This review contains affiliate links, which earn me a small commission when you click and purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my small business and allowing me to continue providing you a reliable resource for clean book ratings.
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff are simply go-to writers for fun young adult books set in space, if you’re looking for that specific genre. And if you like plenty of action, teens with bravado, witty banter, and some romance, you should be looking for it. They slayed it with the Illuminae Files, and now they’re doing it again with the Aurora Cycle, which started with Aurora Rising.
Our heroes of Squad 312 come roaring right back at the very beginning of Aurora Burning, with some crazy chase scenes and tenuous situations. They’re still trying to evade the agents of the GIA, who have been infiltrated by the enemy, the Ra-haam, which is intent on assimilating all the life forms in the galaxy to its flowery one-ness. They know Aurora has been gifted some insane powers by the long-gone Eshvaren, designating her as the “Trigger” for a weapon they have yet to find, to defeat the Ra-haam. But they have to a) find the weapon and b) help Aurora figure out how to control and use her powers. Easy-peasy.
The two-centuries-old ship on which golden boy squad leader Tyler Jones found Aurora is being towed along with other old scrap, so the squad decides they have to get to it and its black box to help them in their quests. Of course, nothing about their plan goes smoothly, and it’s action galore.
Aurora Burning is just nonstop entertainment. Now to wait for the third… which is going to be particularly tough with the cliffhanger of all high cliffhangers.
Rated: Moderate. There are about five uses of strong profanity and about 15 to 20 instances of mild or moderate profanity. Sexual content includes two characters having sex but no details past kissing, references to characters having had sex, and some occasional sexual innuendo. Like the previous book, this one features 18-year-olds who are pretty worldly (otherworldly? Ha!).
Click here to purchase your copy of Aurora Burning on Amazon.
