Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle #1) By Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman [Review]

RELEASE DATE: May 07th  2019
AUTHORS: Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman
GENRE:    Young-Adult, Sci-fi, Adventure.
PUBLISHER: Rock The Boat

SUMMARY :

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

They’re not the heroes we deserve. They’re just the ones we could find. Nobody panic.

Aurora Rising is the first installment in the Aurora Cycle trilogy. It’s one of my highly anticipated books of 2019. I’ve been eagerly waiting for this book since I’ve finished The Illuminae Files. This book was a total entertainer filled with adventure, humor, and action. The characters made this book even more fun to read. So, why didn’t I give it a 5 stars? Although I enjoyed this book, I felt something missing which I can’t put my finger on it. Nonetheless, it was a great start to a new series.

This book has seven characters. First we have Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the mysterious girl who was in cyro sleep for two centuries. She’s half Chinese from her father’s side. She’s a special snowflake character, but I still enjoyed her part in this book. Her curse words are pretty cute. My favorite was Son of a biscuit. Next we have squad leader/alpha Tyler Jones(19), Star pupil of the Aurora Academy with charming dimples that can make any girl swoon. While saving Aurora, he misses his draft where he can choose his own squad first, and now he ends up with the dregs that nobody wants. Scarlett Jones, Tyler’s twin sister and a cocky diplomat. I really liked her character. She was pretty bold, strong, and caring. Cat Brannock, Tyler’s bestfriend and a tomboy pilot. I honestly didn’t like her at first because I’m really not fond of Jealous and whiny girls, but she grew on me in time. Finian de Seel(19),  a techwiz who always wears an exosuit because of his medical condition. He’s a Betraskan with spiky white hair and he wears black contacts that covers his whole eyes. He has kind of a  snarky attitude that makes people distant from him, but he believes that it’s because of his exosuit.  I really loved this guy and his personality. He was pretty fun and I really felt bad about his condition.

Zila Madran(18), a sociapath scientist who likes shooting people with her disruptor pistol. She’s a terran with dark brown skin. She has a hard time understanding people, her face is always void of emotions even in dangerous situations. Well, her character was interesting and I’m still curious about her earrings. Finally we have the combat specialist Kaliis Idraban Gilwraeth(19), he’s a syldrathi, an alien race with pointy ears, violet eyes, and purple blood. He has handsome looks and melting voice, but has major anger issues. He’s  one of the intriguing characters besides Fin. I absolutely loved him. It’s too bad we got only four chapters from his perspective. I almost forgot to mention Magellan, a uniglass device equipped with a personality OP interface. He was quite hilarious and smug. I don’t know why everyone’s pretty much rude to him by switching him into silent mode.

  The plot was entertaining and engaging throughout. The pacing was perfect. I loved the diverse aspect, the sibling relationship between Tyler and Scarlett, and also the slow building friendship between squad 312. Coming to the romance part, it’s not the central focus of the book, but there’re currently three ships in this book. To avoid spoiling things for you guys I will not say anything about it, but I’m shipping all of them. The space adventure and action scenes are very well done. Although some parts were predictable, the overall story-line was unpredictable. The writing was witty and fun. If you’re wondering, this book doesn’t have the unique format like the one in Illuminae files. The book was written in multiple POV’s but the story was mostly focused between Auri, Tyler, Scarlett, and Cat. Kal, Fin, Zila seemed like side characters in this book but I hope we get to know more about them in the second book. The world building and the technology was fantastic! My favorite was the World ship, a trading hub inhabited by space pirates. Sounds amazing, right?

Overall, I loved this book! It was a fun filled adventurous ride. The book finally concludes with a bittersweet end which I honestly didn’t see coming. I can’t wait to know what happens next.

Recommend it?
YES

I highly recommend it to the readers who’re looking for an entertaining fast paced YA sci-fi read filled with humor, action, and adventure.

MY RATING:

[4/5 Stars]