Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Gemina by Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman

35 reviews

lawbooks600's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Representation: Black and Asian characters
Score: Eight out of ten.

Wow. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff deliver. Again. 

After reading and enjoying The Aurora Cycle and Illuminae I wanted to read Gemina, and headed in with high expectations that I'll enjoy it as much as the previous four works from these authors. I saw Gemina in a library, picked it up and glanced at the blurb, making it seem intriguing. When I closed the final page, it was enjoyable.

It starts with Hanna and Nik living on a space station in the middle of nowhere named the Heimdall, while Kady is headed to the Hypatia to warn them of the upcoming BeiTech invasion in the opening pages. Again, I'm not sure where to begin with Gemina, but I'll try, it's similar to Illuminae in terms of almost everything. The pacing is fast even though it's above 600 pages, but it doesn't feel like it, and the plot is even more engaging as the stakes increased again, I'll tell you why later. The characters are likable and they're people I can root for, but they're not the most relatable, still, the worldbuilding is on point for a narrative set hundreds of years in the future. I can imagine humanity developing advanced technologies like wormholes and huge spaceships when they reach that time. Sometimes Gemina can slow down, but that can allow for characters to start relationships like when Hanna started hers with Nik, and the dialogue is entertaining as always. Oh, and AIDAN the AI is back, but doesn't play a critical role unlike in Illuminae. Gemina is like Illuminae since it too is not a book--it's another collection of files, including surveillance footage, DMs, group chats, diagrams, computer screens (sort of) and text art, which looks even better and made me enjoy the narrative more. The conclusion is enthralling as Hanna and Nik save two universes from destroying themselves, escape the BeiTech assault and now all I must do is read Obsidio to discover what happens next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, War, Gun violence, and Animal death

Full trigger warnings: Explosions, death of a parent in the past and a partner, an animal (fish) and other people, physical injury and assault, blood depiction, military violence and war themes, gun violence, murder

sarahsbooklife's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book. I thought that I wouldn't like it as much with it following new characters (to start with anyway) but I ended up loving them. 
It's the same nail biting, highstakes, tense sci-fi survival story as the first. Just over a much shorter period of time, days and hours instead of the months in the first book. 
Just as amazing as the first book if not better!😁

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Drug use, Genocide, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Grief, Animal death, and Gore

sarahsbooklife's review

adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book. I thought that I wouldn't like it as much with it following new characters (to start with anyway) but I ended up loving them. 
It's the same nail biting, highstakes, tense sci-fi survival story as the first. Just over a much shorter period of time, days and hours instead of the months in the first book. 
Just as amazing as the first book if not better!😁

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Genocide, Violence, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Minor: Grief, Animal death, and Gore

whatsounddoesagunmake's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

this one was even better than the first

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Gore

kathrynleereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

No matter how many times I read it, Gemina never ceases to amaze me. Amy Kaufman and Jay Kristoff's abilities to foreshadow, create lovable characters, create truly hatable characters, delve into science as well as science fiction, and keep every single detail straight while doing it are completely unmatched.

It's always a gamble when you're talking about a second book in a series with completely different characters. For many readers, including myself, the characters are one of the driving factors that get me to pick up a book. 

Having fallen in love with Kady, Ezra, and AIDAN, I was shocked to find that I was immediately as drawn into Gemina as I had been to Illuminae, despite the completely new cast of characters. 

The Illuminae Files will forever be one of my favorite series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Vomit, Blood, Medical content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Body horror, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Death

Moderate: Drug use

itsbumley's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Drug use, Body horror, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Violence, and Murder

jessi_c's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Exciting follow up to Illuminae! Enjoyed the continuation of biological terror mixed in with man-made hunts. The last 80 pages will keep my head spinning for the next 48 hrs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug use, Grief, Violence, Gun violence, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore and Death of parent

multiverse

eloise__'s review against another edition

4.0

Ella and Mr Biggles II are so great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Animal death, and Drug use

Minor: Suicide

laurenevlyn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

These books somehow manage to be innovative in an area that is thousands of years old. The Illuminae series is groundbreaking, funny, emotional, dark, imaginative, and incredibly well made. My only issue in reading this book was the transcription sections. I fully understand and see the value of their inclusion (and I adore how they’ve managed to make a lovable character just from the way the transcriber describes the videos), but it threw off the rapid pace that I had grown accustomed to from the chat logs and AIDAN. Other than that, this was absolutely incredible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Drug abuse, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and War

Minor: Grief and Medical content

marsh_mall0w's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Grief, Animal cruelty, and Drug use

Minor: Suicide, Child abuse, and Genocide