Aurora Rising

I have mixed feelings on this book. There were moments where I was tempted to DNF it, but I'm glad I didn't because certain elements made up for it. To start, I'll give a summary of what the story is about before going through a pros and cons list. I heard the audiobook, so names will be misspelled.

To summarize, this story is about a squad of six noobs (freshly graduated from the academy) and a “time traveler” (Aurora O'Mally) who form a squad to try to figure out why Aurora has telekinetic powers. The squad is composed of misfits who were chosen last for the draft and became a team by default. Tyler (the captain) finds Auri floating in space. Auri is from 200 yrs in the past and has basically been frozen in cryosleep. She has telekinetic powers and the GIA (a human government entity) is after her. Tyler (the captain) has to decide if they should help her or turn her in to the authorities. They help her and discover a dark secret about warring alien species (the Rahal vs. the Asfereth?). The Rahal are basically the Borg from Star Trek, who are a hive of plant people which have returned and are planning to take over the universe. Auri is the key to a weapon to stop them given by the now extinct race called the Asfereth. In the end of the novel, the group take Auri to search for the weapon to defeat the Rahal.

Cons:
- Questionable squad qualifications: why in the hell would any military government think it's fine to send teams of noobs on spacefaring missions that could lead to war?? Seriously? It's a YA novel, so it explains why, but I can't take the story seriously when I'm reading about these green cadets doing this. Probably because I love Star Trek and the Vulcan in me finds the concept completely illogical.
- The Draft: the first chapter speaks endlessly about Tyler missing “the draft”. Basically, “alphas”, essentially Captains, are the top of their class and given the privilege to hand pick their squad. Again, are teenagers choosing their friends for a group project qualified to make such important decisions? No, they're not. The academy should have a say on teams based on their qualifications and merits rather than leave it all to a “draft”.
- Immaturity of the characters: each chapter is written from the perspective of one of the squad members. Overall, they're immature (imagine that!). The only exception to this would be Kal, my favorite character from the book. I found Kat and Scarlett's to be annoying and dreaded the chapters from their perspective. Kat is crazy about dating Tyler, and her chapters were the worst to get through.
- The constant disrespect and violence towards Tyler (even for comedy). I actually really liked Tyler's character, so the constant disrespect and beatings he received became annoying and tiresome. Funny enough, most of the abuse came from his own twin sister (Scarlette) and his childhood friend who has a crush on him (Kat). To start, his twin sister disrespects him by calling him ‘Beebro' in front of his new squad, rather than giving him the respect he deserves as a new Alpha. And Kat calls him “goldenboy” for being so perfect, which Finian starts using as well. Scarlette fantasizes about kicking her own brother in the balls, and Kat looks back fondly on how she hurt him as a 5 yr old boy by throwing a chair at his face, leaving him with a scar. How fucked up is that? Despite this, Tyler takes the constant teasing on the chin, figuratively and literally. Tyler then gets beats up by Kal, and then even Kat at some point. The poor guy is a punching back, yet, he just brushes it off and thinks the constant abuse from his sister and Kat are normal and affectionate. Seriously, the guy needs therapy. I've never fantasized about hitting my siblings in the balls. This was all used for comedic relief, but for me, it came off nasty.
- Aurora's beef with Kal: I started off liking Aurora, but when it came to Kal, she kept getting mad at him and pissed off at him for absolutely no reason. She was upset when he called her something, but it was sincerely just a cultural misunderstanding. She kept calling him a jackass and poor Kal had no clue she was upset at him when in reality, he was protecting her. She's so immature, Kal can do better than her! I don't get why she was so pissed at him, especially when he voted to not hand her over to the GIA. She conveniently forgot that when she was calling him a jackass - no sweetie, YOU are the jackass, not Kal.

Pros:
- Audiobook is fantastic! The only reason I was able to get through this was because there was sound effects and different narrators for each character. It sounded like I was listening to one of those old radio dramas back in the 40s before televisions were invented. My favorite part was at the end when Kat was taken over by the hive and they were narrating it from the hive perspective with multiple voices. That part was so chilling and fun to listen to. The audiobook narrators and editors did a fantastic job. They get a 5 star rating alone!
- Kal is amazing! Kal is Sildrafi(?), a race that resemble the elves from Tolkien. Aurora refers to him as both Elrond and Legolas a couple of times. His culture is super interesting. They are fighting a civil war and have lost their planet, so his people are scattered. The instigators were the people from his own caste system (the warrior class), so he is hated by others of his race when they see the mark on his forehead. He's not only handsome, but a skilled fighter and the most mature one in the squad. He feels what his people call “the pull” for Auri. They mate for life with one person, and he's in love with her. He's so loyal and devoted to her, and when he confesses to Auri, she says nothing and walks away. I get they were called to the bridge, but that's heart shattering.
- Great ending: the villain reveal was really cool and well done. I love Star Trek, so it didn't bother me when they used the concept of a Borg-like race that was defeated by a now extinct alien species. The fact that her family and the colony was taken over by the Rahal gave a nice dose of angst.
- Funny moments: there were hilarious bits throughout. One favorite is when Tyler and Kal kiss in a restricted area to avoid getting apprehended. Finian also provided great comedy relief sometimes, I enjoyed listening to the gearhead (aka engineer) being sassy. He reminds me of Baird from Gears of War.

So yeah, overall, I liked this book, but I don't think I'll be continuing the series. I've been informed that the Tyler bashing only gets worse in the second book. I thought with Kat gone for now, it would lessen up, but apparently not. I also heard that Aurora breaks up with Kal because he kept a big secret from him (I'll withhold the reason for it from this review). Sweetie, you really don't deserve Kal. Breaking up with your soulmate is a no no. With both my favorites hurting, I think I'll skip the next one and just read spoilers.