Aurora Rising: Book Review

My nerdy little self sings praises from the earth to outer space in this book of Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff. 

Aurora Rising is book 1 in the Aurora Rising series. This book reminds me so much of the Star Trek tv series but a YA version. You have a crew, space, a ship, and extraterrestrial life that they come in contact with.

This is the first time I picked up a book by these authors and I was not disappointed. I was immediately swept up in this storyline and cannot wait to read more.

The story takes place in the galaxy of the Aurora Academy where the draft to select a squad is about to happen. Tyler, in an attempt to calm himself, flies out on his own to what they call The Fold. When cruising along, he comes across an SOS signal of the ship that disappeared over 200 years ago in the Fold. It has one survivor. Being the leader that he is, went to the ship to save the survivor. What he discovered that a transport ship and everyone on there was dead except one person still cyro.

That person is named Aurora O’Malley.

And she has no idea how she ended up as the sole survivor of the ship.

Saving Aurora caused Tyler to miss the Draft. As Alpha, he spent 5 years training to be a leader of a Legionnaire squad. In the Draft, Tyler gets the first pick at picking his squad. Since he missed the Draft, he got what they called the “leftovers” for his Squad 312.

Turns out that they are super good at what they do, but horrible records of disciplinary issues on their records. 

Aurora Rising Characters or Squad Members:

Faces: Scarlett, Tyler’s twin sister. She did volunteer to be on his crew. Responsible for Diplomacy and Negotiations. Very good at reading people, she is skilled in navigating out of situations using her words. She comes across as motherly for the crew in the book.

Aces: Catherine AKA Cat, a friend of Scarlett and Tyler. Volunteered to be on Tyler’s crew. Responsible for piloting and transport. A very outspoken person with a temper. She is very good at piloting space crafts and knows how to defend herself. Known to be covered with intricate tattoos of anything with wings.

Gearhead: Finian, is a Betraskan. Characterized with features bleached to the bone pale skin and hair. Black contact lenses that protect from light. Due to nerve damage from catching a virus, he has to wear an exosuit to help him move. Even though he has impaired mobility, he can fix anything mechanical. 

Tanks: Kal, responsible for tactical combat and engagement strategy. He comes across as quiet and reserved with a strong moral code.  Kal is a Syldrathi (AKA Space Elf) which is a race that is split amongst themselves into cabals. Kal is the cabal of his species that is bred for war.

Brains: Zila, is responsible for the scientific and medical duties. Extremely misunderstood because of how she comes across to her squad. She is reserved and prefers to sit on the sidelines of the group or take action dramatically without explaining why she does it.

Each and every member of the squad plays an important role in the survival of the crew. Note: The Unbroken: Saedii is still unknown in the first book and not part of the crew.

In Squad 312’s first mission, they were commanded to do a supply run to the Sagan station. During the dropping of supplies, they realized they had a stowaway which it turns out was Aurora who was avoiding being turned over to TDF (Terran Defense Force).

Squad 312 was warned that TDF did not have Aurora’s best interest in mind and must protect her.

As soon as Aurora lands on Squad 312’s ship though, strange and unexplained things happen to Aurora. Is there more to her than they realized?

In this space adventure, this raggy crew must learn to work together in order to survive and protect Aurora. And possibly save the galaxy?

This book has 7 POV’s and it is easy to tell each person’s thoughts as you are reading each chapter. Each squad member has a unique point of view that is defined by their character personality.

Throughout the book, you see explanations of how the Aurora Legionnaire works. I find that it is extremely helpful to understand the system this world is built on.

I highly recommend this read if you are looking for something that is not overly sci-fi and some possible romance.