This book had all the humor and sassy-ness that I loved about the Illuminae filed and made me fall in love with this crew immediately.

I'm starting to realize that science fiction is becoming my favorite YA genre (maybe just after historical.) Aurora Rising helped me reach this conclusion.

We are way in the future (2380), and Tyler is on a distant planet ready to graduate from Aurora Academy with top honors and begin his career keeping the universe safe. Everything goes off the rails for Tyler when on one last flight, he rescues a girl from cryo-sleep on a spaceship that was lost over 200 years ago. The girl's name is Aurora.

Instead of the most elite squad in his class, because of this rescue, Tyler ends up with a squad of misfits who seem hopeless. And, of course, instead of an exciting, elite mission, they are given a supply delivery. However, Aurora stows away on their ship and soon it is apparent that she is wanted by the government. But Aurora is convinced she must not be caught. This unlikely crew decides to help Aurora and possibly save the galaxy from certain destruction.

The world building and science fiction elements of Aurora Rising are fascinating. The characters are quirky and distinct, each telling part of the story from their own point of view. The secrets about Aurora are compelling, and I couldn't figure out what was going on -- but I wanted too!

Yes, some of the events are a bit far-fetched, but it's science fiction, so expected. The story moved quickly from one life-threatening situation to another, and for the most part, their escapes were clever. Aurora Rising is the first book in a series, so the book ends at an appropriate point, but leaves you wanting more. After all, the survival of the universe is at stake!

These authors wrote Illuminae and the rest of that series. I enjoyed Aurora Rising more than Illuminae mostly because of the format. Aurora Rising doesn't have all of the emails and other varied types of story-telling formats like Illuminae did, and that just worked better for me.

Teens who are fans of Kaufman and Kristoff, as well as any who are sci-fi fans will enjoy Aurora Rising.

After the Illuminae series I was so excited to see that they had something else in store for us. I knew it would be great, so I waited until I could get my hands on the audio because I knew it was going to be awesome. And I was so right.
I loved the characters in this. There were so many different personalities and species and it was awesome. I loved that they hated each other but made up for it by being there for each other and having everyone's back. I loved their sarcastic nature and the way they were all so different, but also the same. I know this sounds super confusing, but it was cool to see this intergalactic example of The Breakfast Club lol
What I didn't like though was the plot. I was listening to the audio and at some points I was way into it and at other points it felt like it was dragging. I'm not sure why it felt so up and down, but it didn't feel like their other books. And when it finally picked up at the end, it got really weird. (Yeah that ending wasn't cool with me...)
As for the audio, this one was also a production and I loved it. This one also has an entire collection of people along with the narrators and it makes the whole thing so much more of a production. I always loved that they have all of these things to make the book so different than others. And to finish listening to this in the same day I finished listening to another audio of this caliber was pretty awesome. I hope Penguin Random House Audio continues to give these authors amazing people to do their audios with!
This wasn't exactly what I was expecting with the weird ass ending, but overall it turned out ok. I still can't wait to see what else these two have in mind for the rest of the series because it can't really get more crazy can it???

A lot of YA fantasy and science fiction works follow teenager characters as they attend magic or spaceflight school (I would take either!), but not nearly as many follow the characters’ lives after graduation. Aurora Rising (2019), a new YA space adventure from Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, the authors of the well-regarded ILLUMINAE FILES trilogy, take the latter approach, following a diverse cast of older teens as they graduate from Aurora Academy in the year 2380, are divided into crews of six according to their specialties, and assigned their initial mission for the Aurora Legion.

Tyler Jones, age 18, is at the top of the senior class. A natural leader and stellar student, he’s earned the right to four of the top five picks in the next day’s Draft, where the “Alphas” or team leaders pick the five graduating students, each with a different specialty, who will be their crew. But Tyler can’t sleep the night before the Draft, so he takes off on a solo space flight into the Fold, the weird interdimensional part of space that allows interstellar space travel. Tyler’s about to head back to Aurora when he receives an SOS call from a legendary space ship, the Hadfield, which was lost over 200 years ago.

Tyler (barely) manages to rescue the single survivor of the Hadfield, a cryogenically frozen girl named Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley. (Luckily she goes by Auri, sparing us from an overdose of Auroras.) But rescuing Auri takes too long and Tyler misses the all-important Draft. So his new crew is the rejects and misfits of the graduating class … except not all. Tyler’s twin sister Scarlett (a diplomat) and their lifelong friend Cat (an ace pilot), who were able to hold out from being drafted by other Alphas so they could be on Tyler’s crew, excel at their specialties. Joining them are Zila, a dark brown-skinned sociopathic scientist; Finian, their resentful alien tech who wears an exosuit to compensate for his physical disabilities; and Kal, their alien combat specialist who has a genetic predisposition to violent anger.

Tyler’s crew, Squad 312, takes off on their first mission, but their routine supply run quickly turns odd when they discover Auri stowed away on their Longbow spaceship, and then dangerous as the mission goes south and deadly forces close in. Soon Squad 312 is on the run from their enemies while trying to solve an ancient mystery that may have galactic consequences.

Aurora Rising is a fast-paced space opera adventure, overflowing with thrills and chills, and spiced up with romantic tensions between the various crew members and lots of snarky dialogue.

“But I do know you and I swore an oath when we joined the Legion. To help the helpless. To defend the defenseless. And even though the ―”

“Um, sir?” Finian de Seel says. “We might have a problem.”

“You mean aside from you interrupting my speech?” Tyler Jones asks. “Because I’d been practicing it in my head for an hour and it was gonna be great.”

There are fun if slightly juvenile details that help make the story more memorable for readers, like the color coding for the various specialties at Aurora Academy, the decorative and informative sidebars that bolster the worldbuilding, and the sarcastic voice of Auri’s “uniglass” (a handheld computer device):

“I’m top-of-the-line, new-gen uniglass technology, available nowhere outside the academy,” it shoots back. “I’m seventeen times smarter than him. And three times better-looking.”

Tyler’s crew is divided equally between men and women and includes some sexual diversity (one of the crew is bisexual) as well as racial diversity … not to mention a couple of aliens. The constant shift in point of view with each chapter can get a little dizzying; all seven of the crew members (including stowaway Auri) have multiple chapters from their POVs. Some of the characters are more memorable than others, but a few weeks after reading this I still clearly remember most of the crew members, a tribute to Kaufman and Kristoff’s success in creating distinct characters.

It’s convenient that the half of Tyler’s crew who were considered “the dregs” of their class doesn’t actually include anyone stupid or incompetent. They’re social outcasts with significant personality issues (which has the side benefit of adding interest to the story), but they’re all bright and talented at their specialties. Also suspiciously convenient is the fact that spaceship crews need to be under age 25 to withstand the mental pressures of entering the Fold, but at least there’s a plausible reason given for these youthful crews.

The basic plot elements of Aurora Rising ― a mismatched company of strangers trying to overcome their differences and become unified, an improbable heist (complete with a MacGuffin), and a journey to a destination that turns out to be far more perilous than expected ― will be familiar to anyone who reads a lot of sci-fi, but Kaufman and Kristoff sucked me right in and I couldn’t put this book down. Aurora Rising is a fun, quick read if you like your YA SF with lots of snarky banter. It’s almost guaranteed to appeal older teenagers who enjoy science fiction. It’s the first book in the new AURORA CYCLE series (thankfully its ending doesn’t leave you with TOO much of a cliffhanger). I’m definitely on board for the next book!

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff was fantastic. Most of you know that I am already a sucker for space themed young adult books. Obviously, there is no surprise that I would love something that Kaufman and Kristoff wrote together.

Squad 312 is absolutely amazing. These characters make up the best team. I love the fact that they are snarky to each other but if someone is in need, they are there. What more could you ask for? This band of misfits may not have wanted to be together but they worked so well together and they found plenty of things to bond over.

I really enjoyed the dual point of views in this one because I felt like we were able to get the full picture. There is a lot going on in Aurora Rising. Not only are we getting a new world or universe of Kaufman and Kristoff but we have a whole new ship and characters to connect with. The storyline sucked me in right away.

Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley has been a cryogenically frozen girl for the last 200 plus years. She is found by Legionnaire Tyler Jones. Something is up with this girl and no one seems to know what. There is a ton of mistrust on this squad especially when Aurora sneaks onto their ship and everyone disagrees on how to handle the situation. Of course there is drama and betrayal. One of the things that I liked is people wanted answers. They wanted to uncover the answers.

I am really excited for the next book. I am already excited to reread this book. I loved it that much. Pick up a copy because otherwise you are missing out on this epic space adventure.

Aurura Rising is the first book in the brand new Aurora Cycle trilogy by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, and is also one of my most anticipated reads for this spring! I am a huge fan of Amie’s books, and I have quite a few of Jay’s books on my reading list as well, but besides that, I LOVE their Illuminae Files trilogy! (It’s seriously one of my faves!) I was super excited to get started on this new series to see how it would compare, and I’m pretty sure Amie and Jay have a hit on their hands with this brand new book!

There are so many things to like about this book, and I think one of the things I love most are the characters. This book is FULL of interesting characters, but my faves would have to be the 7, (yes SEVEN), main characters. Each character is so different from the others, and all have an interesting story as well, (especially Auri, who I think has the most interesting story), and I can’t wait to read the next books so I can know more about them. They are all so great, and make such a great team!

Another thing that I really love about the book is the setting. Even though the thought of space sometimes gives me major anxiety, I LOVE reading about it! Just like the Illuminae Files, this book is set in space, well into the future. I can't imagine ever living in space as well, but I definitely enjoyed experiencing it through these awesome characters. The storyline for this book was also fantastic, as well as super addictive. I flew through the pages of this book super quick, and I adored everything about it.

Overall; Aurora Rising is the first book in what should prove to be another amazing series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, and I absolutely loved every minute of it! I absolutely can’t wait to get my hands on the next two books, which are currently untitled and without release dates, but I will most definitely be keeping my eye out for them. And I do believe I will have to do a re-read of The Illumanie Files series while I wait! If you love those books as well, do check out this new series too!

Happy Reading!

I loved it! There is just something magnetizing about Jay and Amie’s writing. They create really strong, unique characters and then they make you invested in them and their journey. They suck you in and then inevitably, once you are all in, they stab you viciously in the heart. And despite all the pain, you’re still going to love it and clamor for the next book – because we are all masochists here!

In Aurora Rising, there are multiple POVs as a rag tag team finds themselves in space with no one to rely on but each other. I loved seeing this band of misfits figure themselves out and learn to work together under dire circumstances. The cast of characters were just so fantastic. It gave me a lot of Firefly vibes and lord did I love that show.

The sci-fi aspects were fascinating and it was super interesting discovering this new universe Jay and Amie created. New species other than human are prominent and we visit multiple planets and see such an array of different cultures and societal norms! The sci-fi/horror feels would translate so well onto the big screen. It’s just so fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat, heart pounding, especially in the last quarter or so. I loved all of it and can’t wait until the next book!

In Short…
A thrilling ride through space with a cast of characters you can’t help but love and root for. This is a brilliant start to a new series and sci-fi at its best. I can’t wait for more Squad 312!

It is no secret that I love The Illuminae Files - everything about that series was so much more spectacular than I ever expected it would be. The beginning of a new series from the dynamic duo of Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, Aurora Rising did not let me down.

Honestly, I can barely even articulate how incredible Aurora Rising was. I am not much of a sci-fi fan, but Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff just cannot do wrong in my eyes. I had absolutely no idea what this book was about going into it except that it was ~S P A C E~, but it had me hooked immediately. I found myself absolutely flying through this book, finding excuses to just sneak a peak at a few more pages throughout the day at work. My train commute was suddenly TOO SHORT because I just needed more time to read this book. It was amazing and also absolutely crazytown.

Every character in Squad 312 was so interesting. The way all these wildly different personalities meshed together and bonded was truly delightful. I loved every moment of their bickering and banter. Also to be a lame nerd, I enjoyed seeing the squad go through the stages of team building: from reluctantly forming, to absolutely, viciously storming, to finally norming and performing. This is a squad I wish I could be a part of (though maybe with less d a n g e r).

This book was such a wild ride from start to finish, and I absolutely loved the format, with Magellan's snippets between chapters to give some additional (snarky) context. I would like more Magellan in book 2 to fill the AIDAN shaped hold in my heart.

In summation, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff can do no wrong in my eyes, so obviously I think you should read this (and also Illuminae if you're still sleeping on that). I think sci-fi can sometimes be hard to get into, but this dream team really knows how to make it accessible to a wider audience.

This was an entertaining and fun read. The best part of the book is definitely the cast of characters. Can't wait to see what's in store for them next.

Aurora Rising was the first book by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman I've read and unfortunately it was not for me. The concept sounded intriguing and given how beloved these authors are I was pretty optimistic but it didn't sit well with me. None of the characters really grabbed my attention and the girl-on-girl hate left a bitter taste.

Okay, so I liked the idea of this book. But. I also had some issues with it and whether or not the rating stays at four stars probably depends on how things get resolved/revealed in the future books. How did Auri get on the colony ship after the weirdness with the Eshvaren? Was everyone on the colony ship affected? How did the infected colonists manage to infiltrate the humans with no one noticing their plant faces? Are the Eshvaren actually gone, and if so how did they change Aurora? That being said, my biggest problem with this book can't be fixed. There are seven POV characters and for several of them (particularly Tyler, Auri, Cat, and Scar) I was constantly having to flip back to the beginning of the chapter to remind myself who was narrating because it felt so generic. There is a problem with your characters if I can't tell the majority of the POVs apart.

This books seems to have it all! I was invested in the story from start to finish, but felt as through the characters lacked. I had trouble telling a few of them apart and it was especially hard to figure out who was talking with all of the changes in point of view. Overall, however, I really enjoyed the book.

Once again, Amie and Jay managed to pull together a brilliant, funny, and exciting plot. The writing, no surprise, was beautiful and driven. The characters were amazing. Squad 312 for life. I knew I was going to love this. And they certainly didn’t let me down.

Aurora Rising is about a girl out of time - literally. Aurora is in a cryo-sleep state on a spaceship headed toward a human settlement when something goes wrong. When Aurora wakes up she is surprised and fearful to be in a medical bay in a ship that is extremely more technologically advanced than her original ship. Aurora finds out that her ship has been destroyed, and two-hundred years have passed (which accounts for the upgrade in technology).

This book was amazing! The characters are very interesting (in not all lovable) and it is great to see how they grow and change as a team.

For a full review, please watch the video! Overall, it is infuriating how hard it is to review a book that you just love. I was leery about this book because the Illuminae books are some of the best novels I believe exist on sheer inventiveness, but I didn't know how I would feel about a more traditional novel. I'm also very hard to please with scifi. However, I enjoyed the world building and the ease of reading that this book provided. It also surprised me with several plot twists and relationship dynamics that I did not expect. My only real complaint is that there are many POVs, and sometimes the characters who are narrating chapters feel like placeholders who don't always interest me. Only some of the main characters felt 100% fleshed out. However, I am excited to read the next one to see how those characters are because I have total faith in these authors!

A squad leader with perfect grades and perfect hair
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering
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
And a girl 200 years out of time, who 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.
Find me more interesting character descriptions or a better tagline anywhere for anything, I dare you.
You guys know how much I love the Illuminae Files books, so when I heard Amie and Jay were coming out with another series, I was beyond excited. I couldn’t believe I got an e-arc from their publisher, but I’ve learned that if you don’t ask you definitely won’t, so basically I email publishers for every arc I’m dying for and just ask. Sometimes it works, often it doesn’t, but LADIES, YOU HAVE TO SHOOT YOUR SHOT!
Anyway. This one reads more like a typical novel than Illuminae, and I’m not even going to try to decide which is better or which one I like more. This rag-tag crew misfits is SO loveable, SO real, SO full of sass and snark. They are on each other constantly for the things that they say and do, and there is literally always someone in your ear (usually Finian) providing commentary.
We have 3/7 guy narrators here, but ZERO toxic masculinity, and BOY IS IT REFRESHING. Seriously, come find me after you read about Kal and Tyler’s moment of cover and how they react to it afterwards and try telling me that every action movie wouldn’t be improved by at least one of these scenes. There’s also tons of diversity and lots of girl power.
Honestly though THAT ENDING! I’m very nervous to see where this is going and what is happening to some of these precious kids already.

“I’m something else now. And if I don’t know what, that doesn’t make it any less true.”

I was given an e-arc by Netgalley and then immediately bought the physical copy because I LOVE this gorgeous cover by the amazing Charlie Bowater!
As I first started to read the book I felt a little iffy, ONLY because I'm not really into Sci-Fi and I felt out of place with trying to picture everything and I was wondering what some space words meant but I pushed through. (But that's just me since I'm not too familiar with space stuff.) Another thing that I was really iffy about was the dialogue. I don't know but sometimes I felt like it was a little too juvenile but as I kept reading I felt like it improved and it stopped bothering me.
Now, with those little pet peeves out of the way I have to say that I REALLY enjoyed this book! I was hooked by the first two chapters and boy did it get better and better! I slowly but surely fell in LOVE with ALL of these characters, Aurora being my favorite. I just immediately felt for her situation and I sympathized for her and I can see her character growing immensely. I was on the edge of just wanting to know the mystery to everything! The who, what, where, when and why! And by the end we knew everything and boy IS. IT. BIG. There was honestly NEVER a dull moment. I loved learning about this world, each character and I found the different races and cultures to be so fasinating.
This story played like a movie in my head and if you're a fan of Voltron, Star Wars, X-Men, The Last of Us & Annhialation then chances are you might enjoy this book too.

Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman is the first book of the young adult science fiction fantasy The Aurora Cycle series. The story takes place in the year 2380 and is told from multiple points of view changing from each character chapter by chapter.

Tyler Jones is a star student at Aurora Academy and ready to graduate and get first pick of his own top notch crew. However, when Tyler should have been back at the academy accepting his honors he instead finds himself side tracked with a rescue mission.

Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley (Auri) had been trapped for two centuries but saving her may just be the beginning a war millions of years in the making and now Tyler ends up with the leftovers losers as his crew.

So far so good with another great series in the making from Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman. These two authors really know how to pen some great action and adventure with characters and stories that are easy to become engaged in. Aurora Rising felt like a futuristic scifi Breakfast Club so yes, sign me up for book two now please.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I just finished usher this amazing novel from the dynamic duo of Kaufman and Kristoff and am blown away by its amazingness. I think it is their best novel yet

Although this book had some issues, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I can tell because 1. I didn't skip and 2. it's almost 500 pages and I finished in five days!

Issue #1. The Characters-The characters were stereotypes. The vampy one, the comic relief, the smart sexy leader, the angry one, and the sassy one. Although they were round characters, we've all read them before. The only thing that stood out was Scarlett-the vamp. In her own chapters, she used her looks to get what she needed but in other's chapters she was caring.

Issue #2. Themes. One of several things that separates a good book from a great book are multiple themes and they have to be somewhat obvious. This book had one major theme, family/friendship, and although it was a strong theme, that was really the only standout. The other thing that makes a great/critical book-characters.

Issue #3. One character that I didn't like ended up being important.

The pacing was great-lots of action mixed with an adequate amount of character and world development. If you don't pay attention, the plot could get confusing but I slowed down and really tried to understand so that wasn't a problem. The ending was great.

The only reason this was a 4.5 instead of a 5 was because the characters were just not unique enough for me.