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umamunandar · 5 years ago

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Review #4: The Illuminae Files (4.8/5)

So by this point, you should be familiar to my taste in movies and books. I mean with the lack of romance and teen fiction you see and the excessive amount of fantasy and sci-fi reviews I’ve written, you might realise that I have a thing for dystopian, sci-fi, and apocalyptic stuff.

If you’re also a dystopian geek like me, then you must have heard of Illuminae, the novel written by Amie Faufman and Jay Kristoff, which then got illustrated by Marie Lu, author of Warcross and Legend for the second book, Gemina. You might’ve heard of it’s great story, or maybe, like me, you were first introduced to its unique writing format

and i mean very unique format. (Every part I just showed belongs completely to Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, of course I’m just out here throwing these pages to you so you know what I’m talking about)

Most books get very famous quickly because the themes they offer in the books, how great the storyline is. Some are popular only because the author that wrote it has a reputation for writing super famous and the readers just want to read more of their works.

But a book famous for its writing format is unheard of for me. Illuminae was the first what, novel (?) that succeeded in telling the readers a story about the destruction of a colony, and a galactic adventure just from files they retrieved from the computers used by the characters for data processing, storage, communication, and everything else you can do with a computer by the year 2575.

The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a planet that’s a little more than an ice-covered speck. Now, with enemy fire raining down on them, exes Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to escape on the evacuating fleet.

But their problems are just the beginning. The fleet’s AI has gone crazy, a deadly plague has broken out on one of the ships, and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on.

As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her: the ex boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

First, let me start with a short recap of my own.

29th of January, 2575, Kady Grant had broken up with her boyfriend, Ezra Mason. But later that day, her planet’s mining company’s rival company decided that it was a great day to attack the planet (Kerenza IV) and its inhabitants. Kady and Ezra managed to escape to two of the three ships used to transport and evacuate the Kerenza refugees. Ezra was taken to the Alexander, as he was badly injured, and Kady was taken to the Hypatia, a science vessel that happened to be orbiting Kerenza during the attack. The last ship was the Copernicus.

Everyone on board were tested to see their potential, since the fleet were understaffed. Ezra passed as a pilot, and Kady, bless her genius mind, decided that it was best to not show he full potential during the test. Not receiving the role of anything, she befriended a CommTech from the Hypatia, and became a hacker, determined to just find out what’s going on. Nobody who knew the truth would tell anyone the truth and Kady was only eager to find out.

The story was told by emails, chat boxes, documents, security camera footage, even information from the Alexander’s AI, which was pretty much messed up due to the attack at Kerenza, but was still functioning enough to tell a story, nevertheless. The second book got an illustrator, Marie Lu, the same person who wrote Warcross and Legend, and the content source didn’t just come from computers anymore. By Gemina, the information that led readers through the story was also gained from Hanna Donnelly—the story’s female lead’s personal journal, hand drawn, not soft copy from a computer.

Personally, Illuminae was the first story that brought me to loving sci-fi slash dystopian slash apocalyptic novels. I was always a fantasy geek, thanks to Harry Potter and Wildwood. Kingdoms, princesses in pretty dresses, or magic, they were always closer to me than spaceships, AI, and intergalactic war, but Illuminae completely changed my mind. I was even surprised when I found myself buying a handful of dystopian novels during a book fair the other day. They were just really fun to read.

Oh but you know what else is fun? Guessing which cuss word the characters in the books used. Sure, the story was told through files, which means some were formal documents like reports and formal emails, but remember that there are also chat boxes and the informal emails sent from one refugee to the other as a form of communication to ask how they were doing and whatnot. Cussing and slang were used constantly in the book, but because they were compiled and as I quote, ‘sent’ as a formal file, the cursing had to be censored and blocked. It was still fun to guess the words they used anyway.

Writing this review, I had already read Gemina, and Obsidio was being shipped to my house, so yes, I really love this trilogy.

I’d love to get into more depth about the two books, but since nearly every page is filled with action, I can’t really write a spoiler-free review with it so let’s get to the positive points and negative points of the book,

Pros:

The book, as we all know and as I have mentioned for the fifth time now is formatted like emails, chat boxes, documents, and literally every other thing you can extract from a computer by the year 2575. Despite all three books being thicker than 500 pages, some of the pages aren’t even full pages, and you can read them in under one minute, even for a slow reader. Some examples:

Countdown pages

Those pages when something dramatic happens, like the description of missiles travelling through the space between two ships

In Gemina (and possibly Obsidio), some pages from Hanna Donnelly’s personal journal were incorporated in the files, the second Illuminae Files. But unlike Kady who prefers writing (or typing) her thoughts and securing them with a handful of layers of security and passwords, Hanna draws hers, and they didn’t take that long to read either.

‘The pattern is always the same’

‘White light’

And everything else

I know Illuminae was my first ever sci-fi dystopian novel, but I’ve consulted a few people on the matter, and I found out that the story the series offered is a good one on its own, even without the dramatic effect. So yes, one of the pros is that it actually offers a good story. You never know what’s going to happen next. It’s like say, you just got over a dramatic point in one of the books, and suddenly the document in the next page is a bloody medical report that tells you something is up.

Another plus point would be how the events in the books are so well described, despite there being no actual description done in the books except for those surveillance camera transcripts. We don’t even know Kady and Ezra’s specific physical appearances, just the fact that Kady has pink hair and Ezra is a pretty much a teen fiction novel average golden boy, unlike Hanna and Nik who’s illustrations we see from again, Hanna’s journal in Gemina.

Cons:

We should all put this fact in consideration, that the book is not meant to tell a story from a formal standpoint. Like I said, cussing is used in nearly every page of the book, though it’s censored. Mildly explicit jokes and references were also used in the book, though no actual harm is done. Then again, I’m not against this or anything, in fact, it brings an essence to the story, but some people (*cough* boomers*cough*) might not be comfortable with it.

Personally, I’m not fond of thick books. Four hundred pages is a workload for me. I was suffering throughout the Order of the Phoenix. Don’t like thick books? Illuminae isn’t for you. All three books had like, five hundred or so pages. I know I said it was told through a less boring format for a novel, and the story is good, but you still have to read. It’s a relief I made it through both Illuminae and Gemina, there’s a possibility I might drop Obsidio and leave it to rot before reaching the three-hundredth page. Though, there is a solution to this. You can buy the audiobook instead. I heard they did a good job with it, with great casts too.

Aaand, I think that’s about it. There’s really not much I can say about the story without giving away spoilers, and since I’m dedicated to make this a spoiler-free blog, I think it’s best you buy the book if you’re interested in the story of Kady, Ezra, Hanna, Nik, and two more characters I’m not supposed to tell you about because it’s technically a spoiler (?) from Obsidio.

I’m open for any discussion too! Just, don’t tell me anything about Obsidio just yet, I’m expecting the copy this week.

#illuminae #gemina #obsidio #the illuminae files #kady grant #ezra mason #hanna donnelly #nik malikov #book review #spoiler free book review #books #reads

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umamunandar · 5 years ago

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Review #3: Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (4,8/5)

Hello hello everyone! I am finally back and here blogging again. The last time I was here, I think I reviewed the Bumi series (?) It’s a very old series and I don’t think that many people will want to read it. But I’m here today with something fresh, something that not many people actually have seen before.

So about Star Wars...

Uhm...it didn’t go exactly as I expected, but I’ll break it down for you.

So episode nine is supposedly the last movie for this saga. As a heavy (and I mean HEAVY) Star Wars addict, I-of course, have seen all the movies in the franchise (*cough* also skipped the entire second saga *cough*). I didn’t really expect much from this movie as I started paying less and less attention to Star Wars after watching episode eight. As many people have said, episode eight wasn’t the best movie in the franchise and I thought the same way.

Episode nine revealed a few things such as Rey’s bloodline and how she’s connected to the story, because unlike the first and second saga where we knew from the beginning who’s child our heroes were, in the third saga, we have completely no idea who’s child Rey is and why was she there in the first place. It was also different from Kylo Ren, who we already know from the seventh episode is Princess Leia and Han Solo’s son.

Another thing that I really like about this episode is character development and character change. Because development means bad to good, I feel like the word ‘development’ isn’t suitable for the words I was going to write.

Here we have two characters who at this point, I still have no idea which had the good intentions and which had the bad. Kylo Ren and Rey’s sudden and multiple changes of mind really ticks me off. Their way of thinking is a thing that screams “YOUR ANCESTRY DOESN’T DEFINE YOU”, and it's Disney’s Descendants all over again.

I’ve never done this before, but just for safety, I’ll put up a spoiler line, so anything beyond the line is filled with spoilers, you’re welcome.

If you’re stopping because you haven’t seen the movie, then do yourself a favour and go watch the finale to this saga. It’s so worth your time. The only reason I didn’t give the movie a five out of five was probably because of that little unexpected scene I didn’t like. Something that defied a thought (and a ship) I worshipped since the first movie to this unforgettable third saga.

I don’t see anything bad about this movie, even though some people told me it got low ratings and still had bad writing, I still think that it’s a fun way to end a saga. Reminded me a lot of Endgame, by the way. I also got the chills watching this movie, the same chills I got during the final battle in Endgame.

So if you’re still contemplating on whether to watch the movie or not, then I suggest for you to just go. Whether you’re a Star Wars addict who has followed through the story since the first saga, or you’re just someone who just happens to enjoy sci-fi movies, there are different thoughts and ways people have interpreted the. movie. As I’ve mentioned, I personally like it, but there are others who don’t.

It really depends on you so go ahead, get rid of that curiosity.

Imma put up the spoiler line, so.

~SPOILER LINE~

Alright, this area is specifically for those of you who either have watched the movie and wants to know another person’s thoughts about it, or have not and are just awfully impatient, wanting to know about what happened in. Well I warned you, so it’s technically no longer my fault.

The first thing I want to discuss about is Rey. We all remember Kylo Ren telling her that she’s Palpatine’s granddaughter, and it’s no wonder that she had visions of herself and Kylo Ren inhabiting the throne to the sith lord. This is a far leap from what everyone at the beginning of the saga thought, about her possibly being Luke’s daughter or whatever. I read theories that screamed “REY SKYWALKER” like, all the time.

I was a heavy worshipper of that theory, but my brother wasn’t. He did research left and right, from her being a Kenobi descendant, her being "created” by the Force itself. I legit got all my knowledge about the other theories from him.

Just before we watched the movie, my brother told me that Rey is going to be related to a sith, which I thought was impossible. I mean, it was possible, my brain just completely refused to accept the fact that she’s not from a perfect bloodline. So when it was revealed that she’s actually Palpatine’s granddaughter, I was kind of expecting it, it’s just that my brain took some time to process the information.

Which leads us to the next discussion.

I have always treated Rey and Kylo Ren as cousins. The fact that Kylo Ren is a Skywalker descendant and my obsession to the Rey Skywalker theory sort of defies what is called “Reylo”, a ship I thought was impossible, but the one being canon instead.

I know that they were connected in some way, I just didn’t think it would be a romantic relationship. I thought it was completely platonic. And I was wrong.

When they kissed, I legit was a step to screaming “WhAT?” in the cinema.

So let me get this out “REYLO SHIPPERS YOU WIN AND IM ACTUALLY GENUINELY HAPPY FOR THEM”

People also have been telling me that they were kind of expecting that kiss. Some even told me that they were waiting for it.

Okay, enough with the ranting, this part is gonna be a discussion

There’s still one thing on my mind, and so far, nobody I asked had an idea.

After that Reylo kiss most people were waiting for, after Rey woke up, Kylo Ren suddenly collapsed and disappeared = dead.

But the thing is, he had that connection with Leia, right? When Leia died, Kylo Ren got stabbed by Rey, but Rey healed him, therefore he was well and alive again. During the final battle, when everyone was up there against Palpatine’s fleet, Kylo Ren and Rey went against Palpatine himself, and he threw Kylo Ren across the room.

So did Kylo Ren die when Leia died and the one fighting Palpatine alongside Rey was a projectile all along, or did he die after Palpatine threw him across the room and he came back as a projectile to “revive” Rey and gave her a goodbye kiss?

Anyway, the reason I didn’t give the movie a full rating was because of that shocking ass kiss scene, and LEIA DYING HOLY SHITAKE MUSHROOMS.

I mean it was probably about time, but it was so sudden and a bit forced. I know it probably had something to do with Carrie Fisher, or the Kylo Ren-Leia connection plot, but couldn’t they have thought of something else? I LOVED LEIA.

Well, that’s about it. Thanks for reading my rants. Anyone up for discussions can contact me, I’d be more than happy to answer.

See you soon, and may the force be with y’all.

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umamunandar · 6 years ago

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Review #2: Bumi (5/5)

OOH a 5/5? Y’all know this is gonna be good.

If you have read my tbr pile in the post before, you might have noticed that I wrote BUMI SERIES in the rereading section. Technically, I’m not rereading the whole series, just the first three because I just got the fourth to seventh books and I COMPLETELY forgot how the first three books go. I’ve gotten up to the third book now, by the title Matahari which translates literally to Sun In Indonesian.

The series consists of seven books:

Bumi (Earth)

Bulan (Moon)

Matahari (Sun)

Bintang (Star)

Ceros & Batozar (There’s no translation for it, its a person’s name (well two people))

Komet (Comet)

Komet Minor (Minor Comet)

Shall we take a look at the cover? Yes we shall.

It’s an EH from me, I mean I prefer the older covers

(I had to take those pictures myself, the internet is a hopeless place)

Alright, lets get to it I guess.

“Namaku Raib, usiaku 15 tahun, kelas sepuluh. Aku anak perempuan seperti kalian, adik-adik kalian, tetangga kalian. Aku punya dua kucing, namanya si Putih dan si Hitam. Mama dan papaku menyenangkan. Guru-guru di sekolahku seru. Teman-temanku baik dan kompak.

Aku sama seperti remaja kebanyakan, kecuali satu hal. Sesuatu yang kusimpan sendiri sejak kecil. Sesuatu yang menakjubkan.

Namaku Raib. Dan aku Bisa menghilang.”

And in English:

“My name is Raib*, I’m 15 years old, tenth grade. I’m a girl just like you, your sisters, your neighbors. I have two cats, Putih and Hitam*. My mom and dad are enthralling. My teachers at school are fun. My friends are nice and collaborative.

I’m just like most teenagers, except for one thing. Something I’ve been keeping since I was a child. Something incredible.

My name is Raib. And I can disappear.”

(*Raib literally translates to disappear.

*Putih and Hitam literally translates to White and Black)

So, what do I love about this series?

To be honest, it’s either nothing in particular or everything.

I mean it’s a fantasy novel, where the main character gets dragged down to an adventure of a lifetime, discover new things, possibly about their past, possibly taking someone they’re already friends with to the crazy deadly journey.

So let me introduce you to the weird, messed up team in this series.

Meet Raib, the girl we know from the description. She has been able to use her powers since the age of two, but only found out later. That aside, she’s an average girl. Average looks, average grades. A tenth grader who only gets good scores in language lessons.

Next, we have Seli, Raib’s tablemate and best friend. Seli got accidentally dragged into the adventure when a certain accident took place at their school. She’s a very confident girl with a great sense of fashion and loves Korean drama. One more thing. She cares a LOT about her surroundings, like animals and her teammates during their adventures.

Last, we have Ali. In Bumi, he’s nothing but a student who flunks tests and never does his homework. Apparently though, he’s a genius who prefers exploding laboratories and sneaking weird gadgets in Raib’s bag and around her house to find out about her peculiar abilities than receive an A for a math test.

These three are dragged into the Moon Clan for the beginning of their parallel universe adventure.

Alright, let’s start with the actual review

Pros:

Considering that this is an Indonesian book, I’d have to give it a plus point. How the author managed to work everything out.

Plot. Everything about the series is amazing. It’s not too slow or fast-paced, making it just right.

A lot of things are thrown into the series, aside from the three’s adventures. You have a male character and you have two female characters. What does that give you? A love triangle. Though, it’s really faintly dropped, like the author really wants you to focus on the plot instead.

Really creative terrains. I really like how the setting is “a world walking on the same planet at the same time”. The Earth Clan on the surface of the planet, the Moon Clan just slightly under the crust, the Sun Clan high above the clouds, and the Star Clan deep down underground.

There are new creatures and strange ideas that come to motion like girraffes with horns or zebras with criss-crossing patterns, also cubic houses that lets you walk on the ceiling and doors that get connected with something you call a “shadow hall”

The series itself really teaches you things, just like the author’s other books. Like the second book, Bulan. It teaches us about nature and how they have voices. How we should listen to them.

Cons:

I’m really uncomfortable with the language used in the series. It’s VERY formal and if I was imagining it, i wouldn’t think that teenagers by the age of 15 would talk in that manner, but considering that the author does write with that kind of language all the time, I guess it doesn’t count as a con. It’s just something I’m not really pleased with.

And that’s pretty much it. I don’t really have any protests for this series. It’s balanced and well-written. I’ve been following the series since the first book came out, back in 2014 or something, and up to this day, I still love it. If something like 68% of Tere Liye readers aren’t young adults and college students, I would’ve started a fandom.

Well, I guess that’s about it for now. It’s been a while since the last time I posted, and it’s going to be another while until I post again.

Also, I believe they have translated the book Bumi and publish it in English by the title Earth. I don’t know I don’t keep track.

Welp, I’ll see you all soon, bye!

#book #books #book review #bumi #earth #tere liye #reads

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umamunandar · 6 years ago

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Reading List Update [21.6.19]

New Books

The Girl on the Train (Paula Hawkins, 2015)

Fated (Alyson Noël, 2012)

Echo (Alyson Noël, 2012)

The Boy who Knew Everything (Victoria Forester, 2015)

The Hammer of Thor (Rick Riordan, 2016)

Illuminae (Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff, 2015)

Crazy Rich Asians (Kevin Kwan, 2013)

The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown, 2009)

Library of Souls (Ransom Riggs, 2015)

Rereading

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series (Rick Riordan)

The Heroes of Olympus Series (Rick Riordan)

Bumi Series (Tere Liye) [INDONESIAN]

#tbr #tbr list #tbr pile #reading list #books

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umamunandar · 6 years ago

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bawean island // 2019

#travel #scenery #photography #island #getaway #vacation #beach #ocean

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umamunandar · 6 years ago

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Review #1: Everless (4/5)

Hello, welcome to the first ever post (well, not really) in this blog. And like I’ve said previously, it’s going to be a review. Well, that first post was posted like DECADES ago and I wanted to review the Wonder movie, but I guess it’s no longer a thing anyone would look up to. So here I am writing a review for one of the most memorable fantasy I have and will probably ever read.

I have a thing for fantasies. From classic Grimm brothers fairytales, to Harry Potter, to the Land of Stories, I LOVE THEM ALL. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my mom used to live Disney movies and wants to pass it down to her children. Over time, the love for Disney movies evolves to becoming the love for fantasies. Books, movies, anime, comic, you name it. This time, it’s a book.

This book is titled Everless and it’s written by Sara Holland. There’s a sequel to it, titled Evermore, but I haven’t got the time (or money) to buy the book so this is what we have for now.

Curious? Here’s a cover:

Oooooohhh

Well, just from seeing the cover, the first things that get to your mind are probably that the story itself is about ‘time’, considering that 80% of the cover is a gigantic hourglass and that little writing to the right just underneath the title there that said:

“Time is a prison. She is the key.”

You know where this is going.

Here’s the synopsis:

IN THE KINGDOM OF SEMPERA, time is money—extracted from the blood, traded in coins, and taxed to the hilt. Wealthy aristocrats like the Gerling family live for centuries, while the commoners struggle to survive.

Jules Ember loathes the Gerlings. She and her father were servants at Everless, the Gerlings’ palatial estate, until a fateful accident drove them away. But now, desperate to earn time, Jules returns to Everless amidst preparations for the wedding of the youngest Gerling lord to the Queen’s daughter.

Jules soon discovers that Everless holds more temptations—and danger—than she thought possible. Stories from her childhood begin to take on new significance, dragging her into a past she hardly recognizes and revealing a tangle of violent secrets that could change her future—and the future of time itself—forever.

Okay, well now that that’s done, time to start with my opinions.

First off, I’ll start with the overview of the story because before I read the book, I didn’t understand the synopsis AT ALL. I don’t know if it just didn’t reveal that much information, or if I was just plain stupid.

Well anyway, the story tells of sixteen(?) year-old Jules Ember, a poor villager who lives in a tiny village called Crofton with her father. They barely have the money to fill the stomachs with, and sometimes Jules will have to hunt for food, even though it’s like totally illegal.

(I’m getting the Hunger games vibes honestly)

The thing about hunting in the winter, is that its hard and there’s a chance you don’t get your hunt. But that’s not a problem for Jules, because there were times when time would just slow down at some points. Lucky for her, it did that time.

It wasn’t something that was supposed to happen. It was abnormality, but Jules have felt it since as far as she can remember, so she didn’t think that it was something that’s not supposed to happen.

Next, let me inform you about the term “money” in this book.

See, you know when you’re so poor you literally have zero money and you can’t buy anything or pay for anything? Well, if you run out of money, you’d have to bleed for it. Quite literally, actually, as the currency they use in Sempera is called “blood iron” and it can be found in everyone’s blood. If you have lots of debts and ZERO money, then you can pay the debts by bleeding.

The amount used for the “blood iron” currency goes:

An hour coin

A week coin

A month coin

And a year coin

Aside from using it to pay debts and bills, there are other times you might need to be bled, like when you want to change your blood to coins so you can use it for transaction or salary, or when you did something against the law and have to get punished. One of the characters in this book actually received a punishment of getting forty years bled out of her.

So let’s start with the actual review, shall we?

Pros:

The concept itself is VERY new. If you can, I’d like you to mention a book with a similar concept to Everless

How Sara Holland cleverly masks the conflict and how exhilarating it was to read about the beginning, the buildup, and the rise of the villain. You’d never expect what the conflict was until you read the book.

It makes you crave for more. Once you tipped that spot, you won’t let this book out of your hand.

Character development. And I am specifically talking about Liam Gerling, y’all.

“Sara Holland is a fierce storyteller. An intoxicating blend of blood, secrets, and haunting mythology, Everless gives a new and terrifying meaning to the phrase ‘running out of time’.” —Stephanie Garber

Cons:

The plot at the beginning seems slow and kind of dull. Also, it’s pretty much like every other fantasy/dystopian story. Illegal hunting because the main character was poor beyond measure, sells it at the market, goes home, meets wrecked family.

It’s VERY slow. The story is fun and all, but it’s only fun once you ACTUALLY reach the fun parts. Before that, you’ll bore yourself so much that you’ll might consider putting the book down and letting it rot before you pick it up and start reading again

Overall, this book was a lot of things. A lot of feels too. I’m kind of disappointed that there’s not an official fandom for this book because it needs one. If I could, I’d really love to spread the word about this book and make people read it. It’s totally worth your time and your money so.

One last thing before you go, if you consider reading the book and actually bought it, when you find the character named Caro, mind telling me how you imagine her to look like? Because for some reason, since the first time she came along, I’ve been imagining Cassandra from the Tangled Series and now I can’t unsee it

Alright, that’s about it for now. I’ll see you on the next post (which might be close by, as I have finally found out how tumblr works). My prediction is that it’s going to be a travelling thing next...if another review doesn’t come up.

See you!

-um

#everless #jules ember #liam gerling #roan gerling #ina gold #sara holland #book #reads #review #book review

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