#66 Aurora Rising

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

'They are not the heroes we deserve, they are just the ones we could find' 

Aurora Rising is the beginning of a new sci-fi series by the dynamic duo that is Kaufman & Kristoff. I was really glad when picking this one up that it followed a more traditional format instead of the mixed media they do in their Illuminae Files, which i also enjoyed but my fear was that the mixed media would have felt over done if they had carried it into their new series.

Aurora Rising follows a fleet of misfits from the Aurora Academy in the year 2380. The book opens with the star pupil of the Aurora Academy Tyler, on his way to the draft in which he gets to pick his fleet, he has the first pick but has to rescue a survivor from an abandoned ship in which the passengers have been cryrogenically frozen and have been floating in the 'fold' for two thousand years but a scan of the ship shows one survivor who Tyler rescues and brings back to the academy also missing the draft and leaving him with the pupils that no one else picked.

I fell in love with the characters pretty quickly especially Zila, i found her character to be well developed and the most complex. It felt a little like Guardians of the Galaxy mixed with Six of Crows as they were a bunch of ragtags thrown together for an adventure. The world building is very subtly placed throughout the story and can be found at the end of most chapters and gives the reader an insight into the background of the society and the civilisation.

The main players in this story are:

• Tyler Jones- The star pupil/golden boy of Aurora Academy and the alpha of the fleet
• Scarlett Jones- The twin sister of Tyler who is in charge of diplomacy and negiotiation and fierce af
• Cat- The pilot who may or may not be in love with Tyler
• Finnian- the sciencey guy who is hilarious yet impulsive and very dry, possible bisexual rep? 
• Zila- The misunderstood tech hacker girl who is dubbed the smartest 
• Kal- the fearless alien warrior of the bunch 
• Auri- The girl who was found by Tyler floating in space

This story was heavy on the sci-fi and not so heavy on the romance which i heavily appreciated, there are a few hints of romance here and there but nothing that will make you roll your eyes. I found this story in the beginning to be quite similar to Skyward by Brandon Sanderson as it starts out in a space school type setting but it really found its own after this first quarter. Parts were very thrilling and edge of your seat which made for a very fun read. I read this physically but have heard amazing reviews of the audiobook as its read by a full cast. I really enjoyed this story and ultimately gave it 4 stars. 

My hopes for the next book in the series are more character development and a bit of back story for each specifically Fin, i need to know the full story behind the exo suit. A back story for Zila would be great too. 

#65 Red, White & Royal Blue

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins press for this arc that came out on May 14th, i really had planned to read and review this before release date but life got in the way :(

'I dont know, man. I was in high school, and i touched a boob. It wasnt very profound. Nobody's gonna write an Off-Broadway play about it'

Before i begin im just going to point out that i dont read contemporary, i dont like contemporary and i havent reviewed a contemporary here in a really long time. Having said that- this was bloody fantastic!

This book follows the story of Alex who is the first son of the USA, his mum is president and Henry who is the prince of England. They fall in love (in short) and its beautiful and exactly what i needed to read without knowing it. Alex is involved in politics and is a bit of a loner, he hangs out with his sister June and the VP's granddaughter Nora, he dreams of getting involved in politics and following in his mothers footsteps. He is mixed race and his parents are divorced so he comes from a blended family which seems so unlikely in 2019 that this would happen in America but it NEEDS to (especially a female president)! Henry is the grandson of the queen, his dad was a movie star and passed away when Henry was younger, his mum isnt overly involved as she is swallowed by her grief. Henry is close with his younger sister Bea but not so much his older brother Philip.

Alex really dislikes Henry and after a PR disaster it is agreed in the interest of both nations that they appear to be friends at events and on social media, as they are pushed together they begin to realise that they do have feelings for each other. Henry has always known that he is gay but struggles with what that means in terms of the monarchy and him not fulfilling his duties. Alex has always believed he was straight until he starts reflecting on past events that lead him to the realisation that he is bisexual.

What i enjoyed most about this book is that its not one of those tropey annoying reads that they meet, fall in love, break up and then ultimately get back together as those stories have been done time and time again! This was fresh and interesting, a new take on what it means to be in a same sex relationship whilst being in a power position. The topics discussed were so important, the role the tabloids play in these peoples lives and social media and how harmful it can be but also the pure side of two people being so utterly obsessed with each other whilst not only being long distance but it also being forbidden. Gahhhh it was just everything.

i am in absolute awe that this is a debut novel, it reads so refined and it really well put together. Typically this isnt a book i would enjoy, i dont enjoy romance or anything about royalty, i dont like 'fake friendships or relationships' but i LOVED this! It made me laugh constantly, made me angry and weepy. Honestly it was a rollercoaster of emotions but ultimately so so good.

My only issues with this were that some characters were a bit flat. I like a strong friendship group in a book but this was mainly focused on Alex & Henry. The development of their relationship wasnt as slow burn for me, it wasnt insta love either somewhere in between but i think i would have liked it to take a bit longer. The transition from enemies to lovers was so so fast for me.