#85 Obsidio

Obsidio by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman

What an exhilarating finale to such a fantastic YA sci-fi trilogy! this has quickly become one of my favourite series. This book series is an epic YA sci-fi series that is told in mixed media, its told through video logs, chat logs, illustrations etc. This book really has it all, its action packed, set in space and isnt too heavy on the romance front. Which is perfect for me as i hate romance in YA with a passion. I once again listened to the audiobook on audible and it was a blast! The full cast, sound effects and overall atmosphere really make this audiobook unique and such an amazing reading experience! 

This instalment follows Asha and Rhys and all of our favourites from the first two books including my low key favourite character from the whole series, Aiden. I just love all diverse all these characters have been throughout and how morally grey some of them are! Its just been a pleasure to read honestly. So this book begins with Cady, Ezra, Nik and Hanna on their journey back to Kerenza after Beitechs initial attack on the planet it is made very clear that the only chance of survival these teens have is to head back to Kerenza. Our new chracter Asha is working under cover for the resistance (so many Star Wars vibes) when she runs into her ex boyfriend Rhys and is horrified to find out that he is on the enemy side. Asha tries to use him for information about the enemy side and thus begins our journey into the action that was this book!

Throughout the book i was so nervous about the fate of these characters that ive grown to love, i know Jay Kristoff can be pretty stabby when he wants to be so i was buckling myself in for some serious heartbreak and i must say the final 150 pages are probably the most tense ive been whilst reading since Darkdawn! The story is tense from the get go and this ending does not disappoint, i genuinely think this book raised my blood pressure and it took me days to feel normal again! I invested so much energy into this series! 

Obsidio didnt feel quite as tense as Gemina and didnt have as may twists and turns but was still fantastic and 5 star worthy. I enjoyed Asha and Rhys a lot, it did feel a bit rushed and i didnt feel like i got to know them they same way as with Cady, Ezra, Hanna and Nik. Obsidio features all the characters from the previous books and you dont get to know Asha and Rhys as much but i was so happy to have all my old favs in the book. 

Overall such a great series! I cant say too much about the plot as it will definitely ruin the whole thing. I loved Aidens character development, it shook me. Issac was such a wonderful addition to the cast too, i loved he constantly told everyone off for their language on the chat logs. This was exhilarating from start to finish and i highly reccomend 

#84 Gemina

Gemina by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman 

Gemina is book 2 in the Illuninae files which is a YA sci-fi trilogy. Gemina is a direct continuation on from Illuminae, the story picks right up from where the first book ends only slight difference is that we are following different characters this time! In the first book we follow Cady & Ezra whilst in this book we are following Hanna & Nik.

Hanna is the Heimdall station captains daughter whilst Nik is described as a relunctant member of a notorious crime family. Together they must navigate the second wave of the BeiTech assault. The characters from the first book are still knocking about but just not as prominent in this book which is fine by me because if you read my review of Illuminae you will know that i didnt really care for the characters as much. I will as ever try to keep this as spoiler free as possible but there may be a few spoilers regarding the first book.

As characters Hanna & Nik were very enjoyable to read about, i particularly enjoyed Hanna. Hannas father is the captain of Heimdall and has been somewhat training Hanna her whole life to take over, he plays strategy games with her and has taught her combat training so you can imagine when BeiTech infiltrate their jump station that Hanna is ready to kick some ass. Nik was ok, much of an improvement on Ezra thats for sure, he seems very rough around the edges but we get an insight into his life as the story goes on and it really changes the readers opinion (well it did for me at least).

I downloaded this book from Audible as i have heard so many incredible things about the audiobooks of this series and i was not disappointed, it was really well done and had a full cast to really bring the story to life as well as the sound effects from the ship itself and of course the action scenes. I very quickly latched onto the characters and immediately became enthralled with the story itself, its so tense with so many twists and turns. I found myself much with the first book really enjoying the mixed media as i did read along as i listened where possible. With Gemina our main protagonist Hanna keeps an art style journal and there were lots of drawings included within the book which i believe were illustrated by the author Marie Lu which was a cool added bonus.

For me Gemina was a five star read, it had everything i wanted and more. Ive already thought about rereading it physically and its made me want to give Illuminae another chance as i may have critiqued it a little harshly. I found the flow of the plot and pacing was perfect in this book, there was never a dull moment and i was on the edge of my seat constantly. I found the introduction of more scientific things in this book to be really cool, im really into science anyway so that was really fun for me and something i wish had been more incorporated into the first book.

I had to force myself to stop listening a few times and it really felt like everything else, eating, work and sleep were invented purely to keep me away from this book. The direction the story took in this book was something i didnt see coming especially the last 100 pages or so when we really see the similarities with book 1 and its characters. For the first few hundred pages i honestly thought this was more of a companion novel as there wasnt must mention of Cady or Ezra but i was very happy when they were re-introduced. I really missed Aiden as a character and that was possibly the only thing lacking in Gemina for me and even that wasnt enough to knock any stars off.

Im honestly itching to start reading Obsidio. I will be really sad when i finish this trilogy but i do have Aurora Burning to look forward to in May.

#83 Eight Will Fall

Eight Will Fall by Sarah Harian

This book was the December 'Defying the Odds' Fairyloot box pick! The book came signed by the author, embossed hardcover and exclusive under the dust jacket art.

The book is set in a land where magic has been outlawed and empaths exist in the shadows too afraid to use the magic they possess for the fear of execution from the hands of Queen Melay. The empaths are forced to mine for a mineral known as luminite, this mineral is used to control all empath magic and is the Queens greatest weapon against them. Our main protagonist is Larkin, when soldiers raid her home and kidnap Larkin and her brother Garran they are thrown in the dungeon cells with other empaths. The Queens plans for these criminal empaths is to send them on a mission to The Reach which is basically a big cave in order to hunt down an evil that is threatening her kingdom. Larkin must travel into the unknown with other empaths and a scholar guide in order to seek out this evil and destroy it. The Queen is using the empaths loved ones including Garran as leverage, if the empaths fail to carry out this task she will kill them all. Along the way they seem to uncover secrets about each of their pasts which leads them to believe they have been chosen for a reason.

Ive seen this described as Six of Crows a lot and from someone who didnt really take to that book i can say that Eight Will Fall doesnt have many similarities to it outside out the ragtag criminal group that embark on a shared task together. I actually found this book to be a lot more similar to The Luminous Dead which i read last year and really enjoyed, it had the same creepy atmosphere and horror elements.

I did enjoy this book but i didnt love it as much as i was hoping to. A few things i really liked: the cover is stunning (i know its superficial and doesnt pertain to the actual story but i couldnt not mention it!) its really fitting to the story. I really enjoyed the darker themes and when the story properly kicked off in The Reach i was here for it. The magic system was interesting so empaths can take emotions and use them to conjure things or to destroy things, i think there could have been a lot more focus on the magic system as it felt a bit lacking and left me wanting for more but this book is a stand alone.

Now for the things i didnt like: downfalls- my main one was there were too many characters in the beginning and i was SO confused about who was who and how they were relevant, what doesnt help is that they all have weird names and it took me ages to figure out what gender they all were for example there is a male character called Tamsyn. Another thing that bugged me was the sheer lack of world building or lore information, its touched on a bit but not nearly enough to immerse the reader into the world.  I also found the first 100 pages to be really slow and info dumpy which wasnt ideal, when the group entered The Reach the book really picked up from there.

Overall its an enjoyable read and not the worst YA fantasy book ive read in the last 12months for sure! I was really glad in a way that it was a stand alone as it seemed like the kind of story that could have been unnecessarily dragged out into a trilogy. This book is Sarah Harians first standalone work, she has a trilogy out that i wouldnt rule out reading as i did enjoy elements of her writing and i will watch out for any of her future work.

#82 Recursion

Recursion by Blake Crouch 

This book at its core is about memories. Imagine you woke up one morning and everything you thought was true wasn't. Your friends, husband, kids and friends no longer exist. You have vivid memories of each of these people but that's all they are, a vivid memory. All those vivid memories are a symptom of 'False Memory Syndrome' or 'FMS' which is an illusion created by your brain. Most sufferers of FMS subsequently end their lives as the pain of living a new life whilst simultaneously remembering another one proves too difficult.

The book follows Barry, a NYC burglary cop who at the beginning of the story is called out to the scene of a womans impending suicide, she is an FMS sufferer and tells Barry she cannot live without the husband that she only has memories of. Barry is intrigued by this and begins to investigate how this man claims not to know this woman when she has memories of an entire life together. Barry falls down the rabbit hole and becomes too invested in the concept of FMS.

We also follow a neuroscience prodigy, Helena who after her mother is diagnosed with Alzheimers disease tries to develop technology that will help to restore her core memories as she deteriorates. When Helena receives funding from a mysterious billionaire she discovers that what she creates is so much more and not only delves into memory science but also allows someone to travel back into a memory in order to change something, from there they can stay in that memory.   

When Barry is amidst his investigation he discovers a hotel by a 24 hour diner and investigates to see if there is anyone inside who can answer any questions he is pulled in, strapped to a chair and asked to describe his most painful memory minute by minute, he is then transported back to that memory and has the chance to change the events that forever shaped his life, he then lives his life in that timeline. Now for the confusing bit, when he gets to the point where the past timeline meets the timeline he was once on he suddenly is flooded with all of the memories from both timelines. Honestly, its so cleverly written i was in complete awe of how intricate it was throughout.

After the timelines meet there are a few major changes that happen in the world due to many timelines meeting at once and the alterations are quite major that the government gets involved and believes at certain points that it is down to terrorism. At this point Helena and Barry must work together to create a new timeline and try to alter the future in order to save the world.

Ive tried to be as vague as i can without giving major plot points away but its difficult. This book is a highly action packed, interesting and intricate filled book. The best book i read in 2019 without a shadow of a doubt. I cannot wait to see what Blake Crouch does next after falling pretty hard for both this and Dark Matter. I will now begin to read all of his back list titles starting with Pines. Fingers crossed that they are the same style and that i will love them just as much.