None of this should have happened. If Ty, golden boy, and top student at the Aurora academy hadn’t decided to go for a midnight flight the day before he was supposed to pick his squad. He wouldn’t have seen the distress beacon or found Aurora, a girl who was a passenger on a ship that went missing 200 years ago. If he hadn’t decided to play the hero, he would have had the pick of the top graduates for his team instead he got stuck with the bottom of the barrel.
Zila: A girl who didn’t feel as much as most people and whose love for science sometimes extended to shocking her roommates. Often with a stun gun.
Kal: A warrior from a clan known for their violence who didn’t exactly disprove the stereotypes upon first impression.
Finian: A smart aleck tech wiz whose records showed his skills as a team player were somewhat lacking.
Last but far from least his two most loyal friends, top graduates who refused to join any other team. His twin sister Scarlet, whose matching skills in sarcasm and meditation make her an excellent diplomat and … Cat a snarky pilot he’d been friends with since he was five who definitely didn’t have a thing for him if anyone asked.
His crew wasn’t exactly what he was expecting which might be bad news when suddenly Aroura is a wanted fugitive. When a war starts to brew all they can hope for is that this team can become unlikely heroes because honestly, they might be the only options.
What can I say about Aurora Rising? First, the title and the summary have a slight reference to fairytales, but I would definitely not classify this as a fractured fairytale. The premise falls under there being someone who slept for a long time, but this isn’t fairytale vibes. It’s sci-fi and I would absolutely recommend it to lovers of many genres. I don't usually read much sci-fi I'm more of a fantasy person, but I adored this and would recommend it to other lovers of the genre. I bet big sci-fi lovers would adore this too and there’s enough suspense and mystery around each corner to appeal to the mystery crowd as well. There are twists of plot and backstories to be discovered, and while not the typical mystery plot more than enough mystery to be engaging. Not only is it an interesting and well-executed plot but other elements were interesting too. There was fascinating worldbuilding, not an insane amount but what they had was intriguing, and it expands in future books, and the characters are wonderful too each of them is interesting and intriguing and they all are very different individuals. There is also plenty of representation in the story, a main charter has a physical disability which I think is discussed pretty respectfully, queer characters, and multiple non-white main characters. Overall, the story is fascinating, the characters are maybe even more interesting than the story, and the overall story is interestingly written and funny. This is a wonderful story, and I would totally recommend giving it a read.