*note: to avoid spoilers, all information is current as of the beginning of the book*
Since the review is a little long, I'm listing the sections in case you only want to read a specific part. And they're in bold, so you'll be able to find them easily.
Genre:
Summary:
Quick Stats:
Things to Remember/things I wish someone had told me before reading this book:
Characters:
Any other notes:

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Genre: Sci-Fi

Summary: (in my own words) Taking place about 500-600 years in the future, Illuminae starts off with Kady in her class, wondering if her breakup with her boyfriend Ezra was really the best thing to do. Was it the right thing to do?
Well, soon, she's gonna have some new pressing problems. Her seemingly small and unimportant planet has been attacked and she has to end up on one of the ships that will take her away from the fighting planet, in a ship that was never meant to hold so many people. What's even worse? An enemy warship is set on destroying them, to make sure that the planet, Kerenza, has no breathing survivors who could tell their story.
What could make this worse? A dangerous plague has broken out. The virus seems to be mutating and attacking people. The ship's AI seems bent on destroying them. The wormhole they should be using to go the jump station isn't working. There's a silent war going on, and everyone knows it.
Kady Grant has choices to face and difficult truths to accept.
Everything has gone wrong, and only Kady and the one person she knew she couldn't speak to ever again, Ezra, can attempt to bring the truth to light.

Cover:

Quick Stats:
Title: I was a little bit confused about this at first, but like I will say below...I'm not going to say it because you're going to hear it repeated a lot. The title didn't exactly lure me in, but they do explain a little bit about it in the book and the history of it, and now that I've read the book, it seems to be a perfect fit. I would give it a 4.5/5.
Cover: I liked the cover and how it portrayed the mysteriousness of the book. I would give it a 5/5.
Summary in the back/inside: They did a really good job of wording the summary when I read it. I have to admit, most summaries don't really lure me in the way they should, because a LOT of summaries need to be reworded. Most aren't very good. But this one really did lure me in, and from what I read, it is super accurate and it's nothing but the truth. 5/5, I don't think I could do a better job, but I tried above. I would definitely recommend reading the actual summary given, though.
Hook: There are two different settings for this book. The beginning setting of the book, the planet Kerenza IV, takes place for the first few chapters. The rest of this book takes place on a space ship. I have to admit, I barely remember what happened in the first chapters, though I do remember I wasn't really impressed and the beginning was a little boring. 3/5.
Plot: Basically the summary. 5/5, things do happen and they do so at the right time.
Character Development: I didn't really see huge changes in a lot of the characters, because they were all brave from the beginning and everything, but they did develop and change in some way. 4/5.
Originality: Never read about anything like this happening before. 5/5.

Things to remember/what I wish someone had told me before reading this book:
First off, this series really involves a LOT of science. And the series involves quite a lot of brainpower. I, myself, couldn't wrap my head around the science in the second book, and this is coming from someone who's in love with space and science fiction. I couldn't exactly grasp the concept of...well, no spoilers, but I'm going to say, it all does come together when you keep reading.

Second of all, a lot of things don't make sense at first, but you have to keep remembering the fact that it will all come together, and to look for everything. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff are really good tricksters, so make sure you're getting the full picture.

Third of all, yes, this book is a little bigger than average. BUT DON'T LET THAT INTIMIDATE YOU. Toward the end, I was really wishing there were more pages and more story to go on, even though there are so many events going on.

Fourth of all, if at the end, you're thinking, "nothing bigger than this can happen in the second book, so I'm not gonna read it", well, you're wrong. I thought that too, and I wasn't excited to start the 2nd book, but...well, you'll see.

This book has a "quarantine and dangerous virus" subplot, which I think is interesting and fun to read about since we're in these times of corona as well. It was interesting to see how people in the future handled it.

This book is definitely for those who enjoy science fiction, action, partly romance, partly horror, and young adult fiction. There's so much action throughout the series, and if I could describe this book in one word, I would say 'dramatic'.

I also want to say that this is probably the best science fiction series of books I've ever read (and I've read way way way too many sci fi books in my life). I'm really impressed with how the authors made it all come together nicely. I feel confident in saying that you've never read a series like this before. It's super unique. If you have read a series like this, please tell me because I've never read anything like this.

Characters:
Kady Grant: Kady is an expert in technology and hacking. She has a knack with computers and seems to get past everything. At first, I thought, why does she just HAPPEN to have this skill that will probably end up saving everyone in some way? Then, after I read the second book, like I said above, I had to tell myself that "it all comes together", because it really does.
Some background info on Kady: She has a dad and mom, her mom lives on Kerenza IV with her, while her dad works at the Heimdall Station (where the ship is trying to get to) as a tech engineer. She has a habit of not following any instructions that she's given and turning out to be right.  (And beware, the second book doesn't start off with the same characters in this book, but more on that in the second book's review).

Ezra Mason: Kady's ex-boyfriend. He doesn't always react the way everyone expects him too, and he's a humorous person. He's a pilot-in-training, with fast reflexes. He's technically "the jock" in this story.

AIDAN: The ship's AI who's suspected to be evil. Stands for Artificial Intelligence Defense Analytics Network, in case anyone was wondering. But everyone calls it AIDAN.  And....it's...interesting, to stay the least. It makes you wonder a lot. (There are a LOT of AIDAN memes to do with the illuminae files series, but don't search them up immediately, or else you'll get spoiled).

There are a lot more other characters, but there are some spoilers for them, such as their name isn't REALLY revealed until some time later, etc. The ones above are the more main characters in this book, and I didn't exactly know whether to put AIDAN as a character, but then decided why not, lol.

Any other notes?
If you can't read upside down or swirly and prefer not to turn your device around a lot, I would suggest you get the paper version because it's easier to read the swirly and upside down parts at the end. I read this book, Illuminae in paper and Gemina and Obsidio (books 2 and 3) in ebook and I do want to say that I liked reading in the paper format better, but that usually goes for most books, lol. (If you check it out in overdrive and you're not reading on a phone, make sure to turn the device to portrait mode and in the settings for the book, turn off the default setting, or else half the text will be missing when you read it)

I really would recommend this to anyone who likes sci-fi, action or horror, and I would still recommend it even if you're not that interested in sci-fi. There are a LOT of goodreads and amazon reviews saying how the reviewers weren't all that interested in sci-fi, but they still loved this book.

Overall, this book is intriguing, and unique, and I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to review the next one in the series!!

Signing off,
-Sticky

Update: I've read the whole series and I LOVE it. I don't feel like making another chapter for the reviews of those books, because people who haven't yet read Illuminae may read the review for the other books in the series, and it's very hard to make a review for a book in another series without mentioning details from the first book. It could be spoiling for those who may be waiting or not reading. If you'd like to read my notes and "kind of" edited version of them (it won't be neat and tidy like this chapter, though) PM me and I'd be happy to send you them! :)