Initial Impressions 9/9/15: 4.5 stars, I think 
 THIS BOOK WAS NUTS in the best possible way. Holy cow, I went through quite the array of emotions and theories and I was totally hooked. The formatting was awesome and totally added some EXTRA creepy moments along with enhancing some characters even more. Some parts of it WERE a bit distracting (very few) but for the most part, it was all amazing! 
 LOTS of exciting moments, lots of suspense, lots of gore, romance, thrills, tears, laughs -- you name it. 
 The characters were fantastic and somehow the formatting an documents made them even more real and dynamic. 
 This is a good one, folks. Too bad I'm going to have to wait SO LONG for the next..... 
 Full review as originally posted HERE on The Book Addict's Guide 9/21/15: The hype for ILLUMINAE was already huge several months before the book came out so by the time I got around to reading it (you know... still three months before its release date), it was already a pretty intimidating book from all of the reactions, not to mention the fact that the ARC was pretty honkin' big. ILLUMINAE (in advanced copy form) clocked in at about 600 pages and taking on that brick (and I mean that extremely lovingly) was a bit scary, especially when it's right smack in prime sci-fi territory: future and space. Thankfully, I had absolutely nothing to fear because I simply couldn't put ILLUMINAE down and it may be one of the best books I've read this year. 
 How to review a book like ILLUMINAE... well, let's start with the formatting. The book is exactly what the series title implies: a collection of files. From transcripts of interviews to video surveillance reports to emails to data pulled directly from the ship, ILLUMINAE tells the story of Kady and Ezra -- two teens attempting to survive and reunite once an attack on their planet evacuates their community into space. At first I wasn't sure how I would handle the formatting but not only was it not detrimental to my reading experience but it enhanced it exponentially. It was so interesting to pick up the full story from all of these forms of files and it was incredibly creative! I loved how different it felt and the representation of so many different forms really brought the world to life even more. I was fully submerged into The Illuminae Files and didn't want to be yanked out of that world once I got into it. 
 The formatting also heightened the level of emotion for me. I think there were a few factors contributing to this, one of which is being able to read direct dialogue in emails and chat sessions. There's no "he said" or "she said" or extra helpful information within a paragraph that sometimes takes away from being the moment of emotion or action. The action sequences were more contained within reports from outside observers so the reader is able to witness action in a different way as well. I really think these methods of capturing and presenting information allowed me to stay in the moment and not have to read a lot of descriptors which can sometimes cause my minder to start thinking more about the structure again and stray from the emotional side. 
 The other main factor was that the formatting was just so visually appealing. The files presented to the reader came complete with headers, logos, different fonts, pictures, strains, wrinkles, and more. Other pages were structured to represent how a machine was working, a pilot's flight path, or a character's journey. Then there were some pages that only had one or two words on it to really drive a point or emotion home to the readers. It was so exciting to see something so different and that visual representation really added another layer to the book! 
 Aside from the help from the formatting, the story really was just so good. It took me a little while to establish the characters and get to know them but once I did (and it really didn't take that long), I felt like I knew them inside and out. I grew very attached to them and really felt like I took this journey with them. The plot and storytelling were also incredible. The suspense was constantly building, emotions high, action going, and there were quite a few twists that totally took me by surprise! 
 I feel like I could go on and on about ILLUMINAE but the bottom line is that you don't want miss this book. It's totally worth all of the hype and buzz it's received and I think a lot of people will be stunned by it! I'm a BIT sad that I read it so early because now I need to wait a very long while for book two... But you can bet I'll be inhaling the rest of this series!