Review: Aurora Rising

Aurora Rising

Aurora Cycle #1

by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Alfred A. Knopf, 2019

YA Science Fiction

7 cups of tea out of 11

Summary: Tyler is at the top of his class and should have the pick of the best to be part of his crew but he misses his opportunity because he saves a girl, Aurora, who’s been floating in the Fold for two hundred years. So he gets a crew of misfits and a mission without any instructions but plenty of enemies who want Aurora erased.

Likes: The characters individually stand out and made me root for them. As an ensemble they also work really well. The characters are the main reason I want to continue this series. The allusion to The Princess Bride also made me happy.

Dislikes: I’ve never been fond of the romantic, sexual imprinting trope. We also have an audience psyche-out sequence. The deception was more believable than the reveal which is why it fooled me but TV shows that do this have the same flaw, the reveal seems cheesy and badly acted. This is also more pronounced because it’s a rotating first person narrative. We’ve gotten everyone’s perspectives by that point.

Overall this reminds me of Illuminae for *spoiler* reasons and These Broken Stars for more *spoiler* reasons. There was a lot I liked and two things I really didn’t. I’d still recommend this if you’re a fan of fabulous ensemble casts and action-packed science fiction adventures and I’ll be continuing the series.

Content

Language – Medium

Sexual – Mild, innuendo

Violence – Medium