“The Gemini Connection is a story filled with adventure, beautiful deep connections, and fascinating suspense.” –With Love for BookPlanet Tage is dying, and the best hope of saving it is gone.Seventeen-year-old identical twins Evan and Simon share an extraordinary bond, a trait that’s both useful and invasive. They use their connection in their work at Scientific Innovations. Evan is a … work at Scientific Innovations. Evan is a Mindbender, someone who enters the minds of scientists to spark ideas, join thoughts, and battle nightmares. Simon is a science prodigy and Tage’s best chance of survival.
Unfortunately, their unusual link often bleeds into their private lives. When Evan discovers his brother is keeping a secret from him, he lashes out and ignores requests to talk, and even pleas for help. By the time Evan tunes back in, he finds their connection severed and Simon missing.
He suffers a terrible case of survivor’s guilt. Moreover, he’s desperate. The fate of the world rests on Simon’s return, and Evan is willing to do anything to get him back—even working with his greatest rival, who also happens to be Simon’s boyfriend.
Evan finds allies among enemies and adversaries among friends. When nothing is as it seems and everything is depending on him, he must explore a dangerous aspect to his twin connection he never knew he had.
If he fails, he’ll lose both his brother and his world.
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Twins.
Two humans sharing a connection far beyond what anyone else feels. At least that’s what we’ve always heard, or been led to believe.
Teri Polen takes that idea and runs with it, creating a dystopian future where Benders are employed to enter the minds of scientists – specifically to spark creativity, help find ideas and ward off nightmares.
Evan and Simon are 17-year-old twins, best of friends and living together.
Polen jumps back and forth a bit at the beginning, telling us the back story about how one year ago, Simon mysteriously disappears from his room one night.
Now, Evan, wracked with guilt over not responding to his brother’s shouts, keeps his hopes up that Simon is still out there, still alive.
I really enjoyed this story. It moved at a breakneck pace and Teri deftly weaved a strong narrative around complex human emotions. The additions of Syd, Gabriel, Max and Ky all helped ground the story for me with just how troubled Evan was – how much he was struggling with losing a piece of his identity.
There are some truly emotional moments throughout, I loved how we’d get this great sci-fi based scene of entering into this world through the subconscious, only to then have a dramatic moment and I’d feel so helpless that I couldn’t jump into the action and yell at Evan to stop being a jerk.
As we progress through and more and more layers are revealed, I found the mystery part of the story just as captivating as the relationship plot lines. It didn’t take long until I felt fully invested in the story, but as Evan starts to have glimpses and small connection moments with Simon again, I knew I was fully rooting for things to work out.
For me, this would have been a slam dunk 5 star read if the ending had played out a bit longer. It felt too rushed and not expanded on enough. We get to this major part, things are found and then it just happens. The battle is quick and I felt a bit of an emotional let-down that we made it all of this way, through this journey to then have it end so fast.
That’s not to say the ending isn’t cathartic and doesn’t work – it does both in spades. I just wished it hadn’t felt so smooth and tidy.
This was such a fun read – I think more of a dystopian-YA novel if anything, but the dark was dark and the sci-fi was great. Teri is a great writer and I’ll definitely need to dive into her other stuff!
The Gemini Connection is a most intriguing book which weaves the human emotions of frustration, anger, jealousy, resentment, self depreciation and love like colourful threads through the greater fabric of an exciting and unique science fiction novel.
The book features twins who live in a futuristic dystopian world where the inhabitants of the planet have exhausted many of its resources and what remains is being decimated by unknown and untreatable diseases. Scientists and other clever and inventive people, who are able to contribute towards findings solutions for the salvation of a society that is in the process of failing, are held up as heroes and are the recipients of accolades for their societal contributions as well as better food and lifestyles. The twins parents fall into this category and, at the beginning of the story, spend all their time and energy on saving their people and planet. This complete change in their focus from their family and two sons to the quest for glory in the guise of saving their planet changes life significantly for Simon and Evan. The backstory of their evolution into scientists, obsessed with their work, and the related increasing disdain for ordinary people who are not able to contribute towards saving the planet in the same way due to different talents and aspirations, is an important theme of the story and sets the scene for the unfortunate events that come to pass in the book.
Simon has a brilliant mind and is following in the footsteps of his illustrious parents. Evan is not as intellectual and demonstrates more physical and sporty gifts. This makes Simon the child of their parents dreams and Evan the disappointing child they cannot relate to or understand. This attitude by their parents results in Evan becoming a young man who lacks confidence and belief in himself and who feels inferior to his cleverer brother. Despite this unfortunate home environment, Simon and Evan are very close and share a unique bond that enables them to both “feel” the other’s presence and emotional state. When Simon disappears soon after discovering a sordid and dark secret by one of his mentors in his job, Evan feels responsible and sets off on a path of emotional self destruction. However, Evan has a talent of his own which enables him to access the minds of other people and help them sort out their chaotic thoughts. This talent gives him to tools track down and help save his brother but it also serves as the gateway to his own possible destruction. Will Evan be able to detect their joint enemies and stop their evil plans in time to save his brother and return him home? I enjoyed this book’s fresh take on a science fiction story.
Teri Polen has created a unique story filled with unexpected surprises. The world building is fabulous, and Tage really comes to life. I love the idea of the scientists and their research. This story is very different from many YA distopians I’ve read.
I love the characters in this novel. It is a very character driven novel, which I always find fascinating. The bond between twins, Evan and Simon is creative – they can feel each other’s emotions, and when that is taken away from Evan you can feel the devastation, guilt and lonliness. My favorite stories are character driven, and The Gemini Connection is a fantastic example of this.
I was connected to the story from the moment I started reading, and Teri Polen managed to keep me intrigued the entire way through. I loved the suspense and the deep look into the character relationships.
Overall, this was a fantastic story filled with everything you’d want in a YA distopian – complex characters, amazing world building, and suspense that keeps you reading.
*I recieved this book as part of a blog tour. All opinions are my own.*
Oh, what a fun read. Sci-fi fans will have a blast with this thriller, but readers who love human stories will thoroughly enjoy this book too. Simon and Evan are twins with a unique connection even though they are strikingly different. Simon is cerebral, a scientist and gentle soul. Evan is a jock with a temper and a painful chip on his shoulder—he’s never been able to live up to his parents’ expectations.
Despite their differences, the brothers are fiercely loyal to each other, and when Simon goes missing, Evan makes it his mission to find out what happened and bring him home. He’s a successful bender, capable of entering the dreams of clients to unblock their memories or fight their nightmares. Their connection and his talent lead the way.
The world-building is excellent, and though “bending” is a bit of a scientific stretch, Polen does a credible job making it feel plausible throughout the story. The pace moves along at a speedy clip, and there are plenty of tight spots and danger.
The story is told in the first-person point of view of both brothers. You might have guessed that I just loved the characters, particularly Evan and Simon. Their relationship wasn’t without its bumps and bruises, but the steadfast loyalty they felt towards each other had me rooting for them from the start. Secondary characters were richly drawn and three-dimensional, as were peripheral players. A great read that I highly recommend.
I gave this book five quantum-entangling stars! Honestly, I’d give it ten thousand stars if I could.
This is my first time reading a novel by Teri Polen, and I was completely blown away!
This book centers on two twins, Evan and Simon. They live on the Planet Tage, where resources are scarce and the future of their home lies in the balance.
Simon is quite nearly a genius with his knowledge of science, while Evan is more of a social, leader type. Simon has been working on an important project that could affect millions, even billions of lives, until one night when he goes missing.
A year passes. Evan feels an immeasurable amount of guilt for not saving Simon when he could’ve. That is, until he starts receiving cryptic messages that somehow Simon may still be alive. Can Evan put the pieces together? Is Simon really alive, or has he finally lost it?
First things first. WOW! I mean, seriously, this book has the ‘it’ factor in spades. Scifi adventure, an addictive, twisting plot, chills, thrills, and even a gay romance! I was hooked to this book the second I started reading it, and I know that I won’t ever forget this crown jewel of a story. It honestly was that good.
Okay, let’s start with the characters. Evan and Simon’s characters were executed perfectly. Given their traits and what they’ve been through, their personalities were expertly thought out. There was never a ‘what?’ moment where something didn’t make sense. It’s obvious that the author really connected with her characters.
The supporting characters were also extremely believable. Syd, Max, the others on the SI team, they all had interesting quirks, were likable in their own way, and their actions made complete sense.
Next, the world-building. As a reader, you expect the world around the characters to come to life. Boy did they ever! I was obsessed. Any time that Tage and its resource crisis came up, my eyes were glued to the page. I really loved the planet and its characteristics, and by the end of the novel, I desperately wanted the story to continue on into another story (please write a sequel!). I didn’t want to be separated from Tage and its interesting inhabitants.
The plot was highly imaginative, addictive, and had plenty of twists and turns. Think Flatliners meets Nightmare on Elm Street with a healthy dose of Star Trek tech.
Lastly, the writing style. Quite obviously, this was the best part about the book. Polen’s talent is apparent in her ability to write in a fluid manner that keeps the pages turning. The flow and pacing of the writing was flawless, and there weren’t any chapters that I slogged through. Quite the opposite, actually. I actually slowed down my reading so that I could savor the story, something I’ve never done before.
Ultimately, Teri Polen has written one of the very best scifi books I’ve ever read, a masterpiece if you ask me. She has an abundance of talent, and I’m excited to explore her other works as soon as they come out. You’ve got a new fan here!
This story really throws you in a deep end, the first chapter is a whirlwind of action – I actually scrolled back to make sure I hadn’t missed a more traditional opening gambit, and was a really refreshing way to start off! The story is told in both present day and flashback in the POV’s of each brother initially bringing us to the cataclysm of Simon’s disappearance and continuing with essentially a sci-fi thriller as Evan starts up his own search for Simon having given up with the PI’s lack of progress. As the backdrop to it all is Scientific Innovations, an apparent overlord covering everything from cure development and food growth to the ability of Bending – to enter peoples minds and banish nightmares or help them make lost connections, Evan has a natural ability with this role created by years of honing his skills with the mental link between he and Simon – a link initially thought to be just that of twins but ultimately so much more. Scientific Innovations is place where it sometimes seems very little is held to account in the pursuit of its aims, with much more going on than there seems. Evan’s search becomes very cat and mouse at times and it’s heartbreaking to see not only him but also others reach their breaking points to try and put things right.
It’s a story that I really didn’t want to put down I finished in a day because no matter how hard I tried to stop to do other things, I just couldn’t. The characters were amazingly written and well balanced, it was also the first time in a long time that I’ve read a book with a male protagonist. Women aren’t under represented though and those present are fighting just as hard and fast as their male counterparts. The story itself felt original, it’s an apocalyptic world but we never get bogged down with lots of irrelevant information about what led to the world of Tage being that way. It is what it is and we hit the ground running. The science isn’t overwhelming either, explanation is given when needed but again the author is very careful not to weigh down the pace and flow of the story with over complicated science speak. It’s a bit angsty at times, but then we are dealing with 16/17 year olds so it’s forgiven!
Why the 4 stars then? Well despite everything I loved about it there were a few sticking points. Some of the writing could have been better edited “the doors opened silently, the sound barely detectable” stood out as a quite silly in an otherwise flawless read. Some scenes felt forced and unnecessary – like one between Evan and Syd and it also just ended really abruptly. As it is a standalone it could have taken the time to really say goodbye to the characters but then I suppose that all comes down to preference, but these points did just bring down my enjoyment of what was essentially amazing read.