So in May I decided to try a new book subscription box which was Illumicrate. Illumicrate is a monthly book subscription box that focuses mainly on young adult titles. When I heard that the May book was going to be Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff I knew I had to try and order the box. May’s theme is The Final Frontier.

This is my first time ordering this box and this month was very good. The bookish items included a Lunar Chronicles cooler bag/lunch bag, an Illuminae pillowcase with Kady and Ezra on one side and AIDAN quotes on the other, a Red Rising inspired luggage tag, a Squad 312 pouch to use for glasses or phone, some space themed sticky notes, and a collectible magnetic coin featuring Kady Grant. The box also included two extra book chapter samplers from the books The Furies by Katie Lowe and Emily Eternal by M.G. Wheaton. I’ve never been a big fan of chapter samplers but I know some people like them.

The book is Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. The Illumicrate edition is signed, has a slightly changed cover and pink sprayed edges, and comes with a letter from the authors. I don’t think that I could ever describe the book better than the official summary from Goodreads so I have added that here: The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

They’re not the heroes we deserve. They’re just the ones we could find. Nobody panic.

The book sounds amazing and I hope to read it soon. I really liked this box but at the moment I don’t think I will be subscribing to it. I do intend to keep up to date on their special edition books and boxes and I might buy those in the future.