For some reason despite disliking book one I thought I would give book two a try. Hoping improvements would have been made.
Sadly this also didn't work for me. Safe to say this series just isn't for me.
I found that I didn't care for the characters or the world.
Despite the synopsis being intriguing.

Squad 312 is back. Our favourite bunch of misfits are once again travelling across the galaxy to save all from the ancient evil ready to consume all they know.

Filled with twists and turns you didn’t see coming, Aurora Burning is the perfect sequel.

I'm... disappointed. My expectations for this series were sky high due to recently reading and loving The Illuminae Files. I was anticipating another brilliant unputdownable sci-fi series, but sadly that isn't what I got at all. The biggest disappointment for me were the characters, their personalities were all far too similar and they were all shallow and stereotypical. I couldn't feel anything for any of the characters which is very unusual for me, I felt no connection at all. The adventure when I wasn't distracted by the dullness of the characters was slightly enjoyable but not enough to continue with the series unfortunately.

I LOVE this series.

I'll be honest I thought this was a duology so when it finished how it did I was a little taken aback, however now I can't wait for the next one.

I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the first, I felt aurora's characters became a little meh and I didn't much care what happened to her. Given she's a central part of the story this didn't feel right to me. I did however enjoy the introduction of some new characters into the mix and the different journeys this took them on.

NEXT PLEASE!!!

Thank you for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored Aurora Rising, so instantly knew I'd love this. The characters in this were phenomenal, and setting was brilliant. There was fast paced action from the beginning and I really appreciated a summary of where we had left off with the previous book.

Overall, the character development was brilliant and I can't wait for book 3!

I am obsessed with The Illuminae Files and really loved Aurora Rising so was pretty nervous after seeing mixed reviews for Aurora Burning. I didn't need to worry, for me I even enjoyed it more than Aurora Rising.
I really enjoyed seeing the characters developed and fleshed out a bit more in this one, as well as some of the heart wrenching unexpected expect-able deaths. It is a Kristoff book after all!
That ending though, Kaufman and Kristoff, why do you have to leave us hanging so much?
Awaiting the next installment of emotional devastation.

This book was a fantastic follow up to the Aurora Rising first book in the series. I loved the plot points which I won’t go into too much detail due to spoilers. The characters were just as fab as the first book with even more action and adventure .

What I loved about this book was, first of all, the info about each character, it was helpful since I didn't remember much.

And then of course the whole plot, the characters, the humour, the character dynamics and everything was just as you'd expect from a book by this amazing author duo.

And that ending!

I really enjoyed it and can't wait for the next one 😱

I downloaded this book to read but the copy has now expired and there's no other way for me to download the book to read as it is now archived on NetGalley!

Really wanted to read this one so really disappointed but i'm not able to give feedback on this item.

From Goodreads:
Our band of misfits are back and there is no slowing down. One hundred miles and hour from start to finish.
We have our individually odd characters coming together to form a heroic band, we have nasty galactic baddies and we have ancient evil trying to destroy everything - it is all here
Cruel cliffhanger - bring on the next!
This is just really good, over the top YA fun.

I loved this book! All of the characters felt more developed from the first book (which I also loved) the plot was intriguing and that ending broke me. Next book now please!

I have been waiting for this book pretty much since I finished Aurora Rising. I was a little shell shocked by how much I loved the first book in the series, and felt a bit breathless after finishing it. I had to wait a few months for book two to come out, but that’s going to be nothing on the (at a minimum) year I’ll have to wait until book three.

It begins barely a couple of weeks after the end of book one, which means the characters are still pretty new to each other, and still reeling from the events of book one. There will probably be some spoilers in this review, although I’ll do my best to keep them as vague as possible.

The tone is frantic from the very beginning, with it opening on a high-speed chase an a record-scratch, freeze-frame moment than an early 2000s teen movie would admire. These books have that exact same energy and drive which makes them giddy, breathless fun to read. It also means that, with this book, when things go bad they go bad very quickly.

Aside from being on the run from both the GIA, the Aurora Legion and the killer alien race that wants to subsume the whole galazy into its hive mind, squad 312 also find themselves being chased down by an unstoppable band of Syldrathi warriors, led by Kal’s sister, who has a very limited concept of “reasonable force”, except perhaps in the sense of “it’s reasonable for me to use a lot of force”.

It feels like this book is a lot more brutal than book one, physically so, and naturally with the revelations of the end of book one the tone is darker. There’s a real sense of what’s at stake, and that these are the only people in the galaxy who can do anything about it. And there are only six of them, and no-one older than 19, and they only finished their training less than a month ago. The sense of stress is immense, which is why it came as a relief to me that they were given space to breathe a couple of times within the narrative. For me, as much as the characters, that pause gives me a chance to recalibrate and process everything that has happened.

This book also introduces the potential for time travel, but we only see the effects of it, not the how or why, and I suspect that’s going to be introduced in the next volume. This volume felt a lot like prep – the first book is a mystery story, trying to solve a conspiracy, a clue. This one feels like it’s the run up to the actual story now the conspiracy has been revealed, and there’s space for each of the characters to try and work out how they fit both within the team and the wider story in which they find themselves.

I was really pleased to see Zila getting developed more in this book, as I had hoped after finishing Aurora Rising, and there were some neat backstory developments for characters that I’m looking forward to being explored in the next volume.

There were other things which I was less keen on, in particular regarding a character’s family history. While I hadn’t entirely expected it from the beginning, I felt it was clearly foreshadowed in this version, so I don’t know whether it’s fully a spoiler, but I’ll try and keep it as vague as possible. Essentially, one of the team’s parents is revealed, and the others are betrayed by this revelation. The betrayal really bothered me – why does a character’s parentage negate everything that character has done for their teammates? If they’ve distanced themselves so far from their parent as to change their name and break contact with them for so many years, maybe – just maybe – they’ve got no responsibility for their parent’s actions and perhaps it doesn’t actually matter at all who their parents are?

Also – when were they supposed to reveal this to the rest of the team? Everyone is cross that it’s been kept a secret, but I’d love to know when would have been a good time for this information to come out. They changed their name to be able to join the academy, and you’ve all known each other for a few weeks, during which the end of the galaxy has been mooted and people keep trying to kill you. You all at once don’t really know each other, and have been dealing with a lot of other stuff. At what point was this character supposed to sit everyone down and go “By the way…”

I think this is just a pet peeve plot point of mine, because it’s done so often and I mildly resent how it plays out nearly every time. Unless they’re working as a spy on behalf of their parent, it’s irrelevant who their parents are! And we know this character isn’t, because they’ve done literally everything in their power to cut ties with their parent. I think for me it just seemed slightly lazy as a way of building tension between characters, and that didn’t fit with the quality of the rest of the two books in the series. Surely there were other ways this could have played out?

To give them the benefit of the doubt, the other side of the argument is that all the characters are, as previously mentioned, teenagers, and they’re all under an awful lot of stress, and possibly their reactions are a reflection of that, and there may be more nuance put to the situation in the next book. But man, I wish it hadn’t happened.

I’d characterise this as a traditional second instalment, the one with the training montage where all the characters are shuffled into place for the final showdown. It’s The Empire Strikes Back, setting us up for Return of the Jedi. I’m really looking forward to the next part, and I did really enjoy this one, it’s just that it managed to clock one of my pet peeves on its way past.

Briefly:

Following almost immediately on from Aurora Rising, this is a solid second-novel, where the stakes are raised and the characters are positioned for the endgame portion of the story.
There was a plot point that I was less than keen on, although this is entirely personal. It does work in the book, I just think that it could have been done in a more interesting way.
I do still love the ensemble cast, though, and there is potential for new additions after this instalment that could be really interesting in the way they impact the team’s dynamic.

Rating: 4/5 – it’s a good book, and I’m loving this series, but man that parent thing was a niggle for me.

Back with my favourite gang of loveable space misfits! This book picks up right where Aurora Rising leaves off and doesn't let up for the entire story. Action packed and amusing, this is the perfect light sci-fi read which really brings the fun.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

What a follow-up to Aurora Rising! I love the world Kaufman and Kristoff have created and the characters feel both realistic and engaging. What I cannot forgive is that cliffhanger! Can we have the next one soon please...?

This amazing brilliance of prose continues the adventure. I would still die for Squad 312; before that, I want to fly with them, adventure with them. Bring on the third book!

This book was an excellent sci fi adventure, with a mix of diverse characters and lots of action and lots of humour. The world building is really well done, helping you sink into the setting of the story with no trouble at all.

It was a great fun, wild ride of a read and I'd really recommend it. I really enjoyed following the interactions and action as Squad 312 go off to save the world. They are an over the top, misfit bunch and you can't help but like them as among the action, you get a lot of bonding between friends and developing romance. A great read.

4 Stars

What a nasty cliffhanger ending!

The Aurora Cycle is cheesy as hell (like seriously, it's cheesy) and yet it still manages to land its emotional punches and more thrilling aspects. I still can't quite get my head around how it does this so naturally, but yeah, it works. One of my favourite parts of both books has been learning the characters' backstories and inner demons, which form a nice contrast to the near-constant joking around.

Some things I liked in particular in Aurora Burning:

1) More Zila! We only really got snippets of her in the first book, but she was definitely a character I liked and wanted to know more about. Her POV chapters in Aurora Burning were always a joy to read, and - for a character that expresses the least emotion - by far the most emotional. The last thing she says in this book kicked me in the feels.
2) Saedii. She's really different to the other characters, in a good way. She reminds me a bit of Manon Blackbeak, my favourite character from the Throne of Glass series. A legit, sociopathic badass with hidden depths. I loved her.
3) Saedii and Tyler's banter
4) Scarlett being a boss
5) Star Wars vibes
6) Interesting lore all coming together
7) Auri and her family. This part I would give 5* because it made me cry.

The one thing I would wish for this book is more Finian! He was my fave in the first book and I loved his chapters here too, but we can always have more. I feel like the disability rep was done really well with him here though, and the last scene with him and Scar was so cute. (More please. MORE.)

I feel exhausted after finishing Aurora Burning thanks to the brutally fast-paced ending, constant emotional turmoil, and frequent near-fatal escapades. I only started reading sci-fi a couple of years ago thanks to Illuminae but this series has all the best elements and would make a great introduction to the genre. If you don't want to join squad 312 by the end of this book, I'd be astonished.

"I am not feeling nothing". I AM FEELING BORED.
I absolutely loved Illuminae Files and the Nevernight series and thought this would be a step up, but it felt like a regression. If this had been the duo’s first series and Illuminae the next, it would have made perfect sense.

Short review: Childish. After the bucket load of boredom and the wheelbarrow of jokes in the first book, I was uncertain I'd continue this series.

My advice: if you loved the first one, you'll love this as well, it's more of the same, with lots of action and shocking reveals (not shocking to ME as I saw those twists coming from light-years away). I think this series would be good as an entry point into SF for young readers and then move on to Illuminae.

Long review, no spoilers: Bear with me, this review is 1000 words long lol.

Plot:
The squad must stop the evil pollen from pollinating the universe while being on the run from everyone and their mothers.
Right off the bat the level of action in here is insane. Scene after scene, there is no time to spend with our characters interacting intimately, developing their team dynamics, exploring the universe.
While it is moving fast, it's not polished. Like a formulaic videogame almost:
Character A: We need to go do this and that in order to get this key item - but oh problem spears.
Character B: Problem solved, now let's use this key item and go find this clue thing, but to find this thing we'll need to go somewhere else to find its location.
Character C: No need, I figured it out, but we still need to get to a different place to bla blabla la laaaaa.

Predictable:
Training montage, unexpected parental reveal, mate trope, dress-up scene, characters “not really being dead”, all we were missing from this space soap opera was the “OMG I slept with your twin because the look just like you!” – which was alluded to multiple times regarding Ty & Scar / Kal & Saedii.
I've seen this “tv show” and read this story already hundreds of times, all the clichés in the world under one roof and it's not even magnificently executed.
It’s disjointed and repetitive.

Pace and writing: Re.pe.ti.ti.ve.

We keep being reminded with every PoV that Tyler is the goldenboy leader who is a great tactician, that Zila is odd and brilliant, Scar is slutty, but excellent at reading people. We are told so many times that Zila, who is currently piloting the ship, is not like Cat. Not as good as Cat. Cat was the best pilot. We're told at least 20 times. And that Tyler and Scarlett are twins. At one point we're reminded 4 times on the same page. I just can't.

The language used is very infantile, not appropriate for a crew of military cadets. I don't like that they shorten each other's names right away. The people who grew up with each other have all the right. But you can't have pet names for people after 2 weeks. especially in a "military " setting. Ty? Scar? Auri? I mean ... no.

Characters:
I am so exhausted and bored of the inappropriate jokes all the damn time.
Banter overload.
Humour and jokes were overused once again. Constant quips and witty comebacks in totally inappropriate moments. There's a time and place for jokes, but here they were non-stop.

I felt like they took their roles and dire circumstances as a joke. It made me so bitter.
For example, Scarlet and Tyler are in an exceptionally grave situation and they are smiling and making quips even though I personally was a nervous wreck for them. It was jarring.

Oh there was plenty of development here. Some of them become more powerful, some more determined, some open up more, but they are mostly the same, like caricatures: Tyler the determined, Aurora the uncertain, Zila the sociopath, Kal the brood. Scarlet and Fin had most to suffer, reduced to the roles of slutty-but-secretly-smart queen B and awkward-inappropriately-jokey geek.

We have a cringy paragraph from Scarlet talking about HER BREASTS being idiot detectors,
"Hint: I don’t blame you for peeking, but if you’re talking to them rather than my face, you have failed the Test" ... isn't this line from a thousand comedy films?

There is no chemistry between Aurora and Kal, or between the book and myself, utterly boring, predictable and cliché-y.

I appreciated the crew being tormented and gutted over the Cat incident and their supressing of emotion is understandable, so this bit I liked.
I didn’t mind the ending. Because it keeps true to the book’s overall style. Messy, chaotic and predictable.

Spoilery complaint: So regarding the twins’ parentage, are you telling me that Kal, their shipmate, wasn’t able to pick up on their mental thingamaging? The dude that’s been living in close quarters with them for weeks? Wot? If he has this mental connection with his sister, then he definitely should be able to sense it in the twins. I blame this failure on Horny Besh’Mai Syndrome.

Overall, I can see why people like this book, but to me it felt super cliché-y and very kiddy. Had it been marketed as Middle Grade, it would have been more accurate and I’d have had different expectations. I'm going to pass on the final book.

Rating: 2.5

Those who have been around for a while will know that the Illuminae Files are high up on my list of favourite books of all time - but I was less than enamoured with Aurora Rising when I read it last year. But I thought I would give the sequel a fair chance, assuming that now that all the characters were now introduced there would be more space to explore some of the plot elements.

And for the most part that was the case.

I thought that the overarching plot of this series is still a little bit...out there at the present? But the individual plot elements of this book, the various missions the squad have to go on, those select scenes were definitely much better than book one. I certainly got to look at these characters with the detail I felt was lacking from the first book.

Did it still feel pandering? Perhaps a little bit - the earlier section in particular. I could maybe do with less of fixation of various character's cleavage - or at least a note in the margin that lets me know that Jay Kristoff didn't write those bits cause it's a tad uncomfortable at moments. It just feels a tad manufactured - which the voice of Illuminae didn't. It wasn't quite so bad as in the first book, and it was barely there in the second half of the book - so persevere through those first few chapters if it's bothering you!

My wife actually listened to the audiobooks of both books and liked them a lot more than I did - so I'm wondering if that might be an approach for those desperate to love these? Apparently, it's more of a production.

I think I would probably read another book in this series - which I wasn't necessarily expecting to want to do when I started this book. I'm actually looking forward to reading these characters a little older? I think some of the issue is that the 'young' voice isn't quite working in this book, so a bit more maturity and growth can't hurt.

I would say these are still a mile away from the calibre of Illuminae but those who were on the fence about book one - I'd say it's good to read the second one. As a pair, they work much better than the first book did alone.

I'm hoping that we get a bit more meat and maturity in the later books in this series - it feels like this book was on the right track.

My rating: 3/5 stars

I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Aurora Burning is out now!