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A review by aliciasrealm
Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta
4.0
I loved the David and Goliath theme of this book, with a ragtag group of teenagers called Gearbreakers trying to take down giant mechs called Windups. It was easy to envision the scale of the Windups and there's tons of action as the teens take them down from the inside. There are high stakes and dangerous missions that kept me on the edge of my seat.
The dual POV chapters demonstrated a stark contrast between Sona, the cybernetically enhanced Windup Pilot, and Eris, the Gearbreaker known as Frostbringer. The evolution of their relationship from enemies to a tentative friendship to something more was a slow build, with gutwrenching setbacks. While there is sapphic attraction been Sona and Eris, the romance is minimal. It also feels important to note that at the beginning of the novel, Eris is in a romantic relationship with one of her male crew members.
The found family aspect was done well, leaving me very attached to the side characters who made up Eris's crew. I especially loved Xander, and each of the crew members have their own relationship arc with Sona as they have to decide whether or not to trust her.
Despite being such a long book, the world building was painted in broad strokes, with a high level overview of how Godolia came to be. The story is much more focused on the city-nation of Godolia, the Windup Academy, and somewhat on the Badlands, but otherwise doesn't address much outside of these two places. This didn't bother me and I felt that there was enough context provided for the story.
The dual POV chapters demonstrated a stark contrast between Sona, the cybernetically enhanced Windup Pilot, and Eris, the Gearbreaker known as Frostbringer. The evolution of their relationship from enemies to a tentative friendship to something more was a slow build, with gutwrenching setbacks. While there is sapphic attraction been Sona and Eris, the romance is minimal. It also feels important to note that at the beginning of the novel, Eris is in a romantic relationship with one of her male crew members.
The found family aspect was done well, leaving me very attached to the side characters who made up Eris's crew. I especially loved Xander, and each of the crew members have their own relationship arc with Sona as they have to decide whether or not to trust her.
Despite being such a long book, the world building was painted in broad strokes, with a high level overview of how Godolia came to be. The story is much more focused on the city-nation of Godolia, the Windup Academy, and somewhat on the Badlands, but otherwise doesn't address much outside of these two places. This didn't bother me and I felt that there was enough context provided for the story.