BLOG TOUR: ARC Review--Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

The highly anticipated sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller that critics are calling “out-of-this-world awesome.”

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 received this ARC while at BEA earlier this year; I was in no way compensated for this review.


Holy ****ing ****! (As they would say in this series!) I thought Illuminae was a wicked and wild read that totally blew my mind, but Gemina has leveled the playing field, if not topping it! Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff prove once again what an excellent writing team they make that they could give us yet another kick*** book to read! Those 659 pages flew by! The downside to reading the ARC, besides having to wait loooooonger for the next book is the lack of pictures. Not all the pictures and artwork were present in the book, but in the grand scheme of things, that's not a total hardship. Granted, I will be awaiting the finished copy to peruse the pages for said artwork and pictures!

My first concern over this book was knowing that we were dealing with new characters. Normally, I long to be with the characters we were just introduced to and if the new characters are soooo new to me, I find I struggle to keep up with the story like I did with a book not too long ago (from reading this book). But thankfully that was not the case here. It takes place sometime after the events of Illuminae and we find ourselves reading yet another dossier of events that took place on the Heimdall station, the one that Ezra and Kady were trying to reach with the rest of their surviving crew. Here we meet Hanna, the daughter of the ship's commander, and Nik, the nephew of a very dangerous gang. Apparently, being on a space station/ship doesn't prevent that kind of thing from happening, but oh well! Hanna and Nik have an odd relationship to start out with. And it's basically that Nik is Hannah's go to guy for recreational drugs. She's not a druggie or anything, she just wanted to get one drug to bring to her friends for a party.

But the celebration to come, one that the whole ship/station takes part in, is interrupted when bad guys infiltrate the ship. BeiTech strikes again, in attempts to clean up their dirty laundry. With everyone being held hostage all over the ship, Hanna and Nik managed to be outside of the happenings and are soon running for the lives as they try to figure out who these bad guys are and what their plan is. And to add to the danger, there's a new virus being formed, one that could kill everyone on board if it's not stopped.

Once again we get to read a uniquely told story told through the usual emails, IM chats, journal entries and more! I never really thought this kind of storytelling would work for me because it's so different and I worried that the story wouldn't really get told, but after Illuminae, my fears were put to rest at how easily a story can be told through these means.

Gemina really steps up to the plate here! The pacing was spot on! We're talking fast action and an incredible thrill ride!! There was seriously never a dull moment as danger lurked around every corner for Hanna and Nik. It was so intense! And not really understanding what the new virus was, was another creepy factor! This thing can kill you if it gets a hold of you. And yeah, the virus is sort of a living thing! So be prepared to run! I loved having that added danger and suspense into the mix! Not only are there human enemies, but one that is something else and much harder to stop!

The characters that we focused on the most were naturally, Hanna and Nik, but also Nik's cousin Ella, who is terminally ill, but she's one helluva a techie! She can crack into just about anything, even changing her cousin's screen name to something less than favorable much to his frustration! Ella had me in quite a few fits of hysterics! She was a riot! Then of course you gotta love Hanna! She may be the commander's daughter and sort of fits into a "princess" role, but she can kick serious butt as her father trained her well. And then Nik of course is pretty badass himself since he's in a crime family, but he holds a few secrets of his own that make you really like the guy! Naturally, these two start to have some chemistry, pretty much from the get-go. Add in the fact, that Hanna has a boyfriend and already I was getting a little love triangle miffed, but thankfully, the action and danger take place SO early on, that romance and drama hardly hold a place in the grand scheme of things!

And we do see a connection between Gemina and Illuminae! Never fear, this won't just be an additional story taking place in the same world! Everything will come together in the end and I cannot wait to see how this series will end! The ending, oh that ending! If you thought Illuminae had a shocking ending, you haven't seen anything yet! Gemina will blow you away and having you gasping for more. But it seems for the meantime, we're all to be left floating out here in space holding our breaths until the final book. Sigh...oops! ;)


Overall Rating 5/5 stars


Gemina releases October 18, 2016


**And now for a giveaway! The publisher has offered up 1 copy of Gemina to one lucky US reader! Just leave a meaningful comment on this review and I'll choose a winner on October 7th!