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emerentina's review
adventurous
dark
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, Murder, and Grief
Moderate: Gun violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Genocide, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Child death, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content and Misogyny
kell_xavi's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
2.0
Gearbreakers is a science fiction adventure story that follows Sona, a cyborg soldier who powers a giant mecha and plans to takedown the empire of Godolia from the inside, and Eris, one of a band of renegades (gearbreakers) outside Godolia who short-circuit the mechas to defend against their destruction. This is a great premise and an okay book, limited by its dialogue and portrayal of characters emotions.
Sona is a more interesting character than Eris, caught in desire for revenge that often feeds helplessness at her own body’s service to the nation she hates. Sona constantly fights her nausea and shame at being other than human, and deals with the gearbreakers’ mistrust of her, while also understanding it.
The gearbreakers as a group are interesting, though few are isolated as individuals (and those who are either have special roles or die, unsurprisingly). Mikuda’s youth as an author comes through in the dynamic of Eris’ crew of teenagers, who are reckless, play pranks, and hardly acknowledge authority throughout the novel. While I’m sure this was meant to be fun and lighthearted, I didn’t find this rapport that entertaining. Jenny, Eris’ older sister, is a skilled and hot-headed engineer with great ideas and leadership qualities, but she’s also violent and emotionally stunted in a way that also didn’t engage me. Eris herself shares a lot of traits with these others, tough and mad, distinguished mainly by her loyalty and protective instinct. This trait paired with Sona’s sense of isolation means the recognition in each girl that that the other can save them feels real. The relationship between them made sense and worked for me.
A few other characters—Milo, Victoria, the gearbreaker leader—are painted as antagonists without much development. They sometimes seem to know the protagonists’ fears and jab right into them without logical reason why they would. I was frustrated by how Milo was written, because he is an emotionally stunted misogynist, but he also raises some valid concerns that nobody pays attention to. (I did not take issue with Eris’ treatment of him, though; she clearly cares for him and their relationship is a great reflection of teenage emotions and how they shift and develop). The anger running a current through every page, reiterating who the bad guys were abs why they are bad, became a repetitive barrage with no much-needed changes in tone.
That said, the portrayal of Godolia was a strong point in the narrative. It reminded me of the governing structure of The Hunger Games, more than anything else. Mikuta writes an empire that places others in servitude, backed by victory in war and a religious conviction of supremacy. It was entirely believable and unfolded well. There are few surprises in the story or the behaviour of the leaders, and both these characters and the worldbuilding itself are, perhaps, limited. I was nonetheless impressed with Mikuta’s work on this element of the novel, especially.
I don’t tend to like a series that doesn’t wrap up its individual volumes, and was somewhat disappointed in the ending for this reason. I haven’t decided whether I will complete the duology when the second book becomes available.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Violence
Moderate: Torture and Gun violence
Minor: Misogyny
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