Illuminae

Cover image and summary:

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

This is a book that had been on my radar for so long. I was really excited when it was picked for book club because it meant I couldn’t put off reading it anymore!

The format of this book is so fun! It’s told in a bunch of different media like transcripts, chat logs, and illustrations.

At first, to be honest, I was kind of confused about what was going on. The format was really cool but it made it difficult for me to follow initially, especially considering that there was so much action in the book’s opening.

I stuck with it though, and things claered up. The story, the action, and the characters were so exciting and interesting. This book was just plain fun to read and I’m super looking forward to the sequel.

Also, we had an excellent discussion at book club, which included the creation of this diagram when I mentioned that I had been confused about something (and this cleared it up for me)!

Spoiler alert I suppose: