This is half of a book

I love this series. The characters, the story, the setting, everything about it is The Good Kush(tm).... but... it's half a book. there's no resolution to the main storyline. I know, I know, it's a trilogy. They'll resolve it in the next one. But I'm of the opinion that every book should have an independent plot that gets resolved while working toward the overarching goal. Aurora Burning /almost/ does that. it takes us right to the edge of resolution and then ends. There's cliffhangers, and then there's unfinished. And this is the latter. I was prepared to give this book the 5 stars it deserves, but I can't. I'm so bothered by being given half a book, that I'm actually writing my first review. I don't think it's unreasonable to want a book with a beginning, middle, and end. Aurora Burning is not that.

5 people found this helpful

First Book was good, this one is horrible.

Really enjoyed the first book in the series. This second book is extremely poorly written. Apparently they wanted the book finished as quickly as possible, with as many lame, unoriginal, one-liners as they could cram into it. Really enjoy multiple narrators. They just didn't have much to work with.

4 people found this helpful

Best story I’ve heard in a very long time!

I’ll start with why this is not just great but a stellar book, besides entertaining. It has meaning. Many meanings. Each character has their own personal journey full of depth and we are as mystified as they are what their destiny is. Each is different from the others and somehow the author keeps each evolving and moving in a nice weave with the action of the main story. What’s really intriguing is that each journey is meaningful to not only the character, but in a universal way that resonated with me too. So impressed. This is categorized as a YA book but I’m middle aged and enjoying it very much. (I think there’s a whole cadre of readers like me who have gone to YA because of both the raunchiness of adult stories and lack of a good story because of it as a double whammy. However, some YA is really truly too “young” for me. Lovely series but bleh, too much teen drama. So this is like finding a pearl in the ocean.)
I loved the first book as well, Aurora Rising. It’s the set-up book though and it’s in this second installment where all of the characters become more familiar.
The writing is smooth, action fast, and the dialogue is good and, what many sometimes don’t notice, written in each character’s personal style. Often dialogue is written and could belong to any of the characters. (Why I like Ilona Andrews-a man and wife team- the men talk like men and it’s a hoot.)
It does end with the mother of all cliffhangers- in fact we get to visit each character in quick shots of them dangling from their own private cliffs, lol. But for once I don’t feel too upset despite how long I have to wait for the finale. It kinda made sense.

2 people found this helpful

Case when multiple narrators was a bad choice

I don’t mind when book has a narrator for every character, but not in this case. When story perspective changes all the time it’s really hard to enjoy narration and voice acting. Every time you just got comfortable with how every character sounds like - story perspective switches, and you have to adjust again.

1 person found this helpful

Oh...

I had to check to see if my heart was still inside my body... it is, but it's forever damaged by this beautifully tragic series!! I really just want to sit and have a good ten minute cry, but instead I'm being productive and writing this review. I'm not huge on space fantasy, but this is so much more!! This is an experience that you just have to go upon! The never ending twists absolutely keep you riveted and leave you clutching your chest! There is betrayal, heartbreak, loss, faith, forgiveness, acceptance and just about every other human emotion packed into these unputdownable pages!! Just when you think you know which direction the squad will next embark upon, here comes another event and we're back to just shutting down and being a silent participant. The gifts left for the squad will both blow your mind and steal your breath away while they're in the midst of utter chaos. The ending is gutting and I just have to hold up hope that in the end all will be well. I cannot believe how much I loved this!! I'm one hundred percent invested in these characters and how this will conclude. I really don't have a favorite character and for me that is a rare thing! I love the squad and each member has so many likable and relatable qualities. Somethings will never change, no matter how far humanity reaches into the future, like love, loss and the value of forgiveness. This is undoubtedly going to leave many readers with a book hangover. Because... that ending... how do you recover!? And when in the worlds is the next book due!? The narrators were all brilliant!! They made this come alive and it's become my favorite audiobook!!

1 person found this helpful

Fantastic Read!!!!

I was really nervous going into this book because of how much I enjoyed the first one. However, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff did not disappoint. This was absolutely fantastic!! It was non-stop action and I loved the witty banter between all of the characters!! I don't know how I will wait an entire year for the third book.

1 person found this helpful

a little to much into feelings /emotion

a little to much into feelings /emotion for good sci-fi . I know this is for young adult but it seemed to spend to much time discussing explaining feelings.

Female narrators need to calm down

This is more of an observation on the overall direction of the cast rather than decisions made by the individual actors.

Why must all the female narrators be so emotive compared to the male narrators? Tyler is an alpha, so his voice actor makes him sound like a leader—frank, confident, assertive. Aurora is a go-getter and a top student, and her voice wobbles or cracks every other sentence. Why?!

Tyler’s voice remains firm even as he describes the horrendous pain of undergoing torture. No gasping, no fake sobs, no cracking voice. Aurora’s voice rises into hysterics as she describes a vision of Kal getting shot. I am PRETTY SURE the first scenario calls for more emotive acting than the second. And furthermore, why does Aurora never LOWER the pitch of her voice when something horrified her? She is not going into hysterics all the time, she is a strong main character who meets challenges head on.

better than the first

This was a great follow-up to the first novel. I really enjoyed this one even more than the first. I loved getting more into the story and this one was easier to understand because I really knew the characters in this one so it was less confusing.

I don't mind that they didn't wrap up the whole story because I know there is a third, but this one truly felt like a "run out of paper" ending. It really, really abruptly stops and I wished it had felt like just a few things were more wrapped up.

The Audible narrators did well on the audio book and it was enjoyable to listen to.

awesome read/listen. glad I bought it

The book was well written relatively unpredictable Leah unpredictable and just an overall fun read