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A review by rubeusbeaky
Gemina by Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman
5.0
I wasn't expecting the perspective to shift to two new characters in this sequel, but I'm all for it. My heart was still in my throat the entire read through. I fell as deeply in love with these new heroes as I had with Kady, Ezra and AIDAN. It was also cool to see what was happening elsewhere in the 'verse during the finale of Illuminae, and then see how these two stories braid together.
I hear what the critics are saying, though. The psychotropic drug-spewing aliens are RATHER similar to the virus in the first book. And despite their major creep factor, they were kind of pointless in the end; our heroes end up with bigger concerns. Speaking of... there is always a danger, with timey-wimey stories, that any emotional beats hit will be undone by a big Redo button. Am I happy with how the book ended? Extremely! Do I think it's kind of a cheap trick which was already played in the first book? Yes, yes I do XD. AND speaking of speaking of: The stylization packed a cinematic AND emotional punch in the first book, when I felt like I was spiraling with fighter pilots, or hopping through space like an astronaut. But this second installment tried the same trick to try and simulate going through a wormhole and experiencing parallel realities... It was a little less successful. Jumping I get, I can jump. Dodging and spiraling, I can imagine that. Reality stretching infinitely and then winding back on itself into a point until my brain melts? Harder to /feel/ that, I don't have the frame of reference for that. The stylized text didn't help much, this go around.
But despite those few gripes, I was still HEAVILY invested in the story, I wouldn't knock a star off. It's a sequel, there are bound to be some things which feel repetitive... because it's the same series, the same universe, we never /finished/ the story. Can't accuse something of plagiarizing itself when it's all one document, you know? It's an adrenaline-filled sci-fi horror show! What's not to love?!!!
I hear what the critics are saying, though. The psychotropic drug-spewing aliens are RATHER similar to the virus in the first book. And despite their major creep factor, they were kind of pointless in the end; our heroes end up with bigger concerns. Speaking of... there is always a danger, with timey-wimey stories, that any emotional beats hit will be undone by a big Redo button. Am I happy with how the book ended? Extremely! Do I think it's kind of a cheap trick which was already played in the first book? Yes, yes I do XD. AND speaking of speaking of: The stylization packed a cinematic AND emotional punch in the first book, when I felt like I was spiraling with fighter pilots, or hopping through space like an astronaut. But this second installment tried the same trick to try and simulate going through a wormhole and experiencing parallel realities... It was a little less successful. Jumping I get, I can jump. Dodging and spiraling, I can imagine that. Reality stretching infinitely and then winding back on itself into a point until my brain melts? Harder to /feel/ that, I don't have the frame of reference for that. The stylized text didn't help much, this go around.
But despite those few gripes, I was still HEAVILY invested in the story, I wouldn't knock a star off. It's a sequel, there are bound to be some things which feel repetitive... because it's the same series, the same universe, we never /finished/ the story. Can't accuse something of plagiarizing itself when it's all one document, you know? It's an adrenaline-filled sci-fi horror show! What's not to love?!!!