of myself in her. Her respect for her chosen profession and job is not only inspiring, but something I’m happy to find myself identifying with. Her work ethic is very similar to mine, and it’s nice to see it in someone who is considered way-above-average attractiveness. I hope that isn’t her only motivation for her strive to actually be intelligent and proficient at her job, but I completely understand a pretty girl trying to prove she’s more than her looks. It’s rather shallow to judge someone’s intelligence by their looks [or lack there of], and I applaud her for working hard on changing that assumption about her.

Last thing before the spoiler line – my recommendation. If you want to give Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman a try as a co-author team, haven’t yet read The Illuminae Files, and are a sci-fi fan, I definitely recommend Aurora Rising. If you’ve read Illuminae Files, enjoyed it, and are a sci-fi fan, I would recommend giving this a go – but keep in mind that it’s a rather different experience. If you didn’t like The Illuminae Files and are [or aren’t, honestly] a sci-fi fan, I’d still recommend giving this a go. While this isn’t the best sci-fi book I’ve ever read, it is a different experience from The Illuminae Files, and I want to make sure people aren’t going into Aurora Rising expecting a similar read to The Illuminae Files.

**WRITING SPOILER-FREE OF A RE-READ IS HARDER THAN I THOUGHT, SO AAAALLLLLLL THE SPOILERS AFTER THIS, SO . . . YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.**

Kal – Kal’s character arc is a delicate thing, at least in my opinion. It can follow the tired trope of pretty-boy-with-a-tragic-upbringing/past. I really hope there’s a fun Jay/Amie twist in it where it ends up not being the typical, overdone trope. I’m excited to see where they take him and what twists they throw at us!

I was hoping my negative reaction to Cat’s behavior in regards to Tyler would change, but they haven’t. Not much, anyway. I did like Cat more the second time around, but her reaction to Tyler and their complicated relationship is obnoxious. I get it, I do. But c’mon. Tyler doesn’t owe you anything because you’ve known him forever. He doesn’t even owe you anything because he seems to have feelings for you. He’s made a choice – deal with it like something other than a 5 year-old. Ugh. Buuuuuuut I am intrigued to see if/when they use Cat going forward. I have to imagine Jay and/or Amie will use her to cause Tyler more pain and maybe put him in a tough position where he has to choose between keeping someone else alive and the possibility of bringing Cat back and doing the right thing or maybe having to choose between her and someone else [maybe her and Aurora or her and Scarlet?]

I cannot get Zila out of my head! I’m super curious about her, and I’ve enjoyed the little bit of her we’ve gotten so far. We have so little to go off of, yet she has quite a bit of a personality already, and I’m so, so looking forward to learning about and seeing more of her!

I’m looking forward to the surprises and twists [and probably hurt feelings, let’s be honest] in Aurora Burning – but I’m unlikely not sure if I’ll be picking it up soon. I originally reread Aurora Rising to lead into reading Aurora Burning, but, between my copy taking awhile to get to me, my long, long TBR of things I’d rather read now than later while postponing Aurora Burning would make it easier to wait for Aurora Cycle 3! Unless I get lucky and get an early copy . . . ? [Really, really unlikely!]

I will, however, be picking up plenty of other books in the mean time! I have multiple copies of Bone Crier’s Moon because every one of my book boxes chose that as their book and Seven Deadly Shadows has been glaring at me and making me feel guilty since I got my copy from The Bookish Box – among many, many others.

We’ll have plenty to hold us over until I feel ready to pick up Aurora Burning – and I hope you stick around in the mean time!