Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Series: The Illuminae Files #1
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Published by Knopf (10.20.2015)
ARC, 608 pages
Source: Gifted
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.
The Illuminae Files audiobooks are, hands down, THE best audiobooks I have ever listened to! In fact, I’ve been trying without avail to find another audiobook to compare to them. I can’t express enough how amazing they are! It’s a full cast, and unlike most books with multiple narrators (typically for multiple POV’s), each person ONLY speaks their part and no one else’s. Something I hate about most audiobooks is that the male speaks in the female’s voice and vice versa. It makes the book hard to take seriously. Even in books with dual narrators, they typically only narrate their own chapters and the issue is still there.
Not this book! It also has sound effects, so it’s legitimately like listening to a movie that you don’t need to watch. It’s an immersive experience and makes the book feel so real, it’s amazing! As most of you know, there’s a lot to look at in the book, so you do miss out on that. But you don’t truly miss it because the experience is so incredible. This is definitely one you want to read and listen to, because they are totally different experiences!
I freaking LOVED the narrators, too. They really did such an amazing job (how many times can Jessi say amazing in one review? WELL IT’S TRUE OKAY.) in bringing the characters to life from the pages. AND AIDAN OMG. The only other thing I can say is: LISTEN TO IT. You won’t regret it!
Gemina by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Series: The Illuminae Files #2
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Published by Knopf (10.18.2016)
ARC, 608 pages
Source: For Tour
Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.
The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.
Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.
When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.
But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.
Once again told through a compelling dossier of emails, IMs, classified files, transcripts, and schematics, Gemina raises the stakes of the Illuminae Files, hurling readers into an enthralling new story that will leave them breathless.
Basically the same applies from the Illuminae audio review. Best damn audiobooks ever! Steve West is in it, who is a major audiobook narrator – he’s done An Ember in the Ashes, The Scorpio Races, Strange the Dreamer, and more. But I really loved Hanna and Nik’s voices, they were perfect!
This one is a bit different than Illuminae, though, because you miss out on Marie Lu’s illustrations. So unlike Illuminae, where I suggest reading as well as listening simply for the unique experiences, this one I definitely think you should listen and read because you’re missing out on the drawings! (And also the visible stain on the journal to prepare you heh)
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Series: Strange the Dreamer #1
Genre: High Fantasy, Young Adult
Published by Little Brown (3.28.2017)
Hardcover, 544 pages
Source: I own it
The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.
What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?
The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?
Steve West is a fabulous narrator (he narrated Jackson in Gemina, see above!), but I would have loved to have a female narrating Sarai’s parts >.< His voice for little 6-year-old Minya was a bit hard to take seriously! My real complaint though is that the volume difference between when he was narrating and when he was speaking for characters was so drastic that you either got blown away when he was speaking or couldn’t hear a damned thing when he was narrating. Cringe!
I did absolutely adore his voice when speaking as Lazlo, though! *swoon*
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