Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Imagine being stuck in space with HAL, a zombie-virus, and your very recently ex-partner

Illuminae (Illuminae Files 1) by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

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If you take some of the more famous bits that include humans from 2001: Space Odyssey, add a probably evil corporation out to destroy everyone and everything the main characters hold dear, a deadly zombie-like virus, and two main characters who are teenagers who have just broken up at the beginning of all the trouble, you have the basic premise of Illuminae (The Illuminae Files_01). If you know the basic types just noted, then you know the characters and the narrative already for the most […]

“I am not good. Nor am I evil. I am no hero. Nor am I villain. I am AIDAN.”

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

Gemina by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

Obsidio by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

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I feel like I’ve been reading these books forever and that’s not necessarily a criticism. These are books are seriously big, and I definitely got invested in the story and the main characters (I quickly learned not to get too attached to anyone who wasn’t a beautiful teenager or a creepy computer). But my god, these books are long. The three books take place hundreds of years in the future (I think? There are many references to our life on earth: religion, history, poetry, etc. […]

Evil AIs are in my wheelhouse

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

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I picked this up purely based on the renewed buzz it was getting in one of my book circles. It was available as a library audio download, so why not? I went into it knowing basically nothing about it except what the cover looked like. I was honestly expecting a mystery book since it seemed like a case file. And I guess it really is a case file, just not the kind I was anticipating. In reality, it’s part evil AI sci fi and part […]

The Rare YA Sequels That Didn’t Disappoint

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As I said in my review of Illuminae, the first book in this series, I always worry about young adult trilogies going off the rails in their second or third books, because I’ve been burned by this so many times. If the plot doesn’t get downright silly, standard tropes are thrown in that kill the suspense because I know exactly what’s coming next, or characters become completely one-dimensional and only exist to move the plot forward. Not so with the second book in this series, […]

Actually Unpredictable YA

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I used to read a lot of young adult fiction. I still read it relatively often for a 35-year-old woman. And as much as there’s a ton of genuinely great young adult fiction out there, a lot of it is rote and predictable. This holds especially true, unfortunately, for both sci-fi and fantasy and is often even more true for a series in either genre. You can guess at so many elements that will appear: a love triangle, a mysteriously reappearing parent, the list goes […]

Slasher Girls and Monster Boys

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This collection contains lots of great horror stories. They are written by some really awesome YA authors as well. Sorry, I’m tired, so I’m going to direct you to my blog for more information. You can read my full review here.



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