Book Review – ‘Gemina’ by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Teens surviving a shit-storm in space – Excellent!

Genre: Y/A, Science Fiction

No. of pages: 608

From Goodreads:

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.

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.

It has been an age since I was eagerly anticipating a book release – and it just had to be a massive space soap opera! Maybe I’m flashing back to my childhood and the Star Wars days? Anyway, I cracked the cover and started reading ‘Gemina’ as soon as I had unboxed it. I found I was missing the characters from ‘Illuminae.’ We get a few glimpses of them, but this sequel deals with a whole new cast – and there are so many new characters! It took a bit to keep track of them all and focus on what’s happening – especially with the format of collated documents.

The story feels slow to start with, and was a little difficult to capture my interest, especially after my disappointment at not reading more about Kady and Co. After I got past the first 100 pages, I settled into the new environment, got to know our protagonists Hanna and Nik, things started to get better and better. The anty just kept getting one-upped. Just like ‘Illuminae’ I was completely engrossed.

Hanna is a real balls-to-the-wall kind of girl. A cross between a pampered princess and an Amazonian. She called to all the joys I have about reading a take-no-prisoners heroine. Only because I wish I could be that kind of person, instead of passing out after one push-up.

I appreciated the humour mixed into the narrative and laughed out loud man many times. Though sometimes it felt forced and unnecessary. But I can understand the characters need to crack a funny – to release tension and teenagers are always inappropriate and the worst of times. But still…

Nik – I guessed his backstory well in advance, something about how he was written gave it away. But I still really liked him, even if he was predictable. If I had to nit-pick I’d say he was the weakest part of the novel.

Ella was cute and reminded me of Iko and Winter from the Cinder Chronicles rolled into one.

The plight of the teens under terrorist attack, a bio threat, wormhole issues, incoming destroyers… it was all enough to reduce you into a puddle of your own making. The tension builds and builds, the pace quickened expertly. For such a large novel, I flew through the last half in a matter of hours. Such an expert mix of action, adventure and science fiction. Even with the mixed format of collated documents, you still got a sense of urgency and multiple points of view which only added to the story.

That ending tough – by the time I got there, I thought anything could happen and wasn’t certain about any predictions… I like to be kept guessing, so the conclusion was simply brilliant. I’m desperately hangry for the next release ‘Obsidio’ to be dropped next year.

Overall feeling: So. Much. Stuff. Happening!

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