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karen's Reviews > Gemina
Gemina (The Illuminae Files, #2)
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congratulations! semifinalist in goodreads' best YA fantasy & science fiction category 2016!
i read this last week when i was sick in bed the day after halloween, needing a guaranteed fast, fun, escapist book to breeze through while huddled under the covers with a giant pot of halloween candy in easy reach.
best sick day ever.
this book may be even better than Illuminae, even though it is similar in many ways.
the same beautiful design and layout is back:
and this time there are some fun cartoony illustrations by Marie Lu
the same winky shout-outs are back
♥AIDAN♥ is back
and there is tons of overlap in terms of narrative elements, for example, the relationship in this book pretty much mirrors the kady/ezra relationship in Illuminae - an unlikely romance blossoming under extremely unusual and intense circumstances, in which the couple spend most of the book apart on their own separate missions. but that trick worked for me the first time and it worked for me here. hanna is also as badass as kady was, so she's easy to root for with both fists raised.
the action in this book takes place immediately after the events aboard the Hypatia so excellently rendered in Illuminae. here, we are on the Heimdall, where the situation continues to unfold and it's going to unfold with insane amounts of action and intrigue. and things with hungry, hungry mouths.
oh my god, SO GOOD!
there's nothing i can do but gush. it's funny and smart with some great new characters and several old favorites and the world-building and dirty dealings are fantastic, and this praise is coming from someone who is usually bored by books set in outer spaaaaace. this one is anything but boring. you don't even have to have the flu to enjoy it, although i do recommend a giant cauldron of tiny candies by your side. but i recommend you have one of those on hand every day of the year.
but that ending?? NOOOOOOOOOO. it's cliffhanger city, my friends.
it is going to be very painful to wait for the conclusion of this story. i love it so ██████ much
come to my blog!
i read this last week when i was sick in bed the day after halloween, needing a guaranteed fast, fun, escapist book to breeze through while huddled under the covers with a giant pot of halloween candy in easy reach.
best sick day ever.
this book may be even better than Illuminae, even though it is similar in many ways.
the same beautiful design and layout is back:
and this time there are some fun cartoony illustrations by Marie Lu
the same winky shout-outs are back
♥AIDAN♥ is back
and there is tons of overlap in terms of narrative elements, for example, the relationship in this book pretty much mirrors the kady/ezra relationship in Illuminae - an unlikely romance blossoming under extremely unusual and intense circumstances, in which the couple spend most of the book apart on their own separate missions. but that trick worked for me the first time and it worked for me here. hanna is also as badass as kady was, so she's easy to root for with both fists raised.
the action in this book takes place immediately after the events aboard the Hypatia so excellently rendered in Illuminae. here, we are on the Heimdall, where the situation continues to unfold and it's going to unfold with insane amounts of action and intrigue. and things with hungry, hungry mouths.
oh my god, SO GOOD!
there's nothing i can do but gush. it's funny and smart with some great new characters and several old favorites and the world-building and dirty dealings are fantastic, and this praise is coming from someone who is usually bored by books set in outer spaaaaace. this one is anything but boring. you don't even have to have the flu to enjoy it, although i do recommend a giant cauldron of tiny candies by your side. but i recommend you have one of those on hand every day of the year.
but that ending?? NOOOOOOOOOO. it's cliffhanger city, my friends.
it is going to be very painful to wait for the conclusion of this story. i love it so ██████ much
come to my blog!
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Reading Progress
October 19, 2015
– Shelved
Started Reading
November 1, 2016
–
Finished Reading
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You can't expect a man to understand the healing power of a good book when you are sick, no one to help. The kids are fed and put to bed and you can really get into your book.LOL
books = the only reason why I actually kinda enjoy sick days
I can't wait to get my hands on these... I have to wait a week though. *cries*
I don't know if I'll read the book, but I'm pretty sure the pot of candy makes it one of the best book reviews ever!
What I have to read Illuminae to read this?
Richard wrote: "your lowercaseness! Really!*wipes book-gush from glasses*
I hope you'll recover from your Illuminae fever and give some eyeblinks to
CODEX OCULARIS. Equally a..."maybe i will check that out, but the thought of things living in my eye kinda freaks me out.
Sylvia Preston wrote: "You can't expect a man to understand the healing power of a good book when you are sick, no one to help. The kids are fed and put to bed and you can really get into your book.LOL"i dunno about that - boys get sick days, too. maybe i only know booknerds, but i think all the ones i know appreciate a good book-in-bed day!
KingSteph wrote: "What I have to read Illuminae to read this?"oh, yes. i would definitely read that one first.
... you do make an excellent top-o-class case for picking this thing up to give it a quick look-see.it does sound ever so tasty. now, if i can just locate the dregs of candy & a good tortie to go with ...
i still have lots of candy left. i have not been doing my job, if my job is "eat all the candy."
What else did you vote for? I'm hoping that this election has a better outcome.
i didn't even vote for this one - shhhhhhh. i just happen to have read a bunch of books that made the cut, so i'm celebrating them. but definitely definitely rooting for all the ugly wonderful things
Your review is beyond <3 love this and I'm reading it right now along with the audiobook
ohh, thank you! how is it on audio? it's such a visual book, i wonder how it translates...
Its amazing, each character gets their own voice, its like a movie in your head when you listen.
I really don't need to review this; you do such a good job. I just finished it and I do think it's better than the first; the romance was much less cliche, which, as much as I admired the first volume, did get old (constant misunderstandings, totally mismatched couple, etc.). But the first was excellent, and the concept is so cool that it still gets 5 stars. In this volume, I think everything was done just a little better -- the reports, the artwork, the photo wall of all the bad guys showing up periodically. I also loved the lollipop song theme; silly, but I found it very clever and creative. Thanks for your review. Now on to the final volume (as soon as it gets in through library loan); I'm not going to look at your review until after I read it, though; I guess your review is part of the whole experience!
*wipes book-gush from glasses*
I hope you'll recover from your Illuminae fever and give some eyeblinks to