Reading this book was a blast! I mean that quite literally – get ready for quite a few blasts in this adventure-heavy book. Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is exciting, action-packed, and fast-paced. Watch out though. This book leaves you HANGING. I mean like hanging by your fingernails from the edge of a cliff in the Grand Canyon kind of hanging. Cliffhangers are my least favorite way to end a story; however, because I liked the book so much that nasty cliffhanger at the end didn’t affect how much I enjoyed the overall experience.
The Gist
The book starts off right where the first – Aurora Rising – leaves off. Our teenage gang of misfits, aka Squad 312, are on a mission to save the galaxy. Trying to regroup after losing a member of the squad, the book starts with our heroes figuring out a plan of attack to understand what’s going on with Auri’s brainy powers and how to stop the Ra’haam from taking over the universe. Bank robberies, galactic battles, stealthy missions, romances, growing friendships, and betrayal kept me engrossed and turning the pages.
Holy Space Walks, Batman!
The best thing of any Kaufman/Kristoff book are the characters and this book didn’t let me down. The development and growth is beautiful. I loved Zila’s character in particular. Her role is relatively small but the chapters where she was the main character were very heartfelt and gave me all the feels. Like Zila would say, “I am not feeling nothing.”
The plot was also so fun! The bank robberies, running away from estranged sisters, and daunting space walks were just some of the exciting moments that this book had in store. It felt like each chapter had some exciting action-packed adventure but it never got old! It just made you want to read the book that much faster.
There were two things I didn’t enjoy about this book. I’ve touched on one already – that dang cliffhanger. I tend to feel like that is a dirty dirty thing to do to your readers. It’s totally possible for each book to end nicely while still leaving you with the urgent need to pick up the next one because the overall story isn’t over. I think they could have done that with this book as well. The second thing that felt off is the reaction of Squad 312 (especially Auri) to Kai’s big secret. I thought this crew had each others backs because they were family and would be there no matter what. But as soon as someone gets a little too real, they bail. That sucks and felt like a huge flaw in the character development.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was very entertaining and I’m excited to see what happens in the next Aurora Cycle book!
Alyssa Flores
Alyssa reads hundreds of books a year and is on a never-ending quest to find the perfect book.
