Scan barcode
A review by ghostlydreamer
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Did not finish book.
2.0
Hi, hello, this is my second DNF of the month. I must be on a roll! And at only 28%, too!
I don't know if this book is a case of "I'm just not reading this at the right time and maybe I'll enjoy it later" or "I really don't care about this book so it's pointless to continue." But I think it's the latter. Thing is, I'm not usually a fan of YA books, nor am I a fan of sci-fi. And what's this? A YA sci-fi book.
Let me start by saying there is NOTHING wrong with this book. That's why I'm giving it two stars, even though I'm abandoning it. But it really isn't for me. I've never been interested in sci-fi in any capacity, regardless of the age of the intended audience and the themes explored. It doesn't make me want to keep reading.
This book has a really cool format. It's all written in a mixed-media type of format, via emails, chats, and "unipedia" pages. But that also made it hard to follow along at times. More explanation would have been helpful. And even though things were already SLOWLY starting to come together by the time I decided I was done with it, that doesn't change how confusing the beginning was.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the format of this book. But it's not without its problems. Although it makes for a quick read, I still felt like the pacing was off. Because we only see the characters through these files and chats and status reports, sometimes they lacked a little depth. It's a clever and creative way to tell a story, but it does just that; it tells the story more than it shows anything happening. It makes me wonder how the book would read in a traditional format.
I did like the charming way in which some of the characters spoke to each other. You could tell they cared for each other and that there was a connection underneath all the surface stuff. And I think that's what kept me reading for as long as I did, since sometimes that made me laugh. But I simply didn't care about the plot, so I didn't see any point in continuing. I don't care about ships in space with some crazy AI and some kind of sickness thing, and that's all there is to it. I can definitely see why others love this book so much, and I still recommend this book for that reason. But it simply doesn't appeal to me, so it's a no for me. I've got too many other books to get to and not nearly enough time to get to them.
But you know what I did really like? That cursing that's not cursing. THAT was clever.
I don't know if this book is a case of "I'm just not reading this at the right time and maybe I'll enjoy it later" or "I really don't care about this book so it's pointless to continue." But I think it's the latter. Thing is, I'm not usually a fan of YA books, nor am I a fan of sci-fi. And what's this? A YA sci-fi book.
Let me start by saying there is NOTHING wrong with this book. That's why I'm giving it two stars, even though I'm abandoning it. But it really isn't for me. I've never been interested in sci-fi in any capacity, regardless of the age of the intended audience and the themes explored. It doesn't make me want to keep reading.
This book has a really cool format. It's all written in a mixed-media type of format, via emails, chats, and "unipedia" pages. But that also made it hard to follow along at times. More explanation would have been helpful. And even though things were already SLOWLY starting to come together by the time I decided I was done with it, that doesn't change how confusing the beginning was.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the format of this book. But it's not without its problems. Although it makes for a quick read, I still felt like the pacing was off. Because we only see the characters through these files and chats and status reports, sometimes they lacked a little depth. It's a clever and creative way to tell a story, but it does just that; it tells the story more than it shows anything happening. It makes me wonder how the book would read in a traditional format.
I did like the charming way in which some of the characters spoke to each other. You could tell they cared for each other and that there was a connection underneath all the surface stuff. And I think that's what kept me reading for as long as I did, since sometimes that made me laugh. But I simply didn't care about the plot, so I didn't see any point in continuing. I don't care about ships in space with some crazy AI and some kind of sickness thing, and that's all there is to it. I can definitely see why others love this book so much, and I still recommend this book for that reason. But it simply doesn't appeal to me, so it's a no for me. I've got too many other books to get to and not nearly enough time to get to them.
But you know what I did really like? That cursing that's not cursing. THAT was clever.