For some reason despite disliking book one I thought I would give book two a try. Hoping improvements would have been made.
Sadly this also didn't work for me. Safe to say this series just isn't for me.
I found that I didn't care for the characters or the world.
Despite the synopsis being intriguing.

Squad 312 is back. Our favourite bunch of misfits are once again travelling across the galaxy to save all from the ancient evil ready to consume all they know.

Filled with twists and turns you didn’t see coming, Aurora Burning is the perfect sequel.

I'm... disappointed. My expectations for this series were sky high due to recently reading and loving The Illuminae Files. I was anticipating another brilliant unputdownable sci-fi series, but sadly that isn't what I got at all. The biggest disappointment for me were the characters, their personalities were all far too similar and they were all shallow and stereotypical. I couldn't feel anything for any of the characters which is very unusual for me, I felt no connection at all. The adventure when I wasn't distracted by the dullness of the characters was slightly enjoyable but not enough to continue with the series unfortunately.

I LOVE this series.

I'll be honest I thought this was a duology so when it finished how it did I was a little taken aback, however now I can't wait for the next one.

I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the first, I felt aurora's characters became a little meh and I didn't much care what happened to her. Given she's a central part of the story this didn't feel right to me. I did however enjoy the introduction of some new characters into the mix and the different journeys this took them on.

NEXT PLEASE!!!

Thank you for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored Aurora Rising, so instantly knew I'd love this. The characters in this were phenomenal, and setting was brilliant. There was fast paced action from the beginning and I really appreciated a summary of where we had left off with the previous book.

Overall, the character development was brilliant and I can't wait for book 3!

I am obsessed with The Illuminae Files and really loved Aurora Rising so was pretty nervous after seeing mixed reviews for Aurora Burning. I didn't need to worry, for me I even enjoyed it more than Aurora Rising.
I really enjoyed seeing the characters developed and fleshed out a bit more in this one, as well as some of the heart wrenching unexpected expect-able deaths. It is a Kristoff book after all!
That ending though, Kaufman and Kristoff, why do you have to leave us hanging so much?
Awaiting the next installment of emotional devastation.

Jay and Amie make such an awesome team. And that cover is absolutely stunning. I hope they tag team on more series.

This book was a fantastic follow up to the Aurora Rising first book in the series. I loved the plot points which I won’t go into too much detail due to spoilers. The characters were just as fab as the first book with even more action and adventure .

After the ending of Aurora Rising, you'd think 'They can't break my heart any more can they?'. Well, wrap yourselves in bubble wrap. Kaufman and Kristoff did it again. It's almost impossible not to see the reactions to this book on social media, and most of them feature the words 'no', 'why', 'how could you'. So you get the idea of where this one is going.
It's another instalment of heart-racing action, witty squads, and impossible situations. This book hurts so good, and I desperately need the next.

What I loved about this book was, first of all, the info about each character, it was helpful since I didn't remember much.

And then of course the whole plot, the characters, the humour, the character dynamics and everything was just as you'd expect from a book by this amazing author duo.

And that ending!

I really enjoyed it and can't wait for the next one 😱

I downloaded this book to read but the copy has now expired and there's no other way for me to download the book to read as it is now archived on NetGalley!

Really wanted to read this one so really disappointed but i'm not able to give feedback on this item.

From Goodreads:
Our band of misfits are back and there is no slowing down. One hundred miles and hour from start to finish.
We have our individually odd characters coming together to form a heroic band, we have nasty galactic baddies and we have ancient evil trying to destroy everything - it is all here
Cruel cliffhanger - bring on the next!
This is just really good, over the top YA fun.

It's not often that a sequel out-performs the first in a series but Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff have done it! This book has more adventure, more sassy aliens and even more heart than Aurora Rising and I can't wait for even more books in the series!

I loved this book! All of the characters felt more developed from the first book (which I also loved) the plot was intriguing and that ending broke me. Next book now please!

I have been waiting for this book pretty much since I finished Aurora Rising. I was a little shell shocked by how much I loved the first book in the series, and felt a bit breathless after finishing it. I had to wait a few months for book two to come out, but that’s going to be nothing on the (at a minimum) year I’ll have to wait until book three.

It begins barely a couple of weeks after the end of book one, which means the characters are still pretty new to each other, and still reeling from the events of book one. There will probably be some spoilers in this review, although I’ll do my best to keep them as vague as possible.

The tone is frantic from the very beginning, with it opening on a high-speed chase an a record-scratch, freeze-frame moment than an early 2000s teen movie would admire. These books have that exact same energy and drive which makes them giddy, breathless fun to read. It also means that, with this book, when things go bad they go bad very quickly.

Aside from being on the run from both the GIA, the Aurora Legion and the killer alien race that wants to subsume the whole galazy into its hive mind, squad 312 also find themselves being chased down by an unstoppable band of Syldrathi warriors, led by Kal’s sister, who has a very limited concept of “reasonable force”, except perhaps in the sense of “it’s reasonable for me to use a lot of force”.

It feels like this book is a lot more brutal than book one, physically so, and naturally with the revelations of the end of book one the tone is darker. There’s a real sense of what’s at stake, and that these are the only people in the galaxy who can do anything about it. And there are only six of them, and no-one older than 19, and they only finished their training less than a month ago. The sense of stress is immense, which is why it came as a relief to me that they were given space to breathe a couple of times within the narrative. For me, as much as the characters, that pause gives me a chance to recalibrate and process everything that has happened.

This book also introduces the potential for time travel, but we only see the effects of it, not the how or why, and I suspect that’s going to be introduced in the next volume. This volume felt a lot like prep – the first book is a mystery story, trying to solve a conspiracy, a clue. This one feels like it’s the run up to the actual story now the conspiracy has been revealed, and there’s space for each of the characters to try and work out how they fit both within the team and the wider story in which they find themselves.

I was really pleased to see Zila getting developed more in this book, as I had hoped after finishing Aurora Rising, and there were some neat backstory developments for characters that I’m looking forward to being explored in the next volume.

There were other things which I was less keen on, in particular regarding a character’s family history. While I hadn’t entirely expected it from the beginning, I felt it was clearly foreshadowed in this version, so I don’t know whether it’s fully a spoiler, but I’ll try and keep it as vague as possible. Essentially, one of the team’s parents is revealed, and the others are betrayed by this revelation. The betrayal really bothered me – why does a character’s parentage negate everything that character has done for their teammates? If they’ve distanced themselves so far from their parent as to change their name and break contact with them for so many years, maybe – just maybe – they’ve got no responsibility for their parent’s actions and perhaps it doesn’t actually matter at all who their parents are?

Also – when were they supposed to reveal this to the rest of the team? Everyone is cross that it’s been kept a secret, but I’d love to know when would have been a good time for this information to come out. They changed their name to be able to join the academy, and you’ve all known each other for a few weeks, during which the end of the galaxy has been mooted and people keep trying to kill you. You all at once don’t really know each other, and have been dealing with a lot of other stuff. At what point was this character supposed to sit everyone down and go “By the way…”

I think this is just a pet peeve plot point of mine, because it’s done so often and I mildly resent how it plays out nearly every time. Unless they’re working as a spy on behalf of their parent, it’s irrelevant who their parents are! And we know this character isn’t, because they’ve done literally everything in their power to cut ties with their parent. I think for me it just seemed slightly lazy as a way of building tension between characters, and that didn’t fit with the quality of the rest of the two books in the series. Surely there were other ways this could have played out?

To give them the benefit of the doubt, the other side of the argument is that all the characters are, as previously mentioned, teenagers, and they’re all under an awful lot of stress, and possibly their reactions are a reflection of that, and there may be more nuance put to the situation in the next book. But man, I wish it hadn’t happened.

I’d characterise this as a traditional second instalment, the one with the training montage where all the characters are shuffled into place for the final showdown. It’s The Empire Strikes Back, setting us up for Return of the Jedi. I’m really looking forward to the next part, and I did really enjoy this one, it’s just that it managed to clock one of my pet peeves on its way past.

Briefly:

Following almost immediately on from Aurora Rising, this is a solid second-novel, where the stakes are raised and the characters are positioned for the endgame portion of the story.
There was a plot point that I was less than keen on, although this is entirely personal. It does work in the book, I just think that it could have been done in a more interesting way.
I do still love the ensemble cast, though, and there is potential for new additions after this instalment that could be really interesting in the way they impact the team’s dynamic.

Rating: 4/5 – it’s a good book, and I’m loving this series, but man that parent thing was a niggle for me.

Back with my favourite gang of loveable space misfits! This book picks up right where Aurora Rising leaves off and doesn't let up for the entire story. Action packed and amusing, this is the perfect light sci-fi read which really brings the fun.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

What a follow-up to Aurora Rising! I love the world Kaufman and Kristoff have created and the characters feel both realistic and engaging. What I cannot forgive is that cliffhanger! Can we have the next one soon please...?

This amazing brilliance of prose continues the adventure. I would still die for Squad 312; before that, I want to fly with them, adventure with them. Bring on the third book!

This book was an excellent sci fi adventure, with a mix of diverse characters and lots of action and lots of humour. The world building is really well done, helping you sink into the setting of the story with no trouble at all.

It was a great fun, wild ride of a read and I'd really recommend it. I really enjoyed following the interactions and action as Squad 312 go off to save the world. They are an over the top, misfit bunch and you can't help but like them as among the action, you get a lot of bonding between friends and developing romance. A great read.

4 Stars

What a nasty cliffhanger ending!

The Aurora Cycle is cheesy as hell (like seriously, it's cheesy) and yet it still manages to land its emotional punches and more thrilling aspects. I still can't quite get my head around how it does this so naturally, but yeah, it works. One of my favourite parts of both books has been learning the characters' backstories and inner demons, which form a nice contrast to the near-constant joking around.

Some things I liked in particular in Aurora Burning:

1) More Zila! We only really got snippets of her in the first book, but she was definitely a character I liked and wanted to know more about. Her POV chapters in Aurora Burning were always a joy to read, and - for a character that expresses the least emotion - by far the most emotional. The last thing she says in this book kicked me in the feels.
2) Saedii. She's really different to the other characters, in a good way. She reminds me a bit of Manon Blackbeak, my favourite character from the Throne of Glass series. A legit, sociopathic badass with hidden depths. I loved her.
3) Saedii and Tyler's banter
4) Scarlett being a boss
5) Star Wars vibes
6) Interesting lore all coming together
7) Auri and her family. This part I would give 5* because it made me cry.

The one thing I would wish for this book is more Finian! He was my fave in the first book and I loved his chapters here too, but we can always have more. I feel like the disability rep was done really well with him here though, and the last scene with him and Scar was so cute. (More please. MORE.)