A New York Times BestsellerBrace yourself for GEMINA—the highly anticipated sequel to the book critics called “out-of-this-world awesome”—featuring journal illustrations by bestselling author Marie Lu! 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 … 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.
Praise for Illuminae:
A New York Times Bestseller
A PW Bestseller
“Out-of-this-world awesome.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred
“Stylistically mesmerizing.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred
“An arresting visual experience.” —Booklist, Starred
“A game-changer.” —Shelf Awareness, Starred
more
These books are unlike any other scifi/ YA/ horror/ fun reads!
I finally finished the first two in the Illuminae Series (Illuminae and Gemina) and while I’m not sure I’ll keep up with the series, I would definitely recommend picking these up (in hardcover, if you can). As I read both these books, I found myself caring less about the actual plot and more about the incredibly unique formatting – there are illustrations by the characters woven within in the text, and the whole story is told through web chats, AI “coding”, confidential documents, real-time countdowns, Wikipedia-like entries, and really unique imaginings of text in the void of space. Experiencing these books is the real joy of reading them, and I think they’re worth picking up just to see how Kaufman and Kristoff broke the mold.
In addition to the cool formatting, these books have pretty solid sci-fi storylines and were much darker than I would have thought. They’re YA, but they’re definitely not the space romances I might have been expecting based on the descriptions. They’re gritty and intense, and while probably not the most unique story in the sci-fi genre, still really engaging. My one hesitation here is that I don’t love sci-fi books that pretend to be knowledgeable by throwing out a lot of big scientific words that don’t actually mean what they think it means (multiverse! spacetime! particles!), but the cognizant AI (one of my favorite sci-fi tropes) is totally worth the wonky physics.
Loved the new character POVs. like the first book, MUST READ in physical form or you might miss a lot of little details
After reading Illuminae, I all but ran to the store to pick up the sequel, Gemina. Though this was more of a companion than a sequel, since it follows a different set of characters, it takes place during the same interstellar war as Illuminae.
Gemina follows Hanna and Nik, on board the Jump Station Heimdall. As the station is overthrown, it becomes clear that it is up to Hanna and Nik to save the station and receive the incoming passengers from the Hypatia ship, where readers left off in the first book. Gemina is full of the same intense, heart-pounding action that made Illuminae great, and I loved these characters just as much.
I also loved that it kept the same format (files, notes, IMs, etc.), that made it incredibly easy to fly through despite its huge (600+ page) size. Like Illuminae, it can seem intimidating, especially if you’re not a sci-fi reader in general. Don’t let that stop you if you think the premise is interesting! You will not be able to put it down. I cannot wait to see how the series ends with the third and final book this year!
Gemina was a sci-fi powerhouse and the equal of its predecessor in the series. I expected it to be lesser simply because the wow-factor of the writing style, formatting, and sheer heart-pumping excitement of Illuminae would not be there.
I was wrong. New setting and characters, but same reaction. Life went on without me until I finished this one.
Gemina was book two in a series and is one that needs to follow in a row. It might standalone, but it does flow forward from Illuminae even if much of the book seems to be a separate story path.
The story opens with the population of the Heimdall Jump Station anticipating a big holiday and party. Many have left for the holiday, but for those that remain, the anticipated holiday has a surprise bang. A traitor in their midst has been suppressing distress calls and news out of the Kerenza system and the in-bound Hypatia.
Bei Tech, the company behind the disaster needs to clear away all witnesses and make the situation go away. They send an elite strike team to take over the jump station and neutralize its workers while getting the wormhole back on line so their Kennedy Assault Fleet can destroy the Hypathia survivors.
Meanwhile, a gang leader seeking a profit in the drug trade starts incubating his own cash cows and sets the chain in motion for a dark and deadly infestation in the depth of the jump station.
The survival of the people on Heimdall and the people of Hypathia are depending on the commander’s daughter, a gang member, and his cousin who must take down an elite ops fighting force, an embedded traitor, that which is menacing in the dark, and the ploys of Bei Tech. It’s not looking good, but yet, they might make it with more luck than good, teamwork, and untried skill.
Alright, if you’re not already in the know, this series has an innovative, unique format. It’s epistolary in nature as it is told through communications, graphics, drawings, messages, and audio transitions among other things. The adjustment to the style was easy. I would highly recommend getting these in print format because it would be tough to read some of the pages in the electronic format.
As to the plot, it continues to be complex and full of intrigue. Several times, I thought I had things figured out and yeah, got it wrong. Even knowing there are twists and turns doesn’t help. The danger was breath-stopping stuff and there were some amazing close calls and bad moments.
The characters might seem tough to connect with due to the format, but not so. It was easy to get to know them and even see them flaws and all as they grow and come into their own. The relationship side happens with unlikely partnership moving to camaraderie to more. The romance is backburner as it should be under the circumstances.
YA cautions- severe violence
The end closed out this segment of the story while leaving it open-ended for what is to come. I will definitely be forging ahead with the series. Though this is classified as YA, I can easily recommend it to YA and adult readers who enjoy sci-fi adventure and intrigue.
Wow. This book was amazing and I’m not sure what else I can say that has not been said by others. But I will try.
To be honest I wasn’t sure if I would like this book as much as book one because we follow other characters, BUT yes I loved it. The more I got to get to know them the more I loved them and there were even a few similarities between them. Plus we still hear from our old crew and really in the end it all comes together with a big bang.
I loved pretty much everything about this book , the only tiny, really tiny thing that I didn’t like was the weird alien like creature thingys, I just didn’t see a real purpose to them.
No surprise, I loved Hannah, Nik and Ella . Each had their own set of problems but I loved them all even more for that and their really worked through their sh#t.
This book for sure will keep you on the edge of your seat and glued to the pages or headphones. You will get a little of everything humor, snark, betrayal romance and a whole lot of action. Pretty much nonstop action with some of the biggest plot twists I have a read in a long time. This book or series really is pure genius and I can recommend it .
I also started the audiobook with this book so that was even a better experience and I’m glad I did it was fantastic and with being able to look at the pages it was just an overall epic read.
I cannot wait to see what Kaufman and Kristoff will throw at us in the third in final book.
Overall, all I can really say that I loved, loved this book and rate it a full 5
Oh my god this book was perfect! After reading Illuminae I kind of became obsessed with this series, Jay Kristoff and Amy Kaufman too I became obsessed with twitter and just finding out more. I had to wait 13 days for the sequel to be released which now I realise I have to wait a year for the 3rd book to be released. So I won’t go into spoilers for this book because you should all read the perfection and just obsess with it like me! So this is the 2nd book in the Illuminae Files you don’t really need to read Illuminae because this is a companion but I suggest you do because we see some characters from the first book in this book.
I loved the relationship between Nik and Hanna I wasn’t sure at first if I would like it because it was so different to Ezra and Kady but I liked it both the same. The dynamic between these characters were just so funny and it was weird how they were both bored by their lives on the spaceship and just wanted new and different things and that was each other. I loved how Nik was so honest with Hanna and when she struggled to know who was being truthful to her or not and the fact that although she only knew Nik as her drug dealer she still managed to believe him and that was just such a leap of faith that worked luckily and it was great.
The world was a mind fuck there’s something that happens that I can’t really explain because then it will spoil you and I don’t want to do that and let’s just say it get very mind fucky but it worked and it was amazing and added more to the story. The world building in general I loved and it was done so well and perfect. Like bravo Amy Kaufman and Jay Kristoff so perfect.
The plot was also amazing and it managed to be so different than the first one yet and I feel like it was so original and different from what we read in the first one. I loved the fact that Aiden made an appearance in this book! If you read the first book you know who Aiden is and it was so nice that it made an appearance during this book. I really really really want to go into more detail but I don’t want to spoil it I may do a spoiler video review so I can just word vomit!
I want to talk about this way more but I don’t want to spoil you for this book all you need to do is read this book and then you will not regret it.
Gemina is the second installment in co-authors: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff’s YA fantasy series titled The Illuminae Files. These two authors work magic together on the page. It’s exciting and engaging and it blew me away. Gemina is action-packed and full of strategy, which I loved. It’s intricacies do require the reader to pay close attention though. I made it about 75% of the way through just to start from page one all over again because I was confused and lost. I made sure to slow down my audio speed the second time around to ensure I didn’t mindlessly pass by pertinent events.
While the horror element completely captured me in the first installment: Illuminae, the action scenes are the highlight of Gemina. Kick@ss heroines are my kryptonite and the female lead in this installment is amazing. I hear that the ebook/paper book editions have visuals which I can’t comment on since I listened to the audio…but THE AUDIO!!! Such a great audiobook experience. Highly recommend. I can’t wait for the next one!
My favorite quote:
“And now, born from the ashes, she’s a warrior in bloodied black.”
Wormholes, space-time continuums… oh my! So much fun packed into 659 pages. This book flowed just like the 1st one and had me hooked from page 1. Hanna and Nik are so very different, but were able to connect enough to work together. I really liked Nik. He comes from a crime family and has done jail time, but underneath all that bad boy armor is just a kid who wants out. His cousin, Ella, is the best. She has the best sarcasm in the galaxy and a fabulous sense of humor despite her aliments.
Some readers may have an issue with how easily Hanna, Nik and Ella are able to take down the elite BeiTech strike team, but I found the suspense and strategies intriguing. The whole wormhole space-time continuum was a nice twist. Almost confusing at first, but I loved the outcome.
Kady and Ezra do appear in this book as well toward the end. It was a nice mesh of the two books. I got so caught up in the books that when I turned the last page I had to run to my bookshelf and grab book 3. The last line of this book may have helped with that sprint to my bookshelf as well. There aren’t many book series that get me this excited. I’ll be sad when it ends.
The reason I gave the first book, Illuminae, 4 stars instead of 5 was because it was mostly made up of text conversations with a lot of abbreviations & little emoticons that I found annoying and hard to get through.
But where Illuminae lacked, Gemina soared.
I am absolutely obsessed with this sequel. There was such a wide variety of files and POVs and ways to tell the story, I feel the authors nailed it.
The book was incredibly cinematic, and my heart was literally physically racing during some scenes. The artwork was sublime and the character were dynamic and wonderful. I am absolutely obsessed with Hannah Donnelly, I think she’s one of the best badass females I’ve ever read.
This was fantastic. I highly recommend!
Absolutely everything I wanted from a YA sci-fi read. I fell in love with Hanna and Nik. I adore the use of mixed media to flesh out the evil goons getting X-ed 😀 A wonderful read!
Which was the last book that made you cry?
Author:Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Series: The Illuminae Files
Rating: 5/5
I’m obsessed with this series, the format, the characters everything. I’m in love with it.
Hanna and Nik are awesome, they are real. It truly feels like I’m reading reports on actual living people.
The way they think and react to everything that’s going on and to the things they have to do to survive rings true. Its human nature at its finest.
I was rendered speechless more times than I can count and I truly thought this time around they weren’t gonna make it.
I cried more times than I can count. The train scene “you know what I’m talking about” broke me.
The way the story is told makes it easier to dive into it and difficult for the reader to predict the outcome of any given situation. It’s amazing.
All the characters become and integral part of the story every little detail was planned perfectly.
Gemina is truly a work of art. If this where to become a movie it would be right up there with star wars and star trek. Its marvelous.
I LOVE IT! This series is making me so happy. The excitement is on point. Can’t wait for the final installment.
As Nik said, “…brain…hurty…” This book— I feel like my brain is melting.
I didn’t think it would be possible to match how much I loved Illuminae, but they did! I think I liked Illuminae just a smidge more, but that’s purely because of my love for Ezra Mason.
Story-wise, it feels exactly the same. Same heart-stopping, fear inducing, stress tears escaping epicness.
When I originally read this book in 2017, I gave it five stars. And my review above was my review from back then. I have now done a reread via audio and I’m thinking I’m leaning more towards four (maybe even three?) stars, but I honestly think that the fault is with the audio.
While Illuminae felt like it was a book meant to be an audio production, Gemina just didn’t work for me. I had to keep referring to my book because I wasn’t understanding parts of the book. There were definitely moments that had a bigger impact while reading the physical book.
Also, (and this is purely my own opinion) there were sooo many “analyst ID 7213” transcriptions in Gemina. When I read the physical book I didn’t have a problem with that, since that’s the most detailed type of scene we get with the format. Unfortunately, I really didn’t care for the narrator that was chosen, so I couldn’t enjoy those parts. I kind of got sick of hearing him.
Since I’m rating the book and not the audio, I’ve decided to leave the five star rating.
I’ve listened to this in audiobook and it was really good, this is the story of a courageous girl named Hannah, her prince charming aka Jackson and a rebel boy named Niklas.
In this book you’ll find action, betrayal, friendship, romance, different realities and intriguing parasites….
Just read this or better read and listen the audiobook, it’s amazing.
I enjoyed this one but not as much as ths first one. it took me a bit longer to get into this one and I really enjoyed the second half of the book the most especially the ending which I had to go over again a few time because I was like what?!?!yeah the ending gets a bit confusing and crazy. its multiple alternate universes happening at the same time kind of crazy. I enjoyed nik and hannahz characters but Nik was my favorite with his sarcasm and witty responses. Nik was one of those bad boy heroes you xant help but love and of course it was great seeing the other characters from the first book again!
I love this book (and this series). This book was so creative and the characters were so detailed. It made me laugh and it made me cry and it kept me turning the pages. I love how creative the formatting is, too. It’s one of my favorite books!
After reading Illuminae, I just had to rush to the library and find this one. It didn’t disappoint. Every time you think you know what’s going on and you think, oh, I see where this is going, BAM! A plot twist comes barreling around the corner and throws you in the deep end without a warning or an idea how to swim. It’s unlike any other book in its genre. I can’t wait to start reading the next one!
Ladies and gentleman it happened, I finally read Gemina the second book in the Illuminae files. I know, I know it was time since the final book is already out but what can I say. I’m slow like that. The thing is while I enjoyed the first book, it had it charm I wasn’t as overcome with is as it seems others were. That is one reason why I pushed reading it, the other one was because I simply didn’t have the book until this January.
I love Jay Kristoff’s books and I find Amie Kaufman’s writing style interesting as well but what really attracted me in this series was the formatting of the books. The whole files clipped together interspersed with pretty art and such is kind of unique idea, don’t you think?? So yes, the art is really pretty in it but the magic of the formatting vanished for me with the first book. Yes, it is interesting and quirky but if you look at it closely you notice that it is basically full of confusing and meaningless stuff as well. I mean some of the pages basically impossible to read with the swirling patterns and such and don’t even get me started on the supposedly ‘bloodstained’ pages, where the writing disappears under black splotches. Alas I was just over this whole thing; I read it purely for the story in this case, not like with the first book.
I still enjoyed this book. I even liked the plot and the characters in this one way better than the first ones. It was just more interesting, complex and dynamic if you ask me. That said the plot has certain predictability to it since it basically follows the same pattern as the first book. Which means a lot of things, you cold foresee from pretty far away. I still enjoyed this storyline better. Also on a side note I just realized ho much similarity is there between this series and the Starbound series, or is it just me??
I finished this book surprisingly fast considering the thickness of it but if you consider the space between lines and such then you realize that the book is not as long as it first looks like.
The characters were the best part to this book. I loved all of them, even the villains, especially them. They are created in such a spectacular way, they give so much to the plot.
Anyway there is Hannah, whom I first didn’t like. She presents every bad quality of a spoiled rich teenage girl you can think of. But then tragedy strikes and she completely transforms. It was phenomenal to follow how she navigates the situation, her strength, logic, her cunning and tenacity. It was simply amazing and she quickly because my favorite character in the book. She was so smart and brave.
But Hannah wasn’t the only strong female character in the book. There was Ella, the resident hacker extraordinaire. I just loved her. Despite the lemon life threw at her humor and vivacious outlook at life was phenomenal. These two girls took the cake for me.
As for Nik, well he was a bit puny for my taste. So yes maybe his was the most realistic reaction of them all, and he had a certain type of humor as well. But for the big, tattooed gangster to be the most challenged among the three of them was a bit disappointing. However he had a role and he played it perfectly.
I liked this book but it still not my favorite. I probably going to read the next one sometimes in the future just to find out what happens in the end but I’m not in a hurry to get to it. Sorry, I guess I’m just not into this kind of books as much.
Book two is even better