This is the second book in the young adult, science fiction series The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff which include Illuminae, Gemina, and Obsidio. You can read my review of Illuminae here.

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.

I was obsessed with book 1, which is a dossier style and the most unique format I’ve ever read.  Book 2 is in the same format with more drawings from Hanna’s diary.  I was worried about book 2 being as addictive as the first one and I was not disappointed!

The story picks up from where the first book left off but instead of with Kady and Ezra, this story takes place on the Heimdall station that they were heading towards. I loved the two main characters, Nik especially, though initially I wasn’t sure about them. Both Hanna and Nik, as well as Nik’s cousin Ella, are all very resourceful and capable.  Hanna starts out with a boyfriend and I was wondering how that would be resolved with the Nik ‘ship and I was weary at first but I love what happened. This book starts out slower than the first book but once it gets going it’s completely action packed and bonkers too. There’s violence, gore, drugs, gangs, space, a twist, and romance – what more could you ask for!?

I’m super pumped for book three! Normally I binge read series but with this one, each book has been such an adrenaline rush and I love them so much that I’ve been wanting to space them out a bit so I can savor them and not end it all too soon. So now that I’ve read something else in-between and finally have this review done, I can open up Obsidio!

5 stars! 

****SPOILERS AHEAD****

Discussion: Live Reactions While Reading

• Much slower start
• Questionable likability of MCs
• Not sure about Jackson
• Thought Hanna’s dad was bad by assumption but seems good actually
• Gets faster around page 108
• Sexual banter / flirting seems less realistic when everyone is dead and they’re both holed up in vents (Hanna and Nik)
• Is she drawing in her journal during all this?!!! Wtf
• But I don’t want Jax to be dead or die. Idk what ‘ship I’m routing for.
• Our evil/good AI from book one reappears around pages 256 and 264
• Welp. I was confused about Jax. But did not see him as Rapier. I feel better about not wanting Hanna to be with him. Also explains why I felt so uneasy about him communicating with her and how he was talking to her. Especially when he kept wanting her to turn herself in.  And I guess the correspondence as Rapier saying to kill Nik right away makes more sense now too.
• Okay so like. Book 1 has the zombie plague. And book 2 has terrifying predator parasite drug worms with four heads and arms that are as smart as dogs. Wtfffffff
• Lexi Blue song has to be more purposeful. I suspect Kady as it was mentioned she likes her and they can’t make it stop….
• I think Rapier is gonna do the right thing cause he does love Hanna and somewhat doesn’t agree with what went down… Likely will sacrifice himself. Maybe Lanima get him.
• Kissing part was v good. But I was worried that they would get all drugged by the Lanima when they took their helmets off. Also what kind of hacker analyst narrates like this??? Like I appreciate the detail but makes little practical sense to the dossier.
• NOT ELLA. idk if I can go on reading if she dies.
• Vvvvvv sick kill of Kali but I am FREAKING OUT about Nik bleeding out. If he is really dead I refuse to like this series anymore. Sneaking a peak at the back. I don’t care. Okay I peaked. He not dead. Thank god.
• MULTIVERSE WTF
• I KNEW something funky happened when Nik grazed the wormhole before!!! And the jasmine thing was weird, I thought it was gonna be a romantic thing about him going back for it or something lame but then they never talked about it again until now.
• ELLA FOR THE FUCKING WIN!!!!
• What in the HELL is happening with the Rapier file??? Forged to save them? Another alternate universe?
• How many times is everyone going to “die”?!
• Totally called Jax sacrificing himself.
• So… when our MCs had their lovely steamy kiss…. it was the Universe A Hanna and Universe B Nik? So the real main two… never actually kissed each other?! This kinda hurts my head…
• V excited for book 3. What will they have to top the zombie plague and 4 headed drug lizards?!???

Did you have similar reactions to Gemina as me?!