Gemina

HELL. YES.

Talk about blood-pumping action, jeez. I was legit full-on sweating toward the end, and I think my blood pressure was through the roof. That ending blew my mind and made my want to claw my face, but, like, in a good way.

Also, I want to note, that one particular scene made me so excited I started to literally pace while reading. Since it’s a spoiler I’m gonna put it under the cut.

Hanna and Kali’s confrontation was THE BEST. I’m a huge fan of the main hero having a nemesis, and then beating them in a dramatic fashion, but in the majority of media I consume this type of situation is always reserved for a man. Two women squaring off in the no-holds-barred fight? YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU. Also, this quote is amazing.

And at

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last, all the jibes, the quick talk and the subterfuge melt away, and Donnelly finally understands who she’s facing. A woman born to this. Bred for it. A woman who, after a few questionable choices and ten or so more years of hard training, Donnelly could find herself staring at in the mirror.

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Who says that art is only one thing? I think it can often be two! :)

There's one hell of a fantastic SF story in here, full of action and fantastic SF concepts building upon what we got in [b:Illuminae|23395680|Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1)|Amie Kaufman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1443433956s/23395680.jpg|26653661] and taking off even farther and faster (or deeper in the gravity well of a singularity) than the first novel.

And then there's also a thing that I hesitate to call a gimmick simply because the artists STILL pull off one hell of a hat trick with the layout.

Layout? What's so big about the layout? Um. Everything! It's a work of art! As impressive in its way as the actual story, which is no slouch!

In other words, this show more is a double novel, both a clever visual treat and an epistolary action-filled conflict on a space station torn apart by warring galactic corporations.

I had no problems with any of our new cast of characters, which is kind-of odd, at least to me, because I'm used to cookie-cutter YA protagonists more concerned with the states of their gonads than survival or using their heads. Not so with this one. It looks like I'm getting prepared to trust an author to pull me through no matter what she decides to write. I may just go ahead and check out everything else she's written.

Yeah. It's that good. The SF is solid. The characters are too. The story has fantastic pacing.

And our favorite misbehaving AI is still with us.

Did I mention that this is a book with a dual nature? Gemina, eh? Well it goes beyond just the layout and the text. :) I'll leave it at that because any more is just spoiler territory even if I want to just squee with how this SF got pulled off. And the tragedy. Just wow. :)

So happy! I love really great SF and I REALLY love great SF that wants to be fearless in it's expression as ART. :) Yay! show less

Cinematic, gorgeous, FUN. A cracking plot full of twists and turns, and a healthy dose of corporate skepticism and science nerdiness, and perhaps the best execution of the "did he/she really die?" trope. In terms of the plot, I did notice a few striking parallels to the first book in the series. For most of the book, it felt like it was going to be simply a grander, better version of Illuminae, but it really shone in the end, with the alternate reality sequences. Everything from the concept, to it's beautiful formatting on paper, and just the simple text, really saved this book.

The book was also surprisingly easy to read, provided that it was full of reports and text logs and surveillance summaries. Most of the characters were a riot, show more and the writing style despite the constant death and destruction, alternated between being wisecracky and grandiose. In terms of the sheer science-fiction, it wasn't as detailed as say Andy Weir's The Martian, but the authors definitely knew what they were talking about.

The characterization in this book was somewhat interesting. Our two protagonists Hanna and Niklas, closely resembled Ezra and Kady from the previous book. Kady's resemblance to Hanna is even explicitly alluded to in the book. The character development in this book was quite straightforward, involving Hanna a stereotypical "station commander's daughter" and Niklas, a reluctant member of a Russian drug cartel, rising up the occassion and heroically saving the station. We also witnessed a host of side characters, including the Beitech invasion team, and other works onboard the Heimdall station. I felt this was the only place the book was lacking - in moral complexity or emotional frailty. Although the book did have its moments with jasmine corsages and Hanna's sketches, for the most part it remained focused on the plot - which in the end turned out to be the right choice.

Definitely excited for the next installment. show less

I love this series. Again we have a plucky heroine and a slight love triangle. Not to mention the weird science of the wormhole at the space station. Some characters from the first book show up, a few are more than a cameo. Once again the book is written in chats and descriptions of video cameras, this time these are being shown as part of a trial? Inquiry? into the company that "allegedly" attacked and destroyed the illegal mining operation on the planet Kerenza.

The threads are coming together, but I must say if the company doesn't pay for what they did in the final book, I will be very sad.

I love the snark and grit of the two main characters.

These books are very compelling and so well done for being such an alternative to straight show more narrative. I wish there were more books in the series. show less

In a post-Illuminae reading frenzy I picked up this 659-page book yesterday at the library.
I just finished it today.
It's SO. FREAKIN. GOOD.
There are slithery, venomous aliens; time-changing wormholes; a badass krav maga Queen; a suave tattooed space gangster; just every bit of scifi goodness packed into one glittering helping of action and intrigue.
I can't wait to dive into the final book!

#JayKristoff and #AmieKaufman are EVIL. Not James Patterson evil, where he is driving my library broke and needs to be assassinated for putting his name on everything. No, this is more the I NEED #3 NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! type of evil. The type of evil, where you are annoyed they put out something so good and left you in a lurch realizing that the horizon of the next book is over a year away, since this one is not even published yet.

I will not lie, I had not read Illuminae before I picked up a copy of Gemina at BEA. I had read the first book of the Lotus Wars (and plan to get back to the series soon). It was only after a game of Heads or Butts over 3 copies of Nevernight, and standing in the very tall shadow of Mr. Jay that I decided I show more needed this book. And that the three teenagers with me for Book Con had to experience standing in line for 2.5 hours for a BOOK! And let me tell you it was WORTH IT! (2 books in a few weeks worth it).

Gemina runs congruent and a little after Illuminae. And we have a different cast of characters. I was a little worried about this at first because it can be a failure (Forest of Hands and Teeth, I'm looking at you). That is not the case here. We start off with Hanna. The pretty rich girl military brat whose daddy is commander of the Hemidall station. I want to hate her so bad, and in the beginning I do. After running off to meet with her drug dealer to get some party favors for Terra Day. I want to hate her. As a military brat these were the girls I could not stand growing up. But here I am, fallen in love with a character who I should hate. You just cant help yourself. Then there is Nik, the drug dealer. He, I also want to hate. I am against everything he does, at least for the first 50-100 pages. But then, gosh dang it, there goes the character love again. Then there is Ella the tech genius. Her you love from the moment you meet her.

I said books 1 and 2 run congruent. Hypathia is on its way to Hemidall, but BioTech has sent henchmen to Hemidall to make sure the Hypathia does not make it. All heck breaks loose, and the fight for survival is on. Some things I saw coming from a mile away (Bad guy, no surprise), but the physics stuff. I studied physics and have had many debates about the possibilities brought to life in this book, and it makes me a little mad I missed it. My physics club would be so disappointed in me.

So the authors have stated that this is a trilogy. Ah oh, better watch out for the dreaded 2nd book slump. Do not worry about that here. No slump detected. I know some other reviews thought there was a small one, but not this reviewer. This still had the "Put Me Down and DIE" feeling to reading. I'm saying that even reading a galley, that is missing most pictures and galley (but descriptions are present) throughout the book. Sleepless nights, and get nothing done days have happened because of this book series. The most dastardly thing is that I will have to wait over a year to see #3 since this book is not even out yet. UGHHHHHHHHHHH

I lied, I can say that this book has the absolutely WORST last line in a book EVER!!! Jay, Amie, YES I "wanna know how it ends?"! show less

Rating: 4.7/5 Stars
Title: Gemina (Illuminae Files #2)
Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Synopsis:
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, show more 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.

Initial thoughts:
After reading Illuminae, I had a feeling that I was going to have trouble getting through this book as I had the first, but I loved the story so much that I decided to keep going and push through the processing complications I had experienced. I really enjoy science fiction stories and wanted to see what was in store for Kady and Ezra after everything that happened in the first book. Especially after that cliffhanger that we were left with! So, with that, I jumped right into reading this book.

Plot:
What I liked:
I missed Kady, Ezra and AIDEN from the first book as this story follows a different set of characters, but I did enjoy learning about what was happening at the station. The plot of the story was well paced and full of realistic characters that reacted as I would have expected them to in response to the pressures placed upon them. Even the protagonists were human in many aspects and showed emotion amidst stressful situations (of course some were described as being more robotic in expression, but I digress).
I loved the humor that was put into the story as well as the sass of the characters. They were witty and clever, bringing out the severity of a situation while still staying real and coping using humor.

What I didn't like:
Again, this was tough book to get through because of the constant switching of fonts and occasional artistic texts. Though it added to the atmosphere of the story, I found it difficult to read and process. So, the book took me much longer to finish. I am assuming that Obsido is going to be the same way.

Characters:
Hanna Donnelly: She was so much more than just your pretty party girl. Hannah was my favorite character (Even above Kady which was weird to me) and I loved following her around and seeing just what she was going to do in certain situations. She was smart, witty, and strong and I found myself drawn to her character.
Nik Malikov: The bad boy with a heart of gold. I loved Nik and I found his character really endearing and I was rooting for him. He was silly, and though he toes the line of what he should and shouldn’t say, I felt like he knew when to stop and take a step back.
Ella Malikova: I loved this girl! She was sassy, but still a good person. I liked reading her thoughts on the situation aboard the station.
Travis Falk and his Team: He was crazy and I thought he was a fantastic villain, and his team was very quick thinking (for the most part). I liked how they all worked together. I would equate them to a pack of dogs to be honest on how they hunted and how they showed no mercy.


Overall:
This book was fantastic and I seriously loved it! It was a roller coaster ride from start to finish with so much conflict riddled throughout it. I really think that the story was so well written and executed. I liked how the beginning and end come together as if in a trial setting. The first book was like a warning while the second is the actual follow through. The characters were fantastic and I actually enjoyed this book a little more than Illuminae and cannot wait to start the third book, Obsidio. show less