Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff- a Book Review

6/11/2021

Note: This review is spoiler free (spoilers are all marked and have warnings)!
Book: Aurora Rising
Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Genre: Sci-Fi
Age: For readers 14 and up
Rating: 3/5 Stars

The more I think about this book, the more I hate it. The romance sucks, the characters are not great and the plot is forgettable. Seriously. It’s only been two months since I read this book and I already forgot 90% of it’s plot. Good thing I made notes while reading or this review would have been a big, fat blank page 😬

What I didn’t like:

Relationships: I literally rolled my eyes at every attempt at romance in this book. Also most of this section is not a spoiler since the romantic pairings are made obvious from the first time everyone meets.

Aurora and Kal (Mild Spoilers): Ew. Ew. Ew. I hate this ship from the bottom of my heart.

Please allow me to present my case:

It grows from a “mating bond” and I immediately went 🤢

Great. SJM: ✨ but in space ✨

Aurora asked Kal to stop calling her Beshmai (which means mate) and to give her some space. AND WHAT DID HE DO? He continued to call her Beshmai and try to force her into liking him (page 424 or 421 are examples). I found this really creepy of him because they’re literally strangers and he’s calling this random girl he met a week ago his soulmate. Then he proceeds to call her that, even when she’s made it clear she’s uncomfortable.
It’s the most forced thing EVER: This is why I hate mating relationships. One second she hates him and then the other she’s like “I feel safe next to him”. I’m not joking when I say that she could be mad at him, and then the next page she’s acting like he’s the next best thing since sliced bread. The mating bond is obviously forcing her to feel this way because no sane person would be attracted to someone who is constantly overstepping his boundaries (cough cough KAL 😡 )
For all these reasons….. I HATE THIS SHIP!!!
Finian and Scarlet: I knew that Finian and Scarlet would end up together and I was rooting for them. But I expected them to get together in the middle of the second book after more development… not all of a sudden in the first book.
Cat and Ty: Eh. What do I even say about them? They were just boring. Also it was completely one sided.

2. The bazillion POVS: There are 7 POVS in this book and all of them sound the exact same. I found myself checking the start of a chapter multiple times to see whose POV it was. I can’t tell you how many times I thought I was reading Cat’s pov but it turned out to be Scarlet or Finian. There is no distinction between the characters or povs. They’re all extra snarky and witty to cover up the fact that the authors forgot to give them genuine character development. ALL the characters are supposedly snarky and witty (besides my girl Zila) and it’s so hard to differentiate between their povs.
3. It’s confusing: There were parts of this book where I went “What. Just. Happened.” not because I was shocked or a plot twist happened but because I genuinely couldn’t comprehend what was written on the page. Idk if I’m just dumb or if the pacing went wayyyyyy too fast in the action parts, giving no time for the reader to comprehend what happened.
SPOILERS UNDERLINED: I don’t get what happened when Aurora saw Rahamm's existence and then there was a mental war between Cat and Auri? And what were those memory demonstration scenes?
4 . Unrealistic: If these are the academy’s last picks for the draft, why is Zila so smart? She should have been picked wayyy before. Realistically this situation doesn’t make any sense because we’re supposed to believe this team is the last ranked in the school (except for Tyler). But it’s the opposite and everyone on the team is apparently a prodigy. 🤨
The tagline for this book is: “They’re not the heroes we deserve. They’re just the ones we could find.” But everyone in this book is amazing at what they do, super smart, super pretty, etc.
5. Kal: Ugh I hate this character. Not only because he was super pushy in his relationship with Aurora but because he is boring and I just don’t get his purpose in this book other than to be the romantic interest.

What I liked:
Nothing. Ok fine, I did like some things but I completely forgot what I liked. This book was just not memorable in the slightest. Maybe the second book is more likeable. Someone will have to tell me if Aurora Burning is better because I for sure, am not reading the second book to find out for myself.

I guess the book was entertaining at times but mostly it just frustrated me. But hey, I’m in the minority here since most people loved this book. Don’t let me stop you from reading this but keep in mind that it might be a huge letdown.

Read my Spoiler Free Review for Shadow and Bone

Read My Review for A court of silver flames

13 Comments

Aileen

6/11/2021 02:35:18 pm

I agree with you that the plot is forgettable. Most things I just don't remember. Reading your review I read about scenes I forgot were in this book. I must say it took me some time to read it because I couldn't focus on it. I often found myself drifting away. So sometimes I had to reread a couple sentences to understand what's going on.
I must admit I kind of liked the idea of Kal and Aurora together at the beginning but than it just got awkward and it was a no for me.
When the hell did Finian and Scarlett end up together? I don't remember such a scene. And here I was thinking whole the time in the books that they're not together. I didn't even notice it in the second book. One proof more that it's not really memorable.
Well, I read the second book and in my opinion it was better than the first one. But I don't think that I would recommend it to you.
All in all, I can totally understand your opinion. There are maybe small things on which I wouldn't agree with you. But that's normal. Everyone has a taste of his own. Besides really liked your review☺️💕.

Bookconfessionssecrets (Creator)

6/12/2021 10:44:50 am

Thank you for reading my review! Yah the plot is pretty unforgettable and confusing, which makes it harder to remember 😂

Also I apologize but apparently Finian and Scarlet don’t end up together. I could have sworn they had but another comment let me know that they actually hadn’t ended up together 😅

Maybe I will try the first hundred pages of Aurora Burning and see if I like it 🤷‍♀️ but thanks for letting me know it gets better!

Ren

6/11/2021 06:15:17 pm

Hi! i’m Ren, i think you asked me to read your review and comment? Well here i am! 😌😌
While i think we definitely have different opinions of the book i completely understand where you’re coming from! Kal also kinda made me uncomfortable…. but i still like him and Auri’s relationship cause more towards the end (you may not remember this part i’m not sure) Auri expresses also having feelings for Kal but wanting to take it slow. And he understands and agrees to go slower instead of just leaving when the mission is done. But i completely understand why you didn’t like it.

I don’t really recall when Scarlett and Fin got together? I don’t think that happened.. Fin has a crush on her and i think she likes him back but they definitely didn’t get together. I understand mixing this up though the book wasn’t the clearest.

And i totally agree with Ty and Cat. I overall did not like Cats character at all. I thought she was annoying and her entire character centered around being “in love” with Tyler.

Thanks for letting me read your review! while we have different views of the book i respect your opinion! 😊😊 i’m totally gonna follow you now!

6/12/2021 10:42:09 am

Ohh I think now I remember that part. I guess I’m a bit too harsh on them but I just don’t feel the chemistry between Auri and Kal. Maybe they are much better together as a pair in the second book!

WAIT Scarlet and Finian don’t get together? I feel like such an idiot now 😅 Whoops ignore that part of my review then

I also thought Cat was annoying ngl!
And thank you so much for reading my review!!

6/15/2021 03:31:15 pm

I love how passionate you are about your feelings towards this book.
Even if I don’t particularly agree with any of it.

I enjoy it having multiple perspectives as it gives different lenses as the plot progresses.

I think the relationships within the story do come across a bit young at times but that’s when I remind myself it is a YA and it’s intended to read young.

I will definitely be finishing the series!

6/16/2021 12:56:21 pm

Thank you so much! That’s totally fine if we have differing opinions! And what you said about the romance being ya is true but since I consider myself the ideal ya target audience (I’m 16), I feel like it was even too juvenile for a ya audience

silvertonguereader

6/18/2021 09:51:16 am

Wow I absolutely love your review! I haven’t read the book yet so I’m not sure if I will agree but I love how much detail you put into your spoiler free reviews😍. I will be reading this soon and I’m a bit worried because I really don’t like forced-feeling relationships and what not but I’m going to give it a go anyways.

Thank you so much for pointing me toward your reviews I really enjoy your passion! I can’t wait to read more💜

6/19/2021 09:25:22 am

Thank you so so much!! This comment literally made my day! I hope you enjoy the book, it has enjoyable actions scenes and sci fi elements but in my opinion it horribly lacks in romance :( Hopefully the good parts outweigh the bad parts when you give this a read!

Nadia

6/22/2021 01:53:37 am

I agree on some points like Ty and Cat relationship was boring. Cat as a character was annoying. And also the plot did get a bit sloppy towards the end. It indeed was a bit difficult to comprehend what was happening at some point. But i loved Kal and Auri's budding relationship. I love every character actually accept Cat. And as far as i remember and understood, everyone finds zila a sociopath who blows things up and that's probably why she was left out. Nevertheless i do get where your coming from. The plot and pacing were a weak point in this book for me. Its not a great read i agree but a good one. I just got aurora burning audibook. Lets see how that goes 🤞

6/23/2021 05:49:41 pm

I agree! Cat and Ty were boringggg! Glad you agree 💕 also that’s totally fine if you like Kal and Aurora! I understand 😊 Ohhhh ok that makes sense why no one picked Zila.

Caryn

6/23/2021 11:47:02 am

Hi 🥰
I really enjoyed reading the outlook you had on this book. While I may have a different view on the book (I love both books 😁) I could see some of the points you were making. I agree, I never liked Cat and really didn't like Tyler and Cat's relationship.
I do think you should read the second one, I found it better than the first, perhaps listen to the audio book.
Overall I liked reading your thoughts!

6/23/2021 05:51:13 pm

Omg thank you so much! This made my day 😊 And I’m glad you had a different opinion but was still able to understand a different outlook! And yahhh Cat and Ty were pretty boring 🤷‍♀️

Yah maybe I will read the second book! Hopefully I like it better than the first one

Erin Stanley link

9/7/2021 07:06:07 am

Hey! You asked me to check out your review and comment so here I am! We definitely have different opinions on the book and that’s okay! I loved Kal and Kal and Auri. In the end when Auri agrees to take things slow with Kal she asks him what Beshmai means and he says there are no human words to accurately describe but the closest would be “beloved.” I also think this was more of a building or a set up book where things were put into place to really take off in books two and three. So I can get where some people don’t like it. (: I also didn’t like Cat but I felt like she tried to hard to be the “tough I don’t give a shit about you or your feelings” girl and it was nauseating. Like dude just tell him you love him and if he doesn’t return the love tough get over yourself already. I liked other parts of her character but her tough guy act had my eyes rolling. Lol, but I like when I don’t LOVE all the characters (: thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff- a Book Review

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