“Patience and Silence had one beautiful daughter. And her name was Vengeance.”
Gemina is one of those rare books where plot triumphs over characters, but I still ended up having a blast.
The plot is the strongest part. It starts off slowly and I was wondering where things were heading, but when it gets going, it GETS GOING. The plot is fast-paced, expansive, full of blood, violence, destruction and death and is for the most part unexpected with the exception being the 'Jackson is a spy for BeiTech' plot twist.. I also enjoyed the interesting concepts and the science bits towards the end. Certain aspects of the plot and the plot twists are repetitive when compared with Illuminae, but it doesn't affect the plot negatively, because the plot is so insane.
In Illuminae, the unique format made it difficult for me to get attached to the characters and while I had a similar problem in this one, I like Hanna and Nik more than Kady and Ezra. Hanna and Nik start off seeming like stereotypical and flat characters i.e. the typical good girl and bad boy respectively, but as the plot progresses, they really show what they're made of. Hanna is a freaking badass who was raised on military strategy and Nik is a real softie, a bad boy with a heart of gold.
The romance progression is a little fast-paced (but since I complain about this in most of my reviews, it's a 'me' problem). I'm a sucker for the bad boy/girl and good boy/girl pairing and I understand that the characters are going through a life-or-death situation, but this is one of those books where the suggestion of a developing romance would have been much better. I like the idea of Hanna and Nik, but I just wasn't feeling the romance.
There is a secondary character who I really love, Ella, who is cool, awesome and badass, and I also couldn't believe that I was so excited about the reappearance of a more-than-slightly psychotic AI machine.
The Illuminae Files series has a unique and interesting format, but Gemina relies heavily on camera surveillance footage to narrate the characters feelings and actions and the action scenes. Despite Gemina reading more like a novel, I still felt a little distant from the characters and their situation. There is a format element that I really love: Hanna's journal entries and illustrations.
Once again, the humour is hit-and-miss. There are some instances where I like the humour, but for the most part, the humour and sarcasm in this series is overkill. This series has a weird tone where it almost doesn't take itself too seriously and I struggle to gel with its vibe.
I was debating between 4,5 and 5 stars, but I do have a few issues with the format, characters and tone, so Gemina is a solid 4,5 stars.
A unique and fun read with a crazy and mind-blowing plot.
"“You might get only one shot. So shoot. You know who said that?”
The rifle clatters to the bloody floor.
“Hanna ****ing Donnelly. That’s who.”"