Obisido – The Illuminae Files #3 – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff – Review

(This is a review of the third book in the series, there will be spoiler for the first two books).

There is one fight left. The group comes together to get their home back. They take what they have learned and work together to take out the Bitech goons who have destroyed their lives. Will they all make it out in the end? Or are some sacrifices needed to save all those they hold dear.

This ending was action packed. It was paced perfectly for the end of a series. It starts off running and never slows down. The stake were well set up in the first two books and now we are ready to see how this all plays out. I felt like anything could have happened throughout the whole fight.

I also liked that there was tension between the adults and the teenagers when it came to leadership. Too often in YA books kids take control and no one questions it. People just shrug and say sure, because they were able to fight through one moment. In reality that makes no sense, trained adults are going to know more than teenagers no matter what they fought through.

This whole scenario played out in a realistic way. I liked that in the end they do end up working together. You felt like both sides were heard. Tragedy occurred but the emotions that sparked the mutiny made sense. I liked that you saw this infighting mixed in with them trying to determine how to get Kerenza back.

I found Rhys interesting. He was this kid who fell into this chaos. He was up in a honored spot, watching everything take place but never understanding. Then he is on the front lines and forced to figure out what he is doing. He is forced to see the realities of what has been told to him by his superiors. The grey lines that his story showed were interesting. You wonder who is the bad person and how is just trying to stay alive and keep their job.

I thought the growth of Nik, Hannah, Kady and Ezra was done well. You saw their growth from their previous stories. The way they changed and had to deal with the result of their adventures was realistic and good to see.

I want a story all about Aiden. I think Aiden as the most fascinating aspect of this book. Aiden is an AI that is alive, that can feel and that can love. It was fascinating to see him come into a realization that he loved Kady. I want to know more about how he was created and if there is potential for him to have a future.

While the ending was well paced I thought it didn’t have the impact that the ending of Gemina had. Gemina was a gut punch surprise, while Obsidio ended as you thought it would end. I saw a fight coming and saw danger for all our players. That is what happened.

I think the ending of this book would have had a bit more impact if the whole Gemina particle and alternate universe storyline was in this book instead. I would have put down the series in awe instead of just feeling somewhat satisfied.

Asha was probably the weakest character for me. I didn’t feel like I connected much with her thought the story. I think we would have benefitted from learning more about her in the previous books. Maybe if we had more time with her I would have felt more connected to her.

Again this book did the thing where deaths are faked. I mentioned in my last review that I usually don’t mind this tactic, but this became too much. I am fine with it for a minute but it is something to use sparingly. Once, twice if you are creative with it. Beyond that you take out all the tension of the story. If I know they come back, almost every time, why worry about a character at all? I see them die, I shrug knowing they will come back somehow and move on. If you are going to kill a character commit to it, make it have an impact for the reader and the story.

I was excited for the storyline about Ezra’s mother being tied into all of this but that petered out quickly. I felt like that was there for shock value and didn’t do much for the story itself. I would have loved to have a showdown between those two characters. Would have loved for that to be part of the epic finale but instead we got a hint that didn’t flourish like I think it could have.
I gave this one 3 stars on Goodreads. It was fun, it answered the questions that needed to be answered, but it left me wanting more.

“Live a life worth dying for.” (pg. 194)

“I have heard it said that evil is imply a point of view. The villain is always the hero in his own story. And he definitions of “wrong” and “right” ever shit on the inconstant tides of human morality.” (pg. 259)