Gemina, by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufmann

5 Ella is the best stars!!

This book is a companion novel to Illuminae… So please read that before you read Gemina. There are so many things you won’t understand. I am dying to get my hands on the audio version of this because the audio version of Illuminae was amazing!  This book is basically written in text/emails/documents from what happened at the time of the disturbance at Heimdall.  While you think that would be boring you grow a genuine bond with the characters and what is happening.  Some stuff you will see coming and some will be a super surprise.  Onto all the spoilerly goodness so if you haven’t read this book yet please don’t read past this because I cannot guarantee there won’t be spoilers.

SPOILERS…AHEAD… TURN BACK….

Let’s start with Hannah, because in the beginning I definitely did not give her enough credit.  This is one kick ass lady, not only does she take on some serious goons that invade her spaceship and kill her father, but she does it all like a well oiled machine.  I guess it’s good that her father had her run a program on who could kick each other’s butt all the time.  At the beginning of the invasion she only has two allies her bf Jackson and a criminal named Nik.   I really, really, enjoyed all the whispernet/palmpad chats between Hannah and Nik.  There was such an offbeat chemistry almost like Romeo and Juliet.  She was a princess and he was a common criminal.  Matter of fact he calls her princess a lot. Hannah is not sure who she can trust because obviously someone is lying to her… Will it be Nik or Jackson?

Nik was an amazing character, for only  meeting him in texts and such you received such depth from him.  Nik while on the outside is pure bad ass part of a mob family and such.  On the inside he is just a doll, he cares for his cousin Ella who is disabled. He obviously cares for Hannah even though he tries not to show it.  When he gave her those flowers my heart melted… You can tell he doesn’t want her to risk her neck but trusts her to know what she’s doing.  I loved that he backed her up instead of babying her.  Nik while not as smooth as Hannah still kicks ass in this book. Sometimes you forget that they are teenagers.

Ella… was probably my favorite character! When she kept changing Nik’s name in the chat room that made me laugh so hard.  She was the comic relief when needed! You can tell at the beginning she doesn’t much care for Hannah but then grows to respect her by the end of the book.  I was so worried when she had to battle that worm thing.  Good lord I thought for sure they killed her off I was going to be super pissed.

Nik M: ok before we get into it, I wanna know why u get a chill handle like “Pauchok” and those little spider things when you log in, and I’m stuck with Nik M.” it’s kinda unfair yeah?

Pauchok: this is important news, cuz

Nik M: ya ok, but shouldn’t we all have like codenames and whatnot

Pauchok: FFS r u 7 years old

Nik M: 9 at least

Pauchok: ok fine, how’s that

LittleNikisDrivingtheBus: how’s wut

LittleNikisDrivingtheBus: o ___ u cuz

Hanna D: ?

Pauchock: I think it’s perfect.

Hanna D: Do I even want to know?

LittleNikisDrivingtheBus: this is some coldblooded ___ right here

Those worm things though were so gross… I can’t even…. ew…

I think all in all this was a fantastic book to follow up Illuminae.  There was a lot of chance for this to fail but I think all in all this is perfection.  I actually like Hannah more than Kady which was hard to do.  I was holding my breath one moment and laughing the next.  Well done I highly suggest these two books to anyone.

Goodreads link here

book blurb..

 

608 pages

Published October 18th 2016 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Original Title Gemina

ISBN 0553499165 (ISBN13: 9780553499162)

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 Illuminaecontinues 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.