A Rover's Story - Jasmine Warga

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Meet Resilience, a Mars rover determined to live up to his name.

Res was built to explore Mars. He was not built to have human emotions. But as he learns new things from the NASA scientists who assemble him, he begins to develop human-like feelings. Maybe there's a problem with his programming...

Human emotions or not, launch day comes, and Res blasts off to Mars, accompanied by a friendly drone helicopter named Fly. But Res quickly discovers that Mars is a dangerous place filled with dust storms and giant cliffs. As he navigates Mars's difficult landscape, Res is tested in ways that go beyond space exploration.

As millions of people back on Earth follow his progress, will Res have the determination, courage - and resilience - to succeed...and survive?"

🚀🚀🚀 

If you had asked me if I thought a book about a Mars rover would make me cry, I would probably have scoffed, but cry at this book I did! It's a fairly quick read, mainly chapters from Resilience's point of view, but interspersed with letters written to Resilience from the daughter of one of the scientists working on Res's programming. And it is just so, so good. Seeing Resilience learn and gradually start to make their own choices, Fly's enthusiasm and determination...it was so sweet and inspiring. And the daughter's letters were so heartwarming and sometimes so sad. Gah. Never in a million years would I have predicted this book making me feel so many things.

Memento - Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

 My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"AIDAN is the AI you'll love to hate. The advanced AI system was supposed to protect a fleet of survivors who'd escaped the deadly attack on Kerenza IV. AIDAN was supposed to be infallible. But in the chaotic weeks and months that followed, it became clear that something was terribly, terribly wrong with AIDAN..."

I have been waiting to read this novella for SO. LONG. I'm still a little in disbelief that it actually happened. Some background: this is a prequel of sorts to Illuminae, and it was initially offered as an incentive to preorder the first book in Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff's newest series, which, heartbreak of heartbreaks, I was unaware of. Consequently, while I knew it existed, I couldn't find it ANYWHERE. 

At long last, though, it was released for everyone to enjoy, and I couldn't be happier. It came at the perfect time, too, because I've been rereading the series, so I was able to listen to Memento and then return to Gemina with new knowledge of AIDAN's journey. And what a journey it has been! As if AIDAN's character weren't chilling enough, some of the background you get on what goes down immediately after the attack on Kerenza IV, WHEW! Just...incredible writing. I can't even handle my love of this series or these authors, how are they so good?

Honestly, need I even tell you to read this? Do it. And if you haven't read the Illuminae trilogy, get on it. Fantastic.

When Dimple Met Rishi - Sandhya Menon

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?

Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.

The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways."

Rishi and Dimple meet at Insomniacon, a summer program dedicated to coding and app development. The catch--Rishi is there specifically to meet Dimple, since their parents have arranged their marriage, but Dimple has no idea Rishi even exists. As you can imagine, their relationship gets off to a rocky start. Fortunately, it improves from there, but the pair are so different, is a real, successful relationship even possible for them?

I was pretty split on this book, and ultimately I think it's only meh. I liked Dimple, Rishi, and especially enjoyed reading about Rishi's brother, but most of the characters were pretty one-note, stereotypical, and not terribly well-developed. I loved the premise of a teenage girl being interested in coding and pursuing her career over romance, but the execution fell flat for me, especially since virtually the entire book is her being starry-eyed over Rishi. If you're going to tell me someone has no interest in a romantic relationship, you can't have her bowled over by some dude she barely knows with almost no build-up.

More than anything, the book was just too long. I was into it at the beginning, but after Dimple starts enjoying Rishi's company a few days into Insomniacon, nothing really happens. It's just chapter after chapter featuring more of the same until you get to the end of the book and suddenly things get exciting again and are hastily wrapped up. I wish there had been more character development, more time devoted to Dimple actually working on her app and developing her coding skills, and a little less time devoted to how their hearts beat harder when Dimple and Rishi looked at each other. I wouldn't discourage someone from reading this, but there are definitely more compelling stories out there.

Obsidio - Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they'll find seven months after the invasion? 

Meanwhile, Kady's cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza's ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha's past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. 

With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken."

So everyone has made it this far, surviving the Phobos victims, escaping the Lincoln in the battered and almost broken Hypatia, avoiding being liquidated or shaken apart in a crazy gemina field at the Heimdall station...but where will they go from here? Without access to a wormhole or jump gate, the refugees aboard the Mao and the Hypatia are stranded in space, condemned to dying aboard those ships. Their only option is the mobile jump gate BeiTech used to attack Kerenza, so it looks like Kady and Ezra are headed home, to what they don't know. Combining the refugees from Kerenza with those from Heimdall isn't all sunshine and rainbows, though...will conflict between crews put an end to their journey before the pair can find out?

Asha, presumed dead after the refugees aboard the Copernicus, the Hypatia, and the Alexander escaped Kerenza, is alive and...not well, but surviving. It's only a matter of time before BeiTech manages to repair their jump drive, liquidates the Kerenza survivors, and makes their escape. Asha and her friends are fighting back, but when BeiTech supplies start to go missing, none of the resistance seems to know what's going on. Are their plans unraveling? Or will Asha survive to be reunited with her cousin?

I've waited for this book for so long, and it did not disappoint. Action packed, breathtaking, intense...the trilogy is complete, and it remains one of my favorite stories ever. There were gasps, there were tears, at one point I broke down sobbing...read this book. READ IT.

Gemina - Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"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 Illuminaecontinues 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."

Just like with Illuminae, I'm scared that if I start describing this book I'll give stuff away. Trust, though, that it is just as incredible as its predecessor. Hanna is strong and tough, Nik is sarcastically funny and brave, and the world Amie and Jay have created is so vivid, reading the dossier makes you feel like you're there. Read this book for an amazing visual experience, listen to the audio version to feel like you're listening to a movie...better yet, do both. And do it soon, because you've got less than a week before the third book in the series, Obsidio, is released!

Illuminae - Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover: 

"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.


BRIEFING NOTE: 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."

This book is a fucking roller coaster ride. The audiobook is amazing, the book is unique and fascinating, and I highly recommend both versions. I don't want to get into any details of the story because how do I talk about it without giving stuff away? I don't think I can! But seriously, seriously, I cannot say enough good things about this book. Fans of Firefly, it's got a similar vibe. Fans of good books, this book is incredible. Anyone considering picking it up who is put off by the size--it's a tome--don't be! The book is so large because it's laid out like a real dossier, with case files, images, all kinds of incredible formatting. It seems huge, but it goes by surprisingly quickly. The audiobook does as well. It's read by a full cast, and it's more like listening to a movie than an audiobook. I loved both versions so much that I listened to the audiobook, immediately read the book version, read the book version again, and then re-listened to the audiobook. Four reads back to back, no lie. Truly, this is more than a book...it's a work of art. For the love of god, do yourself a favor...read it!

Warcross - Marie Lu

Rating: ⭐⭐

Warcross, by Marie Lu. I really wanted to like this book. It came out, and the cover art was amazing, the story intriguing...I wanted so badly to love everything about it as much as I loved that cover. That was not the case. Maybe I loved the cover too much.

From the cover: "For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. Needing to make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.

Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire."

The story really is intriguing, and Emika's backstory is heartbreaking. It's hard not to find yourself immediately rooting for her. It's just so. long.

Here's the thing. If I could rate the first and second halves of the book separately, I would give the second half 4.5/5 stars. The first half, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired. It starts off, the premise draws you in, and then nothing happens. I know it takes some time to develop the plot, give readers all the backstory, yada yada yada, but good lord, I was like eighteen chapters in before it finally felt like the story had really started. The early chapters of the book could have done with a little less description of all the lavish stuff Hideo was buying for Emi and a little more actual things happening. Also, the title of the book is Warcross. The entire plot centers around the game. Yet we get like...maybe two chapters of anyone actually playing Warcross. That was disappointing.

The second half, now...yes, please! We finally start to piece together what Zero is up to, watch as Emika opens up to her team in an attempt to save the Neurolink, and holy plot twists, Batman (though, for the record, I totally called Zero being Hideo's long-lost brother). The last few chapters especially had me on the edge of my seat. If the whole book had been that gripping, this definitely would have been one of my top reads for the year. That said, I have high hopes for the next book in the series. With all of the exposition out of the way, it stands to be a lot more exciting from the get-go.