Book Review: GEMINA by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman

Photo credit: Goodreads

Ho-lee shit. This book. Where do I even start with how incredibly, mind-blowing-ly amazing Gemina was?

I guess I'll start where I always do—the Goodreads summary:

"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."

Much of Illuminae was about trying to survive so that the passengers could make it to the space station/wormhole guardian Heimdall. Gemina picks up where Illuminae left off—except from the perspective of some of the people at Heimdall. Our main protagonists are Hanna and Nik; Hanna is the rich daughter of Heimdall's commander and Nik is part of a gang known as the House of Knives. Two very different people with very different social circles, though that doesn't stop Nik from flirting mercilessly with Hanna, and neither does the fact she has a boyfriend.

Of course, those everyday details become pretty irrelevant when everything goes to hell.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Gemina when I picked it up—mostly because I pre-ordered it after reading Illuminae and didn't read anything about what it was about (since, you know, I knew I was reading it no matter what). What I did expect was what I'd gotten from Illuminae: loads of action and twists, a very high body count, and edge-of-your-seat type pacing. Also probably something about Heimdall.

Gemina is all of that and more.

There are very few books that make me exclaim out loud, and Gemina can take the crown on "book I swore out loud the most while reading." It's hard for me to say too much without spoiling, so what I'll say is this: I ripped through the pages like nothing else (except Illuminae), the sequel absolutely lived up to the incredible first book, and I need the final book of the trilogy yesterday. Basically, I intend to continue to tell people to read it or else.


Diversity note: Of the main cast of characters there isn't a ton—both Hanna and Nik (our protagonists) are white, cishet, able-bodied, etc. One of the major non-protagonist characters, however is disabled (uses a wheelchair and needs an oxygen mask 24/7), which was good to see. If there's anything I have to request out of book three it's that we see more diversity rep with the protagonists, please!


Twitter-sized bites:

.@Ava_Jae gives⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️to GEMINA by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman. Is this action-packed, twisty sequel on your TBR? (Click to tweet) 

Looking for a twisted, mind-blowing YA Sci-Fi? Check out GEMINA by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman. (Click to tweet)