Aurora Burning

HOW COULD THEY DO THIS???! HOW??! Have they no souls??! No hearts??!! To leave that ending RIGHT THERE LIKE THAT!!!

Brilliant little bastards.

Seriously, I’m looking down at the progress percentage as I’m reading and seeing 97%, 98%, and I’m like….no, no, there’s not enough left. How is this going to work?? So basically my heart is a giant open chasm until the next book comes out. GREAT. It’s not like the world isn’t in enough shambles as it is, lol.

Rereading Aurora Rising immediately prior to this book (which just seemed a no-brainer, entirely appropriate, like possibly disrespectful if you didn’t) was like reuniting with old friends and I grinned like an idiot through most of it, remembering old moments and being surprised by things I’d forgotten. It was also great to piece things together knowing what you already knew having read it before. I found that characters I hadn’t clicked with as well the first time through were much easier to acclimate to on the second run. In fact, I enjoyed every last one of them immensely. Sinking back into this series has been the greatest reprieve from all the chaos going on in the world right now.

On to Aurora Burning! Again, I found myself grinning like an idiot for what I would normally consider ENTIRELY too much on a normal day when I started this book but for these authors, there is no limit. NONE. The character’s pitch-perfect witty banter, the seamless flow of action sequences, the pounding after pounding our favorite Aurora Legion Squad takes right out the gate, just craziness! And yet, flawless. Amie and Jay weave in some whimsical and quizzingly mysterious plot twists (that sure, if you’re paying attention you can probably untangle upfront but who cares?! Because you LOVE these characters and THE RIDE and you want to see where all this leads and so you’re IN IT, lol) and we get to see some fantastic character development that we were harping for in Aurora Rising (looking at you, Zila and Kal, and definitely Auri ~ holy cow). Some interesting new characters, crazy space stations, fun new spaceships (YAAASSS) and just an excellent sci-fi adventure THAT I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY LEFT HANGING RIGHT THERE.

Bloody brilliant. And yet…my aching heart. I’m not joking. My chest literally hurts, lol. So well crafted. 15 Gadrillion million stars.

First of all my first impression immediately on finishing – I assumed there would be a third book in the series but to leave off everything in a huge freaking cliffhanger (one.? Make it five) is just cruel and unfair. Finish this installment and leave some stuff open is legitimate. Leaving the whole thing open at the climax is just mean.
I don’t think this book needed to be quite this long. The emerald city escapades were about three times too long. A lot of stuff happened in this book but it seemed heavy on the action and rather light on character development.
There were quite a few plot twists. They not only lack foreshadowing, we are giving conflicting evidence that later turns out to be untrue.
I liked the way the squad was coming together but then when a big secret comes out they all turn on the person it’s about. I think their reaction was overly harsh and I’m disappointed in Auri and the rest of them. It was totally a catch 69 (you’re mad you weren’t told the truth but when you discovered it you reacted in the worst possible way). Judging a person based on their background is a really mean reaction.
I don’t get Zila. I liked her backstory and I’m glad we learned it but closing off your emotions shouldn’t make you talk like a robot. What is up with her speech patterns? She doesn’t even use abbreviations.
Scarlett was my least favorite character and I really didn’t need a whole lecture about her cleavage. I liked her taking charge in the second half but the scatter brained flirt vibe was still too heavy for someone who successfully completed her training in an elite academy. She doesn’t remember anything she learned because she was flirting or making out? Sigh.
The big secret about the twins came out of nowhere – zero foreshadowing.
There were some cool plot devices and things coming full circle, but the book as a whole felt overdone. It would probably have benefitted from a trimmer plot.

I am honestly in shock. The way everything was executed, characterization, plot, all of it was stunning. You’re probably gonna need a heart monitor though, and I say that with love. Also, as a disabled kid only a bit older than Finian… I wish I could describe what his strength and grit and heart mean to me. He’s genuine, and he’s not representation for the sake of representation. So thank you. Squad 312 forever.

It’s not often that I like the middle book of a trilogy more than I did the first but in this case I did! No time was spent in marking time or building a story – it was action, followed by action, followed by more action. And then, bang, it finished. Just like that. No explanations, no conclusions. It was the most abrupt ending I think I have ever read and I loved it.

My main connection with the series is basically with the characters. Kaufman and Kristoff write young people so well. They have no fear of stereotypes and use them well. The banter between the members of the group is smart and funny. The one really close relationship is handled nicely and we do not have to read pages of what happens between them.

There are some amazing reveals along the way and not everyone is who we thought they were. Many questions are raised too and we now have to wait until book 3 to have them answered. It is going to be a long wait.

Note: this is book two of a series with a common story arc and the installments should be read in the intended order.

Review
Oh my, that was disappointing. I liked the first book, liked the premises, the overall story arc and the characters werent stellar, but interesting enough.
Sadly, this sequel doesnt hold up to that. Although 500 pages long, in about half of it, nothing of relevance to characters or plot is told. We learn a bit about Zila, but thats a few pages and that was it. No more depth to any of the other characters. Instead, they start behaving in uncharacteristic ways and get into the too-stupid-to-live-territory. Most of the revelations werent too surprising, but I do admit that there were one or two twists that were cool enough. Those prevented me from DNFing it altogether, although I was skimming at times just to get it over with.

The crew, now minus one member, is searching for clues to how Aurora is supposed to trigger the Eshvarens weapon and prior to that, finding said weapon. They are persecuted by the enemys GIA agents, by Kals slightly unhinged sister and the rest of the galaxies because now they are worth a huge bounty.
By some unexplained deus ex machina help from unexpected sources, they get out of most of their dire straights. Right until the rushed end that ended in what can only be described as the worst. Cliffhanger. Ever. The whole book is slow, full of not too interesting stuff and then there is not enough pagetime left to wrap it all up in some halfway decent way, but let everything hang over the literal abyss… really?!?
I dont know if I am going to continue with the series, because of the pacing, the way the characters became something unrecognizable and the bad bad cliffhanger that obviously is added to compel me to buy the next book. Not cool.

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