Bite-Sized Reviews: Gemina and Our Chemical Hearts

Once again, there are so many releases this time of year that I’m resorting to bite-sized reviews for some of them. Hopefully these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction!

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The highly anticipated sequel to the instant New York Timesbestseller that critics are calling “out-of-this-world awesome.”
 
Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.

The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.

Once again told through a compelling dossier of emails, IMs, classified files, transcripts, and schematics, Gemina raises the stakes of the Illuminae Files, hurling readers into an enthralling new story that will leave them breathless.

This book was amazing! Even better than the first book, in my opinion. It focused on Hanna and Nik, who are on the Jump Station Heimdall, where the Hypatia is headed. Bei Tech is still trying to cover its tracks—the easiest way to do that is to get rid of everyone who knows anything. Which includes everyone on the Hypatia—people on Heimdall are mostly collateral damage. Add in some deadly, four-headed alien space snakes and you have quite a sticky situation for our heroes!! If you loved Illuminae, you won’t be disappointed.

I actually connected to the characters a bit more in this one—even though it was told in the same style, I feel like Kaufman and Kristoff managed to convey these characters’ emotions more somehow. Hanna starts out seeming like a spoiled rich girl, but as the book goes on she shows her true colors. Nik is the boy from “the wrong side of the space station.” A true bad boy with a heart of gold. (I’m a sucker for those.) I especially loved Ella, Nik’s tech genius cousin who’s in a wheelchair.

Every minute of this book was exciting, and of course, the format was incredible! Can’t wait to get my hands on a finished copy! I easily give it 5/5 Stars. This series remains an all-time Favorite!

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via #BEA16 in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

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John Green meets Rainbow Rowell in this irresistible story of first love, broken hearts, and the golden seams that put them back together again.

Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but the slo-mo, heart palpitating, can’t-eat-can’t-sleep kind of love that he’s been hoping for just hasn’t been in the cards for him—at least not yet. Instead, he’s been happy to focus on his grades, on getting into a semi-decent college and finally becoming editor of his school newspaper. Then Grace Town walks into his first period class on the third Tuesday of senior year and he knows everything’s about to change.

Grace isn’t who Henry pictured as his dream girl—she walks with a cane, wears oversized boys’ clothes, and rarely seems to shower. But when Grace and Henry are both chosen to edit the school paper, he quickly finds himself falling for her. It’s obvious there’s something broken about Grace, but it seems to make her even more beautiful to Henry, and he wants nothing more than to help her put the pieces back together again. And yet, this isn’t your average story of boy meets girl. Krystal Sutherland’s brilliant debut is equal parts wit and heartbreak, a potent reminder of the bittersweet bliss that is first love.

This book was amazing in so many ways! I didn’t absolutely agree with every message in the book, but I loved that it got me thinking so much about life and love and loss. This book is sort of bittersweet … just like life!

Henry idolizes Grace and falls for her, even though he realizes he’s really falling for a mystery, for the idea of Grace. But the more he gets to know her, the more he realizes that her mysteries are darker than he imagined and that he just might not be able to “save” her after all. I love that this book gives us a realistic look at teen romance and doesn’t sugarcoat the experience—after all, it’s often filled with heartbreak. And I loved the ending and most of the final messages in the book. (View Spoiler »I wasn’t that thrilled with the fact that the parents ended up separating because, even though they got along really well and truly enjoyed each other’s company, they weren’t “in love” anymore. Being “in love” with your spouse of many years doesn’t look (or sometimes feel) the same as new romance, but that doesn’t make it less wonderful. « Hide Spoiler). I wasn’t a huge fan of Sadie, the stereotypical “cool” older sister who spent her youth doing (and selling) drugs, getting arrested, and otherwise causing trouble. Everyone in the book seemed to look up to her, which is a message that frustrates me to no end. Still, overall, I really enjoyed this book. I give it 4/5 Stars.

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via #BEA16 in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

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