Review: Aurora Burning

General Information

Title: Aurora Burning
Authors: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Series: Aurora Cycle #2
Pages: 512
Publisher: Alfred A Knopf
ISBN: 9781524720926
My rating: ★★★★½☆

This is the sequel to Aurora Rising. If you haven't read the first book, proceed at your own risk.

 About: After the fatal events of Aurora Rising, Squad 312 is on the run. But all they came to do was save the universe. An ancient, evil alien race is waiting to consume all life in the galaxy, and Aurora might very well be the only one to stop it. But it will take their combined force and wits to outrun, outsmart or just get rid off everyone who wants to destroy them first, be it war-hungry, long lost relatives or the entire government and Defense Forces...

 

I have two questions: When is the next book coming out? And how the HELL am I supposed to WAIT for it?!??

I already thought Aurora Rising was good, but damn, Aurora Burning was so much better! This was a wild ride from start to finish with lots of action, emotions, funny banter and a lotttt of outer space! I had a great time reading this and stayed up til 3 am to finish it.

We are thrown right into the action and are reunited with squad 312, aka the galaxy's most chaotic found family. I like all of them, but I care about some of them more, and I was super happy that Zila finally got real chapters of her own. The reserved yet sarcastic girl is definitely my favorite of the bunch, and I loved finding out about her backstory. But other memebers of the squad have secrets too, and there were quite some shocking revelations.

We know already how well they work as a team (more or less), and I loved seeing everyone do their part. Scarlett again was snarky and amazing, and Finian just can't stop making inappropriate comments. But things start to get really interesting once the squad get separated. The different povs started to really make sense now and things got really exciting (yes, maybe I like to see characters suffer when it makes for an exciting story). There are also some weird things going on with Aurora's powers and we finally find out more about her being the Trigger for a mysterious weapon...

The writing style was fluent, the book very fast paced. It's almost non-stop action at times and very hard to put down. But the book isn't all fights and great escapes. There are more quiet moments too, and of course the love story between Aurora and Kal. Personally, I got a bit annoyed with Kal and his constant swooning, that's also the reason I've "lowered" my rating down by half a star. But maker's breath, what's up with all these secrets?!

Aurora Burning was more than a worthy sequel and I really enjoyed this book! In my review for the first book I said that it felt like an introduction to something bigger, and that was exactly the case. In this book, things start to get real. We have a full galactic war looming on the horizon! And then the authors dared to end the book on what may possibly be the worst cliffhanger of the year... excuse me while I go outside and scream into the void.

I'd highly recommend these books, whether you are already a fan of space adventures or new to sci-fi. They're entertaining, exciting, and Aurora Burning was truly unputdownable!
(Trigger warnings: swearing and torture. Recommended for ages 14 and up.)