Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (w/ Spoilers)

Young Adult, Space Opera

Squad 312 is back in the much awaited sequel to Aurora Rising. Our daring crew are racing against the clock to find the Weapon left behind by an ancient foe to defeat an alien race bent on conquering the galaxy.

"They're not going down without a fight. We hope."

Read my review of Aurora Rising here!

Non-Spoiler Review

(The Aurora Cycle #2)

Squad 312 is back... with the galaxy pitted against them. Not to mention, they're racing against the clock to stop an ancient evil from consuming the galaxy. With the galactic government, an army of GIA agents with creepy flowers for eyes, and Kal's psychopathic sister on their tails, things are not looking up for the squad. They need every help and all the luck in the galaxy to come out of everything alive.

"We've got mischief to make."

First things first, can we take a moment to applaud the simple ingenuity of including a recap at the start of this book? It was pure genius and I highly appreciated it because sometimes all you really want is a recap before diving into a sequel. 

That said, I was kinda disappointed that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did the first book. While I fell in love with some of the characters, I didn't find the overall story as thrilling or as enjoyable as the first book.

Characters:

Art by @jemlincreations

Starting off with the characters who I just loved and adored even more: Zila and Finian! I'm so happy that we actually got more Zila chapters in this book because I just loved her perspective. I particularly loved how her history was introduced with the dual timeline which seamlessly blended the past and present. I knew that our sociopathic Brain had quite a traumatic past which led to her normally unemotional demeanour. And I meant normally since she's finally beginning to break down the walls she erected around herself as an act of self-preservation. Honestly, I feel so proud that she's finally found somewhere where she felt safe enough to explore her emotions and I just loved how much more of an active role she played in this story to show off her badass skills and calculations. Also, can we just appreciate her fashion foresight because that girl can predict the future with her hoops. I can't wait to see her further development because she's definitely one of my favourite characters.

"I'm glad... to be out of the dark.... I am not feeling nothing."

Art by @botanica_xu

My other favourite is obviously Finian. I just loved him even more in this book. Gone was the guarded, cynical Gearhead in the first book, but instead we have someone who was not afraid or hesitant to show his care for others. I loved how he placed himself in a sort of caretaker role when everything was going to absolute chaos but still had his usual snark and sarcasm. I just admired his courage and strength for facing difficult challenges despite his physical disability. This book portrayed his resilience, care and dedication to his squadmates and he deserves all the love (Scarlett I'm looking at you).

"He lives every moment of his life in pain, but still, he lives it. And he stands, where others would have long ago fallen. 

Art by Bronte @l004p

Now, since we have our brooding space-elf on the cover, it's fair to assume that Kal would have a more prominent role in the story. Of course, we have the development of his relationship with Auri. While I did appreciate that he wasn't forceful in his affections and that it was a two-sided relationship, their romance was a complete rollercoaster. And I mean steamy highs and face-palming lows. So it's fair to say that I wasn't a hard-core fan of their relationship because those two either need to get a room or sort out their problems, however, I'm not gonna lie that their fan arts ware cute. This sequel also shed more light on Kal's backstory with some surprising revelations. Without diving into specific spoilers, I would compare Kal's family situation to Zuko's in Avatar the Last Airbender. The similarities were no joke and I couldn't stop the comparison because fire-bending aside, it was the same underlying principles; psychotic sister and father, and tragic mother. 

"I know my friends and they are few. But those few I have, I would die for."

Speaking of his darling psychopath of a sister, Saedii was one badass murder machine. She's not the type of person you want to get anywhere near her bad side. Being one of the Unbroken Templars, she was steadfast in her Warbreed beliefs and loved the taste of violence. While I wasn't really a fan of her because she was an absolute "pixiebitch" (quoting Scarlett), she did have a pet dragon and telepathic abilities which I could always get behind. That said, I wouldn't want to cross her path ever, and let's just say that she doesn't approve of her little brother's mate.

"I always study my prey."

Art by @astrolauu

Auri, while I did love the growth of her powers, had moments where I just question her choices and her logic. Don't get me wrong, her powers were badass and the fact that she could now control them made those scenes all the more epic. However, how she got to that point didn't have the gradual  build-up or the explanation that I was looking for. Her training literally went down like this: a completely hopeless case for one moment and then a couple pages later she was a master all because she realised something which wasn't particularly well-explained. I did love how she overcame her regrets and the confidence she gained at the end but there were those scenes near the end where I just questioned her overall choices. And I understood the meaning behind the title In the end, I still found her character messy and quite impulsive which are two things I don't really enjoy. I love her confidence and bravery, which I want to see more of without all the drama and questionable decisions.

"Those who truly know us see the whole, never just a part."

In terms of questionable decisions, Scarlett and Tyler had their moments. Throughout the book, the  twins were obviously dealing with the grief over losing Cat while trying to remain a strong front for the squad, and I felt that their characters were centred on that aspect. And while I could understand that grief, I was much more invested in their relationship because things went down that will be discussed in the spoiler section.

Plot/Story:

The story overall was fast-paced and high action similar to the first book, with an everything-goes-wrong plot. And I mean nothing remains "according to plan" for more than a few pages. While it does build-up the drama, I just wanted something right to be permanent because these type of stories really spike up my anxiety levels. And, like all their previous books, there was the whole fake death trope that I'm beginning to think will never disappear from their work. I love happy endings but the constant repetition of this trope removes the emotion from the situation because I know that the characters will be alright. 

That said, before picking this up I saw all the post on the ending of this book, and while I wasn't emotional like everyone else, the ending had me on the edge of my seat. And similar to what happened in Starsight, the ending left on such a massive cliffhanger. What's up with me picking up the second book in sci-fi series and them ending at such critical points. The authors know how to torture readers because I have a year or more of waiting before I get the answers I so desperately want.

Overall Thoughts:

Overall, it was a fun and entertaining albeit anxiety-inducing read. I will definitely be picking up the third book because that ending left me desperate for the answers. Honestly I'm beginning to wonder if I should just wait until the third book before starting a new series because the waiting game is torturous.

Spoilers!

What was up with Adams and de Stoy? They could mysteriously predict the future for some unknown reason and they only gave the squad hints rather than outright telling them. I mean, I get it that it might affect the future but still, anything more concrete than the weirdly useful gifts they bestowed upon the squad. I need answers to their precognition abilities because, at this point, it makes me not want to trust them. 

The main reason why I didn't like this as much as Aurora Rising was because the squad was broken up for most book. Aside from Cat being presumed dead, Tyler was captured and tortured by the GIA when they attacked Saedii's ship (because with their luck, they got captured by Saedii), and later on, they split up even more. My favourite part of the series was the whole found-family aspect within Squad 312, and this book just separated them. And while there was more development in their relationships, I would just love to see them together again. 

And speaking of relationships, let's talk about Kal and Auri's whirlwind of a romance. Looking back, I found it hilarious when Kal was sulking about not having kissed Auri in the beginning and then next thing you know they're doing the deed (off paper) in the middle. Talk about moving things real fast. I mean, given that they were in the Echo for months, I like that they at least had the opportunity to build their relationship without losing so much time in the real world. Though at the same time the critical part of my brain is like, "Isn't that cheating," because I would love to see the development on page instead of being told.

Art by Gabriella Bujdoso

Another key thing that was revealed was the Eshraven. We got to learn more about their backstory, and after the whole conflict between Auri and Kal's father (who happened to be the Starslayer and another Trigger), I don't trust them. It was revealed that they made the other species in their image which was why most of the alien races had similar biological attributes and that they just want revenge on the Ra'haam for defeating them. So I won't be surprised if it turns out that they were actually the antagonists all along.

All the revelations near the end were a mixed bag of surprises and predictable events. I was surprised with Kal being the Starslayer's son (though in hindsight I should have predicted), I was not surprised by the fact that the Starslayer had the Weapon all along because he sure didn't bring down the Syldrathi sun all on his own. And the ending... I swear they left it off on the note that everyone died but I know that there'll be some kind of multi-dimensional, reality-bending event that will ensure that our heroes come out unharmed (I hope), otherwise, there won't be a third book. But still, that ending definitely left me wanting all the answers and I'm highly anticipating the next book.