Illuminae is the first book in The Illuminae Files series, published in 2015. When main character Kady’s planet gets invaded, she teams up with her ex-boyfriend, Ezra, “to get on the evacuating craft, with an enemy warship and a deadly plague on their heels.” (Baron, 2021) The novel consists of interviews, military files, and other documents to show what Kady and Ezra's life is like on the escape craft as they navigate the plague and try to figure out if the ship's AI is actually on their side or not.

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The Illuminae Files is a YA trilogy, and Illuminae has garnered a 4.25-star rating on Goodreads. Readers enjoyed the plot twists, epistolary format, and felt that it was a fairly easy read for a book of its style, but some felt that the pacing was slow and it took a while to feel invested in the story.

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