gearbreakers – zoe hana mikuta | blog tour + arc review

Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta

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Series: Gearbreakers #1
Expected publication: June 29th 2021 by Feiwel & Friends
Age Range: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Romance
Representation: Korean queer

Rating:

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

Synopsis:

Two girls on opposite sides of a war discover they’re fighting for a common purpose–and falling for each other–in Zoe Hana Mikuta’s high-octane debut Gearbreakers, perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu’s Legend series.

We went past praying to deities and started to build them instead...

The shadow of Godolia’s tyrannical rule is spreading, aided by their giant mechanized weapons known as Windups. War and oppression are everyday constants for the people of the Badlands, who live under the thumb of their cruel Godolia overlords.

Eris Shindanai is a Gearbreaker, a brash young rebel who specializes in taking down Windups from the inside. When one of her missions goes awry and she finds herself in a Godolia prison, Eris meets Sona Steelcrest, a cybernetically enhanced Windup pilot. At first Eris sees Sona as her mortal enemy, but Sona has a secret: She has intentionally infiltrated the Windup program to destroy Godolia from within.

As the clock ticks down to their deadliest mission yet, a direct attack to end Godolia’s reign once and for all, Eris and Sona grow closer–as comrades, friends, and perhaps something more…

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Thank you to The Colored Pages for choosing me as one of the participants in the #GearbreakersTour. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. If you’re interested in the other tour stops, check out the schedule!

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trigger and content warnings:

• death of loved ones, physical and graphic violence, torture, multiple blood mentions, graphic deaths

• taken from cw (the quiet pond)’s goodreads

Sona Steelcrest was stolen off her life and her parents the day the mechas descended upon the village. Working her way to becoming stronger, becoming something that she hated is just part of her plan for revenge. Turned into a living machine, wires, and blood, Sona could easily control a mecha.

Mechas are revered as deities. Humans look towards these weapons as Gods while the world around them fell apart. Ranging from Berserkers to Valkyries, every unit has its own roles to play. The only people humbling them, cutting their wires and killing their Pilots, are the Gearbreakers.

Gearbreakers are reckless and seek the thrill of destruction. They would pick apart the mechas with glee and would gladly watch the organization burn. Each of the Gearbreakers had suffered some sort of loss and experienced hardships under the hands of the Windups.

Calluses have use. Scars have memories and not much else. Keep the soldier and discard her flaws, and make her a God.

Losing the human side of herself and letting herself be infused with wires and metal plates, Sona struggles with identity. She seemed a little detached from her own body, willingly sacrifice anything to be experimented on. Whenever she faced hostility from the other Gearbreakers, Sona’s only response is passiveness and indifference.

Eris Shindanai, captain of her own Gearbreakers crew, is reckless and a loose cannon herself. She has no qualms about slaughtering anything in her way. Not caring about rules, Eris’s fiery personality and bravery land her in precarious situations but she always seemed to be able to escape.

Because she is more than all of it. The sum of my pain, my past, my hatred. The riot with skin, happiest with a deity kneeling before her.

The chemistry and overall bond in Eris’s crew were strong and effortless. While they might curse and scream and threaten each other’s deaths, you know they would do anything to make sure the crew is safe. This family of unmanageable fighters has their own personalities and roles to play in the team so it was easy to differentiate them while reading.

The romance is a slow-burning one. Eris and Sona have an initial attraction as they mused at how beautiful each other was in their minds. However, with them being on opposite sides initially, nothing really happened. As they spent more time together though, their friendship and camaraderie developed into something deeper and more romantic.

“How do you kill a God?”
“From the inside out.”

Overall, I had great fun reading Gearbreakers. It was non-stop sword fights and cutting down 200ft deity-like machines. Eris and Sona are both forces to be reckoned with. Zoe Hana Mikuta has gifted us a wonderful science fiction debut with fearsome queer girls who aren’t afraid of anything. Elated that this will be a duology! I don’t think I can handle having only this book as a standalone. There’s so much more to explore in Godolia.

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author information

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

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