About the Book: 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 Illuminaecontinues 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.
The Illuminae Files #2
YA Sci-Fi
Knopf Books | October 18, 2016
“Patience and Silence had one beautiful daughter. And her name was Vengeance.”
Gemina started off about the same as Illuminae; confusing. Even though Illuminae paid off, making me love it, I still questioned my ability to completely immerse myself in such a Sci-Fi world. I’m not going to lie, a LOT of the techie jargon flies right over my head. I don’t understand all the chatter about thrusters and stuff. I just don’t. My brain isn’t wired that way. On the positive, there’s so much more going on with this story than just the science fiction, and even that eventually got interesting… or at least felt exciting even if I didn’t understand what was happening.
First of all, Gemina was action packed! You’d think that the layout would hinder the exhilaration, cutting back and forth between video footage and instant messaging. Instead it actually works really well, it gives you the feel of a spaceship and the authenticity of getting to see the events unfold second hand. Not to mention that the images, the swirling words, are just gorgeous.
I was also really happy with the relationships in Gemina. I really liked how Hannah and Nik started off as reluctant friends, and their playfully antagonistic banter in the beginning was definitely a highlight. In Illuminae Kady and Ezra are exes, so they already care about each other. They already know each other really well. Hannah and Nik know each other, and there’s obviously an attraction there, but it’s got a slower developing story that I appreciated. Plus, Nik was incredibly attractive. Perhaps it’s the ‘bad boy’ thing, or maybe it should be called a not-so-bad-boy image, but whatever it was made him a much more interesting character, I thought.
So, there is a cliffhanger. It’s really not a bad one, but it’s there. It makes me hopeful that the third book won’t bring in any additional new couples, because I really want to read Kady, Ezra, Hannah and Nik all fighting back to back in the third (maybe final?) book.
And now, folks, we return to our regularly scheduled waiting game.
“And blood and tears and screams did not matter anymore, because at least they are together.”
Birdie Bookworm 
I’m glad you enjoyed this book. I loved both of the books in this series. I think though I was more emotionally connected to Hannah and Nik, than Kady and Ezra… I can’t wait for the third book 😀
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I actually thought that too, but I can’t tell if it’s because I read Kady and Ezra so long ago. I really liked Nik.
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I know I’m not sure either… I thought I really liked Kady and Ezra but then I read Hannah and Nik and I feel Hannah may be a little more kick butt??
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Oh, she was definitely more kick butt. I think she was supposed to be. Kady was a hacker, so there strengths were different.
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Great and succinct review! I couldn’t stop talking about it, and I had to warn people about spoilers. Oops!
I completely agree with you about the slow developing relationship between Hanna and Nik. I really enjoyed it. It was surprisingly subtle. However, I wonder a bit about where their relationship will go in the future. I am speculating a bit for the final book… and I CANNOT WAIT.
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I have no idea what will happen with them later, and Hannah’s already mentioned that once. Hopefully when they save everyone Nik isn’t such a criminal! 🙂
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Haha. I feel like he’s been a reluctant criminal this whole time. He doesn’t seem that invested, honestly. But this is the family he was born into.
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Right, like he’s found a way to just live with his life as it is. (Reminds me of the whole cow scene in the beginning. It showed that compassion he has inside.)
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I haven’t read book 1 yet, because I’ve been holding off on getting involved in any more series. Is this supposed to be a trilogy, or is it open-ended? Sounds like you really recommend it!
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The internet says it’s only a trilogy, which actually really fits how they wrote it. As soon as I finished Gemina I had the feeling that the next book would be the closer.
I do recommend it, both because it’s so good! And also, for the epistolary formatting. It just makes the read so unique. At one point I was holding the book vertical and reading it, (the words were written sideways), and my husband was so confused, but it works. It makes everything feel like you’re actually reading about something that happened rather than a fictional story. If that makes sense.
Also, I recommend getting your hands on the actual print book. I read the first one on my Kindle and some of the images were not there. It definitely requires a real book. 🙂
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Ah, good to know! I have the Kindle edition of the 1st book, but maybe I’ll track down a library copy when I’m ready to jump in.
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It was still good on the Kindle, but I could tell I was missing things.
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