Kaufman Amie; Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) ; Informal Buddy Read ; Starts 15 June 2018

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

Synopsis
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.

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

      ~ Buddy Style Reads ~
    Three Ways to Enjoy a Book!

At NRBC we use three styles of buddy reads. These will be indicated in the thread title as “Buddy Read”, “Relaxed Buddy Read” or “Informal Buddy Read”.

A “Buddy Read” has a discussion leader and a reading date is set to start the book. A reading schedule is posted prior to the start date and discussion questions are posted each day regarding that section of the book. More information about these types of reads is below. An example is here, showing a reading schedule here.

A “Relaxed Buddy Read” is similar to our usual “buddy reads” except there are less questions and break points. For example, a book may be split into three sections and those reading the book should pause at the end of the section to answer some discussion questions, make comments, or ask their own questions to other readers. An example is here.

An “Informal Buddy Read” doesn’t have a discussion leader and participants are asked to consider some generic questions when making comments about the book. An example is here.

A “Read and Watch Buddy Read” may be set up as any of the above, but we will also watch the movie or T.V. series - or even go to a play! - and make comparisons, discussing what has been left out or changed as well as the actors and actresses. There is a long debate of what one should do first: read the books or watch the movie? We usually read first, but it isn’t essential. Also, if you would like to join in, but don’t want to watch the movie, show, or play, but only read the books, that is fine, too. An example is here.


MORE UNDER SPOILER
(view spoiler)[

“Buddy Reads” (“BRs”) include:

• A reading schedule which can range from 50, 75, to 100 or so pages a day.

• Discussion questions posted daily by moderators and occasionally group members
   who help one of us out. If you want to be a Discussion Leader, let us know.

• If the book is really long, we'll plan a break day.

• Members do NOT have to answer every question, they are meant to stimulate
   conversations about the books AND allow us to glance back upon them when the
   sequels come out. This helps us to remember what exactly happened in the previous
   book.

• We find the buddy style of reading to be more fun than just posting one or two
   sentences about a book. We feel this is what distinguishes us as being a ‘book club’
   rather than just another GoodReads ‘group.’

• If you can NOT start the book on time, feel free to join in at a later date. They are
   set up to make it easy to do so.

• Moderators are people too, so occasionally we get sick, have to work late at our real
   jobs, or have something that keeps us from writing the questions. Please forgive us;
   we're only human and we don't get any compensation for what we do--not even
   free books!

• Discussions and questions are set up to make you think, analyze, and see things you,
   or even we, may have missed. Feel free to add your own thoughts at any time, if you
   think we've missed something.

• If you've read the book, feel free to let us know what you thought about the book.
   You can do so at the end of the buddy read, or, if you can't wait, add spoiler tags
   before you comment like:

   **************BEWARE! SPOILER FOR THE END OF THE BOOK**************

   Or insert a (view spoiler)[spoiler (hide spoiler)]. If you do NOT know how to do so, just check out our
   GoodReads 101 explanation on how to Insert a Spoiler.

• If you are looking for a reading buddy, post an inquiry in our Buddy read requests thread. Use that thread, if you want to have a repeat read of a BOM
    or buddy read, too.

• Have fun! We always do when more than one person joins in. And we look less silly
   if someone else discusses a book with us. (hide spoiler)]

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

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[Annalisa]

Hi, June 15th is a good date for me. As I recall the first book was a quick read.

Here from Team Severus Snape.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Yes, I'm in! Book on the shelf waiting :)

[Paula]

I got this book for my birthday last week, this will be a great chance to read it.

I'm from Team Gilderoy Lockhart =)

[Snowtulip]

Can't wait to start this one!

[Paula]

I'll be starting this one tomorrow, anyone else?

[Annalisa]

I took a peak and I'm looking forward to getting started.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Yes!
Although I'm also reading the BOM so I'll be a bit slow

[Annalisa]

I'm also reading the BOM. I'm hoping Gemina is an easy fast read. I think it will be.

[Paula]

I'm not a fast reader, so I think it'll be ok if you're a bit slow haha

[Snowtulip]

I'm going to be starting tonight before bedtime :)

[Annalisa]

I got a good start on the book this evening. At first I thought this book had the same characters as the last book but it doesn't. I'm glad because it has been a while since I read Illuminae.

This time I expected the writing to be in the form of emails, chat messages, and other files like that. It still took some getting used to though. It very different from everything else I've read.

Through page 141, 20%, or "Countdown to Hypatia arrival at Heimdall Waypoint: 01 Days 00 Hours: 36 Minutes (view spoiler)[So far I'm finding the story to be engaging. I feel like I'm still getting to know Nik and Hanna. I'm not instantly liking either of them but I don't dislike them either.

There have been a few surprises so far but nothing to big as far as new information about BeiTech, just more horrible acts on their part. Truthfully I'm having a hard time remembering if they had a resin we knew in the first book for attacking. I'm sure as I continue reading I will remember more.

I am enjoying the story and now that I'm adjusting to the format it is moving along quickly. (hide spoiler)]

[Snowtulip]

Annalisa wrote: "I got a good start on the book this evening. At first I thought this book had the same characters as the last book but it doesn't. I'm glad because it has been a while since I read Illuminae.

Thi..."

I feel the same as you (view spoiler)[regarding Nik and Hannah, just not as engaged in them yet, I think since you really only see them through IM, it's been harder to connect. I am enjoying Hannahs journal and art work though! Waiting to see what happens when we get to Day 0 (hide spoiler)]

[Heli]

Joinin in the buddy read from team Newt Scamander.

I listened to Illuminae audiobook and it was so so wonderfully done. I just loved Kady and Ezra. Now I have Gemina on overdrive and finding it a little bit harder to get into. Lot of the characters are mixed in my head. I'm not sure yet what I think of Hanna and Nik.

[Annalisa]

I keep hearing that the audiobooks for this series are amazing. Having read Illuminae the experience seemed very visual and I wonder how that is translated into the audio.

[Snowtulip]

Annalisa wrote: "I keep hearing that the audiobooks for this series are amazing. Having read Illuminae the experience seemed very visual and I wonder how that is translated into the audio."

I was also curious about that, if the graphics are described or if there is a companion document to go back to.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Annalisa wrote: "I got a good start on the book this evening. At first I thought this book had the same characters as the last book but it doesn't. I'm glad because it has been a while since I read Illuminae.

Thi..."

I haven't read your spoiler as I'm only at page 57, but I also expected the same characters so it took a bit to get my head around it!
I think the style is clever, but the black text on grey pages is hard to read sometimes

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Snowtulip wrote: "Annalisa wrote: "I keep hearing that the audiobooks for this series are amazing. Having read Illuminae the experience seemed very visual and I wonder how that is translated into the audio."

I was also curious about that, if the graphics are described or if there is a companion document to go back to. ..."


Same here. I read a lot of audio, but I've quite intentionally gotten these books as paperbacks because I felt the style was part of the story. Sometimes in audio when there are emails they read EVERY.SINGLE.PART (dates, etc..) and it can get very tedious. I wonder if that is the same here?
Like how would you describe the little post-it in the corner of a document? or the little comics that Hanna draws? Very interesting

[Paula]

Ok, I'm really behind, I'm on page 44, but (view spoiler)[it was awful to read about what they did to the cow!! I'm a little freaked out about it (hide spoiler)]

I too expected to see Kady and Ezra in this book, but as I read Illuminae so long ago, is good to see I don't need to remember EVERYTHING about the previous book.

Also, I love the drawings in this book.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Oh yeah, Paula, that was not very nice

The drawings are awesome :)

[Heli]

Annalisa wrote: "I keep hearing that the audiobooks for this series are amazing. Having read Illuminae the experience seemed very visual and I wonder how that is translated into the audio."

There was a full cast reading the book. Every character had his/her own voice, which I liked a lot.
It was hard to read Gemina sometimes just for the texts being different color. When the text was white I had to switch to black background and vice versa.

[Heli]

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "Snowtulip wrote: "Annalisa wrote: "I keep hearing that the audiobooks for this series are amazing. Having read Illuminae the experience seemed very visual and I wonder how that is translated into t..."

It was not tedious at all. And they read those briefing notes too. And the voice that read them was always the same.

[Heli]

Paula wrote: "Ok, I'm really behind, I'm on page 44, but [spoilers removed]

I too expected to see Kady and Ezra in this book, but as I read Illuminae so long ago, is good to see I don't need to remember EVERYTH..."

I did not understand at first what happened there. (the spoilers tag) But luckily it was explained later.

[Annalisa]

Paula wrote: "Ok, I'm really behind, I'm on page 44, but [spoilers removed]

I too expected to see Kady and Ezra in this book, but as I read Illuminae so long ago, is good to see I don't need to remember EVERYTH..."

Oh boy for page 44 (view spoiler)[The cow and what they did to Lucy is kind of freaking me out. (hide spoiler)]I've not had a lot of time to read but I admit that this is part of the reason I've been slow to continue.

[Paula]

I'm on page 116 (view spoiler)[BeiTech already took control of Heimdall, and I know these kind of things need to happen so the book has action, but I'm always hoping for them not to happen, you know?

Also I'm so sad that that Commander Donelly is dead u.u (hide spoiler)]

Anyways, I love how this book is fast paced, even as I haven't had a lot of time to read it, it feels like I'm advancing pretty fast

[Snowtulip]

Annalisa wrote: "Paula wrote: "Ok, I'm really behind, I'm on page 44, but [spoilers removed]

I too expected to see Kady and Ezra in this book, but as I read Illuminae so long ago, is good to see I don't need to re..."

That was definitely a rough scene!

[Snowtulip]

Paula wrote: "I'm on page 116 BeiTech already took control of Heimdall, and I know these kind of things need to happen so the book has action, but I'm always hoping for them not to happen, you know?

Also I'm so..."

(view spoiler)[I was also sad about his death, he seemed like a good guy and dad :( Adults have a rough time in these books! (hide spoiler)]

[Snowtulip]

Finished (view spoiler)[so the whole Jackson being a bad guy threw me for a loop!! So glad his actions spoke louder in the end. I'm more curious about the Illuminae, so I guess I'll have to see about the next book :)

For some reason, this book didn't grip me as much as the first one, I think I had a better grasp with the first book. Appreciated the multiverse in this one, made my head spin for a little bit while I got on board with that within the storyline. (hide spoiler)]

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Paula wrote: "I'm on page 116 BeiTech already took control of Heimdall, and I know these kind of things need to happen so the book has action, but I'm always hoping for them not to happen, you know?

Also I'm so..."

Yikes! I just got to page 116 and I agree that it is one of those things where you know something really bad will Happen, but keep hoping it won’t!
(view spoiler)[ I was also really sad about Capt Donnelly. And wth with this Falk dude? Totally evil.
(hide spoiler)]

This is an easy read and I’m really into it now. No idea where it is headed and just enjoying the ride 😀

[Paula]

I'm on page 320
(view spoiler)[ I can't believe Jax was part of the BeiTech team!!

This book makes me feel so helpless! BeiTech is all over the place, and the worms are making a mess, for now they've only attacked the BeiTech team members, but I wonder when they'll start to attack the other people, those Lanima are the most disgusting thing ever.

Also, I wonder how Hannah realised that Jax was part of the enemy (hide spoiler)]

[Paula]

Finished it and loved it! I hope to read what you think of it all soon! For the spoilers, I'm assuming you read the entire book*

(view spoiler)[
Discovering that Jax was part of the BT team was horrible.
Also, when Nik died I didn't want to believe it, Hannah was amazing after that, but then the Lanima attacked Ella and that was the worst of all! I really liked Ella, so I was very sad not to read more from her.
Thanks the authors for the paralel universes, I liked that there was the explanation for the title of this book.
Also, I loooved reading AIDAN again, I kind of missed him through this book and it was spectacular to read it narrating what was happening to Hannah and Nik in each universe to fix the wormhole problem (hide spoiler)]

And then, in page 622 till the end (view spoiler)[ Ella CAME BACK!! I was so happy. But then, Jax came and killed her, killed everyone in the Mao ship, and killed Nik and killed Hannah, that was awful, I felt like the whole book, the whole story was for nothing, (hide spoiler)], so frustating!!

Thank the authors it was (view spoiler)[ all a bluff, and they're alive, and Jax did good at the end, sacrificing himself for others. (hide spoiler)]

The final pages were a real rollercoaster, I'm very intrigued with what will happen in Obsidio, I hope to get my hands on it soon.
I love what the authors did with this saga =)

[Snowtulip]

Paula wrote: "Finished it and loved it! I hope to read what you think of it all soon! For the spoilers, I'm assuming you read the entire book*


."

(view spoiler)[ I was surprised how much I missed AIDEN, when he popped up in the book I was excited...his "humor" cracks me up. (hide spoiler)]

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

I'm still reading. I just keep having other books get in between because I need to read this one at home in decent light (it is too big to take on the train! And the black writing on grey pages I find challenging).
Anyone else still reading?

[Annalisa]

I'm still reading. I'm hoping to finish this before I start the next batch of buddy reads.

[Annalisa]

I finished last night.

(view spoiler)[I was also caught of guard by Jax being part of BeiTech. I liked that I was surprised though. The ending of the book was a little startling, I didn't expect so many variations and bluffs, Nik dying but not dying. Ella being killed but not killed. It was a bit of a roller coaster. I was very glad to see the characters from Illuminae come in at the end. I had a feeling AIDEN was behind some of the Surveillance footage summaries, but it wasn't until the end that I was sure. I really like how AIDEN is trying to add emotion and then has an error. His pep talk for Hanna and Nik at the end was great even though it failed. The ending with the court was very intriguing. (hide spoiler)]

I'm going to be reading the next book sometime soon, as this one made me wonder what happens next. Would anyone be up for a buddy read of Obsidio?

[Annalisa]

Paula wrote: "I'm on page 320
(view spoiler)[ I can't believe Jax was part of the BeiTech team!!

This book makes me feel so helpless! BeiTech is all over the place, and the worms are making a mess, for now they've only attac... (hide spoiler)]"

(view spoiler)[The Lanima were really good at eliminating the BeiTech teams. I found then extremely creepy though. (hide spoiler)]

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Paula wrote: "I'm on page 320
..."

I'm finally catching back up. Yikes! I did not see that coming either. I kept wondering who Rapier was and if I had missed it somewhere. :(
(view spoiler)[ I guess it goes to show that sometimes the "good" and "bad" guys are not so obvious!

I do love Hanna. That girl has brains and spunk (hide spoiler)]

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Annalisa wrote: "I finished last night.

[spoilers removed]

I'm going to be reading the next book sometime soon, as this one made me wonder what happens next. Would anyone be up for a buddy read of [book:Obsidio|..."

I finally finished! Not because the book was slow or anything, but I find I need natural light to read it in and I don't often get daytime reading. So (luckily? lol) I was sick yesterday and was able to just read for a few hours

I totally did not see (view spoiler)[ AIDAN reappearing. Maybe because it has been a while since book 1, so I was even trying to remember if Kady was the character from #1 :o
And with all the deaths, and non-deaths. AH. rollercoaster is right!

But I really did love this and enjoyed the ride so much,

I have put book 3 on hold at the library, so hopefully I will get it in a week or two (hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "Same here. I read a lot of audio, but I've quite intentionally gotten these books as paperbacks because I felt the style was part of the story. Sometimes in audio when there are emails they read EVERY.SINGLE.PART (dates, etc..) and it can get very tedious. I wonder if that is the same here?
Like how would you describe the little post-it in the corner of a document? or the little comics that Hanna draws? Very interesting "

I'm still listening to Illuminae, but I have Gemina up next. I originally read them in hardback, but I also heard the audios were amazing, so I got them from the library for a re-read. They are a full cast reading. So far it is wonderful! But, like I said, I'm in Illuminae and there aren't drawings like in Gemina (at least I don't remember any). I'll let you know when I get there. :)

[Laura]

For the audio they set that song to music!

And they do a good job with Hannah’s pictures. There’s no attempt to describe the pictures. They are presented as a series of thoughts.

[Laura]

Finished! I think it's possible that I enjoyed it on audio even more than when I read the hard copy!

Hanna - I liked her just as much as I liked Kady. And I loved (view spoiler)[her and Nik as a couple! (hide spoiler)]

AIDEN - (view spoiler)[Still creepy. But it's interesting to watch as he becomes almost sentient. There's a lot of development during the series. (hide spoiler)]

[Annalisa]

I may have to try the audio for the last book. I still think they are such visual books that I have a hard time imagining they would translate to audio. However, everyone says the audiobooks are amazing. Thanks for giving a comparison of them.

[Laura]

Annalisa wrote: "I may have to try the audio for the last book. I still think they are such visual books that I have a hard time imagining they would translate to audio. However, everyone says the audiobooks are am..."

We actually managed to get both from the library, so my daughter read along while listening. She says there are some discrepancies, but nothing major. Just different words or word order occasionally. She listened to about half of Illuminae before we got the print book. She said having both together was the best.