KATH REVIEWS AURORA RISING
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KATH REVIEWS AURORA RISING
KATH REVIEWS AURORA RISING: THE HARD-TO-READ SECTIONS, THE COOLEST CHARACTERS and the best quotes!
Have you heard of The Aurora Cycle?
Kath reviews Aurora Rising, which is the first installment of The Aurora Cycle series.
A review by Kath. Part One of Three.
The Aurora Cycle, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Overview: I absolutely love sci-fi but I’m still really picky about what I pick up to read. So when I was scrolling through goodreads looking for a good sci-fi to read, this series caught my eye. It was exactly what I was looking for at the moment and I knew I was going to greatly enjoy it.
“They’re not the heroes we deserve.
They’re just the ones we could find.
Nobody panic.”
Aurora Rising Summary:
The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…
- 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
- a tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering
And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.
KATH REVIEWS AURORA RISING
INTRODUCTION:
When I started the first book, Aurora Rising, though, I was a bit skeptical for two reasons.
1 – I was hella confused. I was thrust right into the action and I had no idea what was going on for the first several chapters. A lot was happening all at once that needed explaining and my brain couldn’t quite catch up yet.
2 – While each character had their own voice through dialogue, when it was their turn to tell the story from their own perspective, everyone sort of blended together because of the way the book was written. Luckily, the author’s seemed to have figured it out half way through the book and it was easier for me to tell each of the characters apart.
But boy, this was one hell of a book. There was so much action that I was on the edge of my seat all the way until I finished. The pacing was terrific, allowing me to finish the book in a day.
My favorite thing about Aurora Rising, though, was the humor. It was so unexpected and well done that every time there was a funny remark or comment that I would just burst out laughing. My absolute favorite scene of all time is even in this book because of how unexpected and funny it was. I ran out of my purple tabs (which means funny) halfway through the book because that’s how often I laughed.
LAUGH OUT LOUD
“‘Chimps,’ she corrects.
“‘If they couldn’t fly the ships. . . how did they land them?’
“‘They didn’t have to,’ says Auri. ‘It was automated.’
“‘So,’ I say carefully, ‘just let me understand this. You dirt children took these animals nearly as smart as you and shoved them in rockets and hurled them into space to see if it would melt their insides?’
“‘It wasn’t us personally,’ Cat points out, defensive, and there’s a fair amount of foot shuffling going on among Team Terran.
“‘Wow,’ I say, looking about the group. ‘Did we Betraskans know about all this choomp murder when we allied with you?”
I love this exchange because I just find it so funny all the names given to chimps because he -Finian, a Betraskan who doesn’t really know much about Earth other than a few things- didn’t have a clue about them. Another funny part that I absolutely love is a little later because he is still going on about the chimps right before he is attacked by one.
BEST QUOTES
“‘So,” I say. ‘About these chints—’
“‘Chimps,’ Tyler says, long-suffering already.
“‘Whatever. You still have any of those?’
“‘They’re extinct,’ Cat says. ‘Just like you’re about to be.’
“‘Very funny, Zero. Anyway, are you sure you’re not making them up? They sound ridiculous. I mean, hairy dirt children who fly spaceships and have almost identical DNA to you lot?’ I scoff. ‘I don’t think they exist.’
“And that’s when a snarling, furry pitch-black humanoid thing with jagged yellow teeth that would put an ultrasaur to shame comes screaming out of the undergrowth and straight for my face.”
I feel this entire exchange so hilarious because Finian still doesn’t believe them then of course, he gets attacked by one.
ACTION AND ADVENTURE
Besides the humor, there is a good and action-packed plot to this book. Tyler, top of his class, is graduating from the Aurora Academy and he has the top pick for his squad. Only, he doesn’t quite make it to the graduation. He, instead, goes out in space to do a little fly beforehand only to find a ship that’s been lost for over two hundred years, with someone alive inside.
Because of his selfless act, he gets left with the people he doesn’t want except his best friend and sister. And to make matters worse, he gets sent on a nothing mission.
Of course, everything goes to hell because there was a stowaway on his ship who’s being targeted. Having to deal with that problem, they also become enemies of the galaxy because it seemed like they blew up a bunch of people even though they didn’t.
The majority of the book is spent with them on the run until they discover more about the girl out of time (the stowaway) and the real enemy they’ve decided they must defeat. Then of course, they travel to the place miss stowaway was supposed to end up two hundred years ago.
Only, it is overrun with a vicious enemy that takes them by surprise and then takes one of the members of their group.
Of course, there is so much more to it but this is the gist. I really don’t want to spoil anything and I sometimes have a nasty habit of it.
BEST CHARACTERS
Now let’s talk about the characters, the ragtag group that gets thrown across the galaxy several times.
TYLER
Tyler: I absolutely love him. He’s a great leader and very responsible. He has so much character development because at the beginning of the book, he was all about the rules only to completely trash that at the end of the novel. The number one reason he is such a great leader, though, is because he realizes that he is stuck with these people because of his selfless deed and he accepts that. He even learns how his ragtag group functions to help him with decision making. And he even learns to love them all. 10/10 on the found family trope.
SCARLETT
Scarlett: Her sarcastic attitude is unmatched but she is also the caring mama of the group which I adore. Not going to lie, she reminds me a little of Miss Scarlet Benoit of the Lunar Chronicles for this very reason. They are both loving, caring mothers who look after their children. Her banter with everyone in the group makes the dialogue ten times better because you never really know what she is going to say. She has the best relationship with her brother; me thinking of sibling goals every time they interact because it’s just so amazing.
CAT
Cat: Okay, I don’t really like Cat as much as the other characters. She is definitely a little more hard-headed and rude? I don’t think she means to come off as rude but I feel that most of the time she did. But I must say, her loyalty to Tyler and Scarlett is unmatched and I love her for that very reason. Her loyalty is something needed in the world they live in and in the end, she tries so hard to keep strong. In the end, though, she didn’t succeed and I did tear up a bit. Rest in peace, my friend. Even though you don’t, which is really sad.
AURORA
Aurora: Man, this girl has been through so much, and how much more she puts on herself over the course of the series shows how seriously strong she is. Trapped on her ship for two hundred years, she wakes up out of time and is seriously homesick once she is told what happened. What takes strength though, is that while a bunch of crazy shit goes down around her, she finds time to mourn for herself. It’s heartbreaking to read because she doesn’t belong at this time. Then of course, she develops crazy ass powers for whatever reason (I’m still trying to figure this one out for myself because we are never given a clear answer of how).
KAL
Kal: my baby, my favorite of the bunch. I don’t know why but I love him so so so so so so so much and he is so so so so so so so so so cute. Okay, but I need to backtrack because at first, I didn’t like him because he seemed grumpy and annoying. But he is so likable and sweet and he’s just so precious. Here are the main reasons he is my favorite:
1 – He was born of violence and murder because he is a Warbreed (this is also why nobody wanted him since his kind murdered the rest of his race). But he isn’t like the rest of his kind because he takes more after his mother who is a Waywatcher. They are the gentle mind people of his race. Every single day, he fights the part that he takes after his father (the murdering, evil, delusional side) because he knows he doesn’t want to be like his father and the rest of the Warbreeds. I deeply respect how much he has been through in his struggle to get to this point and how much he is still struggling.
2 – He feels the Pull towards Aurora. (The Pull is basically his race’s mating call where you feel an attraction for one person. It’s like a lifelong attraction too. Like a soulmate sort of thing but not really.) He is aware of his feelings but doesn’t act on them for Aurora’s sake. They can feel the Pull for basically anyone (they can’t help it) but the other person might not share the same feelings. I absolutely love that Kal explains this to Aurora because he doesn’t want to force her into anything. He is such a sweetheart and his love for Aurora is just amazing. He chooses to distance himself from Aurora until she shows him that she likes him too. It’s just an adorable pairing.
3 – When Tyler brought up that he noticed him taking a liking to Aurora and mentioning the Pull, he gets all nervous and clams up. It was a hilarious and awkward moment that I will forever cherish. He is just so weird about talking to Tyler about it and it’s so realistic that it makes Kal so much more amazing.
FINIAN
Finian: Okay, not going to lie, I wasn’t his biggest fan either because he reminds me a lot of Captain Carswell Throne from the Lunar Chronicles and I’m really not that big of a fan of his either so I guess I was a little biased against Finian when I was first reading the book. But now, after we got past a few rough spots throughout the beginning half of the book, he easily became my second favorite character. (Maybe I should give Throne another chance. . . .) The scene with him confused about chimps is just PERFECTION. I cannot express how much I loved Finian after that scene. His comments about everything, his nicknames for everyone and his banter is just yessssssssssssssssssssssssssss. But I also love the more sensitive side to him. He is sort of self conscious about the fact that he needs machinery to help him walk and move properly. There is more to him than just his witty, sarcastic and funny comments.
ZILA
Zila: I don’t really know what to think about her. She is definitely a little . . . eccentric? She’s something that’s what. In all honesty, in this book is just sort of . . . existed. There really wasn’t much to her but she becomes amazing later on in the series.
Now. . . . for the ships. . . .
AURORA AND KAL
Aurora and Kal: Okay, honestly, they are obviously the main ship in the series. . . like come on. They are super adorable, but they aren’t my favorite ship. My favorite comes later in the series. . .
CAT AND TYLER
Cat and Tyler: Okay, we all know Cat loved Tyler and the ending when she realizes that he loved her absolutely broke my heart. Like seriously? You cannot do that to me. I must say, they are really cute but I ship them only platonically
FINIAN AND SCARLETT
Finian and Scarlett: We all know there is something between them. Like come on, it’s obvious.
THE END...FOR NOW
Now, I just need these ships to blossom in the next book (and they do) because they are amazing and we love them all. Except for Cat and Tyler. I am sorry but no. They are amazing friends. But that’s it. Friends only.
Thank you for listening to my long ramble about this book. Prepare ourselves for part two coming soon. . .
*waves book*
I’m off to read.
Peace,
Kath