Gearbreakers

Gearbreakers, Book1

By: Zoe Hana Mikuta

Narrated by: Catherine Ho, Cindy Kay

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

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....

Praise for Gearbreakers:

"An absolute joyride of a story set in a vivid, arresting world. Gearbreakers is sci-fi at its very finest, combining the grandeur of mecha fighting machines with the intimacy of (splendidly feral) found family. Zoe Hana Mikuta is a talent to be in awe of." (Chloe Gong, New York Times best-selling author of These Violent Delights)

©2021 Zoe Hana Mikuta (P)2021 Recorded Books

Good but feel like I missed things

While the story was fascinating and the characters were well worth, I had a hard time keeping my brain from wandering. The story telling in places gets patchy and makes it hard to follow. It jumps around and skips time.

Overall I enjoyed it but now I need to read the second one because that cliffhanger was not cool 😢

It’s good

Good story, good voices, I’m not a review writer but that is fine, the book was good enough that I wished it was longer, romance was believable, the other characters mattered. I could visualize the mech fights like an old anime. Definitely recommend.

It Was Okay

very interesting concept and I appreciateduch of the character building, but I feel like the weight and scale of the Mechas we're sometimes inconsistent. I also think Eros switch from not wanting to kill Sona to passionately defending her to everyone was a little quick. I understand her not being able to kill her and starting to connect more, but her fierce defense was sudden. Also, sad or depressing endings can work, but they still have to be some change from the beginning. It kind of felt like we went through the whole story to just get back to where we started,in the same building, with Sona figuratively by herself while surrounded by the others with the city punishing the Badlands. Like I know they say they were holding back but that was me er conveyed to the reader so saying they're going to crush the Badlands doesn't feel all that different. It also felt like when a tv show season ends on an obvious cliff hanger cause they're think about the next season, but that just makes it feel as if this book isn't a strong enough story to stand on it own and NEEDS it's sequel rather than being a legitimate piece of work on its own that can continue. Has a lot of potential for the next book though. Universe was interesting, world building could have been either but was still good for what there was. Liked the emotion descriptions, characters were deep and voice performances were pretty good. Only performance criticisms are all the guys kind of sounded the same and there were scene where'd I think the author intended shouting but the performers didn't.

AAAAAAAAH

*deep breath*

a a a a a a A A A A A A A A A A H

that is all, thanks.

Feels like half a book.

The ending left this feeling like it was just the first half of the whole story. I liked the story, it just felt incomplete at the end.

10/10 do recommend

The narration is top notch. Zoe has created an amazing original immersive world. Great characters. Perfect pace. I’m immediately getting the next book!

Vividly exciting and compelling!

I absolutely loved how this was written and the ability to be some completely transported and brought into the minds of the characters!

Excellent read

I came for the sapphic rep but I walked away having been wrecked by the characters. Their relationships were so tangible it was impossible not to feel invested. I love how differently the POVs were performed by the VAs, it really hit home how differently they perceived themselves vs how others saw them. Excellent, fun, well paced story with great VA.

99% inner dialog

I mean don't get me wrong, the concept and story behind this book is incredibly amazing. but I had such a hard time getting past the inner dialog and I spent a lot of this book trying to figure out what was going on outside of the characters heads. a lot of the writing is absolutely beautiful, but I just couldn't get past characters whos personalities were kind of set in stone in a way. like the second main character in this book is 100% brawn with no brain and its a little ridiculous. there are some corny parts too. I personally wouldn't read it again. if it weren't 99% inner dialog it'd be 5 stars all around

Give it time, it’s yummy

The delightful descriptions, though a bit hard to focus into at first become tasteful and well placed later on. The slow burn and shifting perspectives between the two protagonists is satisfying without being over the top. The romance is not overdrawn or gooey. The pretend heroism without damage or violence isn’t to be found thank goodness, because war is violence. Well done!
I can’t wait for the second one.