Book Review: Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

“Patience and Silence had one beautiful daughter. And her name was Vengeance.”

OVERALL RATING: 8.8/10

            STORY: 8.3/10

            CHARACTERS: 8.6/10

            THE FEELS: 9.6/10

            ENTERTAINMENT: 9.1/ 10

PLOT: 8.8/10

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.

Review:
This book fried my mind. I was (again) thrilled the entire time I was reading this book. I was really entertained and hooked that I highly recommend this to all readers out there that seek an action packed story with a mind blowing lot twist.

I finished reading the book in just two days and I was most of the time at the edge of my sit. I was really entertained and amazed how fast paced the story was and how bad-ass the characters were. The characters for me was way better than the characters in the first book. I love them more than Kady and Ezra. I was really rooting for Ella the entire time. But, I have felt that the characters were a little bit a photocopy of the characters on the first book (well, photocopy and improved to be exact). Kady and Hannah, Ezra and Nik, and Byron and Ella? I felt that the authors just used the same formula from the first book when it comes to characters. They were made with the same backbone of roles but only differ from hair color and hobbies (little tweaks). I found this weak and safe and it resulted to me comparing the characters of this book to the characters from the first book the entire time I was reading the story.

The plot was again amazing. Action and thriller mixed with mind blowing science theories that you will never see coming. The plot for me was again seem very identical to the first book. The elements of the plot were pretty much not different. The plot was just scratch off at the surface and was replaced by some elements that aligned to the characters and setting. The direction and surprise elements were pretty the same. The plot twists were also similar, just differed from the execution. The writing style was still good. Nothing new. Nothing changed. It was really a roll back to the first book. 

I did like the book but I think it could have gone way better if the elements were differentiated from the first installment of the series. I felt that the potential could have been more massive if the authors were able to push the boundaries a little bit more out of the box. Overall, I still enjoyed reading the book and I cannot wait to read the next installment in the series. I am ready.

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