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.
After only reading Illuminae a few weeks ago, the wait for Gemina seemed so much longer. I loved Illuminae and Gemina is no different. Both Hanna and Nik are brilliant additions to the story and the with all the plot twists and turns, you are in for one hell of a ride.
If I’m honest I did think Gemina was a direct sequel to Illuminae rather than a companion novel. I was a little disappointed when I found this out and I thought that I wouldn’t enjoy it as much because I loved Illuminae and wanted to find out more. However my disappointment was short lived because once I started reading I fell in love with Hanna and Nik. I don’t want to spoil anything but if you are holding off from reading Gemina because its a companion novel then don’t because characters from Illuminae do feature in Gemina. I had a big smile on my face when I got to that part of the book.
With Hanna being the captain’s daughter, at the beginning of the book she comes across a spoilt girl. But as you read on and get to know her more then you find out that she is actually very intelligent and is a total bad-ass when it comes to martial arts. I liked that once you get to know Hanna more as the story develops you find yourself wanting her to succeed and you will be cheering her on by the end.
I found Nik to be the more interesting character from Gemina. He has many different levels to his character and I think he is one of the most developed characters within the series. He starts out as a drug dealer, but you do find out that he is not just a criminal but someone who is selfless, genuine, a flirt, and an all round good guy.
Both of Hanna and Nik are joined by a whole host of new characters, but one that sticks out as a brilliant new addition is Ella. She is Nik’s cousin and a ruthless hacker, and she manages to save both Nik’s and Hanna’s lives quite a few times in Gemina.
I don’t want to discuss the plot of Gemina too much because I don’t want to spoil it and ruin your enjoyment of the story. I will just say though that you wont be able to guess where the story goes, once you think you have a handle on things the story jolts in a new direction you didn’t even think was possible. If you have read Illuminae then you should know what kind of things to expect.
There are so many twists and turns in the book I can guarantee you will have to put the book down for a few minutes just to process it all. Both Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff have a way of feeding you little bits of information throughout the story that will be vital later on. Its a smart way to write and makes us the readers take note of everything that’s written on the page.
Again like Illuminae the story of Gemina is told through a series of transcripts, IM chats, emails and logs. This time in Gemina there is some drawings dotted throughout the book and I think this is another brilliant way of telling the story. I have read a few other books that try and tell the story in many different formats but Illuminae and Gemina are the only ones that I feel tell the story fully and are able to develop the characters and the plot to its full potential.
I could not recommend and praise Gemina enough, it is the perfect companion book to Illuminae and everyone should give it a read. Its a unique, edge of your seat read and very hard to put down once you start reading.
The only down side of reading Gemina now is the long wait for book 3!
For my review of Illuminae, click here
I rate this book 5/5 stars
Mike Reads 