Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) – Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

Title: Gemina (The Illuminae Files #1) by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Publishing Info: October 18, 2016 by Random House Publishing Group
Source: BEA 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: July 17, 2016
Related Posts: Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1), Unearthed (Unearthed #1), These Broken Stars (These Broken Stars #1), Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3), Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1), Godsgrave (The Nevernight Chronicle #2)

Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.
The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.
Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.
When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.
But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.
Once again told through a compelling dossier of emails, IMs, classified files, transcripts, and schematics, Gemina raises the stakes of the Illuminae Files, hurling readers into an enthralling new story that will leave them breathless.

I didn’t used to consider myself a fan of sci-fi, specifically things happening in space, but after ILLUMINAE totally rocked my reading world last year, I knew I couldn’t wait to get my hands on GEMINA. After waiting over three hours in line at BEA for a chance for an ARC (it was totally worth it), I didn’t wait too long to jump into one of my most-anticiapted reads of year, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

Once again, this masterpiece by Aime Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is hard to describe. It’s a book that’s meant to be seen (although I have heard that the audio is quite amazing as well) and it was another amazing visual experience. GEMINA has all of the stunning visuals that ILLUMINAE did plus some gorgeous illustrations from none other than author Marie Lu (although the ARC didn’t have Marie’s illustrations so I had to go back and see them once my finished copy was delivered)! I absolutely love that each book is a true experience and the various forms of story-telling throughout this chronicle really pull a reader in no matter their reading preferences.

I also really enjoyed that GEMINA is a companion to ILLUMINAE. It picks up on the timeline where ILLUMINAE left off and yet readers meet two new characters — Hanna and Nik — and experience the madness and mayhem that ILLUMINAE readers loved but in a brand-new way. The new characters had a fantastic dynamic and featured one of my favorite tropes (hate-to-love). The banter was top-notch and I adored how the dynamic of these two characters really shaped the book. Plus, Amie and Jay had even more unique story-telling concepts, amazing twists for readers (which I didn’t even know was possible), and appearances from characters that were stars of ILLUMINAE!

GEMINA is clever, fun, creative, shocking, twisty, and brilliant. These books are so much fun to read in so many ways and I love how these two authors are constantly reshaping this genre and age range, bringing in new ideas and new readers. I was so impressed with the ending of this book and it bent my mind a little bit but in a totally amazing way. I cannot wait for the next installation in this set of companions! I will be eagerly awaiting, as always.

“The View from Goodreads” is a featured section in my reviews that I decided to incorporate! I tend to update my Goodreads status a LOT when I read — reactions, feelings, notes — so I thought it would be fun to share the sort of “reading process”! All status updates are spoiler-free (no specific plot points will be revealed) but will contain reactions to certain pages and/or characters!

A photo posted by Novelly Yours Candles (@novellyyours) on Oct 18, 2016 at 8:55am PDT

 

Hanna // Character obsessions: Freedom, fun, clothes.
You’re lead to believe Hanna is a bit of a spoiled brat but I LOVE how kickass she turns out to be! Kady had some serious spunk in a rebel sort of way and Hanna is more skilled from enjoying the lessons and spoils of money and connections. I just love her character development and how amazingly her relationship with Nik evolves.

Kept Me Hooked On: Space. These books are seriously changing my tune on “space books”. i actually adore outer space but I haven’t gotten into any stories that take place there, really. I’m all right with spaceships but I’m just not an alien person so I think I’ve avoided a lot of that. I just love the way these books pull me in!
Left Me Wanting More: Time to read! I just wanted to inhale this book like I had with ILLUMINAE but I didn’t have the time to sit down and keep reading. I totally could have loved it even more (if that’s possible) if I had extra time to really focus.

Addiction Rating
Fall in love with it!

These books are so amazing. I love the originality and it’s so easy for so many readers to fall in love with them.

BOOKS LIKE GEMINA

(Click the cover to see my review!)