A Conspiracy of Stars - Olivia A. Cole

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Octavia has only ever had one goal: to follow in the footsteps of her parents and become a prestigious whitecoat, one of the scientists who study the natural wonders of Faloiv. The secrets of the jungle’s exotic plants and animals are protected fiercely in the labs by the Council of N’Terra, so when the rules suddenly change, allowing students inside, Octavia should be overjoyed.

But something isn’t right. The newly elected leader of the Council has some extremist views about the way he believes N’Terra should be run, and he’s influencing others to follow him. When Octavia witnesses one of the Faloii—the indigenous people of Faloiv—attacked in front of her in the dark of night, she knows the Council is hiding something. They are living in separate worlds on a shared planet, and their fragile peace may soon turn into an all-out war.

With the help of Rondo, a quiet boy in class with a skill for hacking, and her inquisitive best friend, Alma, Octavia is set on a collision course to discover the secrets behind the history she’s been taught, the science she’s lived by, and the truth about her family."

This book was ok, but nothing mindblowing. Like the cover blurb says, all Octavia has ever wanted is to follow the path of her parents and become a scientist of Faloiv, the planet humanity has lived on since past generations destroyed Earth. Then an encounter at the end of the first chapter with a philax, a bird native to Faloiv, leads Octavia to the realization that something about her is not normal...her senses seem more heightened than everyone else's, and most importantly, she has begun to feel things--namely, the emotions of the animals around her. It's a lot harder to be excited about her unexpected internship studying the mammals of this strange planet when she can feel the panic and terror of the animals being studied, and Octavia can't stop wondering...what has caused her to have these experiences? And does it have something to do with the rising tension between Octavia's parents? The mysterious plans of Doctor Albatur, the head of their Council? 

I'm not opposed to the slow build as a storytelling technique, but this book took it a little far. We find out about Octavia and her strange telepathic talents early on, and though the search for answers begins, all we get are more questions. What is Doctor Albatur planning? Why are her parents increasingly at each other's throats? Why did she see her dad helping to drag a kidnapped Faloii into the labs? What happened to the hundred people who went missing after the Vagantur landed on Faloiv? The book is 418 pages long, and the reader doesn't start to get real answers until page 320. After that, the story develops pretty quickly and finally ends on a giant cliffhanger. I could almost forgive the slow development if this were part of a series, but...is it? I couldn't find anything about a sequel, but who knows, maybe it's in the work. Anyway, regardless, while I didn't dislike this book, spending 300+ pages building suspense and then basically infodumping everything in the last <100 pages is frustrating for me as a reader. Give me more breadcrumbs along the way to keep me interested.

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.

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!