Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta Series: Gearbreakers #1
Published by Feiwel and Friends (6.29.2021)
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Format: eBook, 416 pages
Source: Library
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...
My thoughts
“You don’t have to be good. You just have to be better than the bad you’ve done.”
So, I really thought (and hoped) that I would love this book more. It wasn’t bad or anything, I just found it overall mediocre and was expecting a lot more. I actually started this book on audio – my preferred format – and for some reason I could NOT focus on it to save my life. I kept zoning out and having to go back and listen again. I NEVER have that problem with audiobooks! I listen to at least two a week because I can lose myself in the narration while I work. I was baffled by the fact that this audio didn’t work for me. The narrators weren’t bad, either. It was so strange. (And for context, I was listening to other books in the same time frame, so it wasn’t that I just had a distracted week. It was just specifically this audio for some reason.)
My main issue with this book was utter lack of connection. I didn’t feel much of anything throughout the entire story, and didn’t care about the characters. Which was extremely unfortunate, considering this was a character driven novel and most definitely not a plot driven one. I also got the POVs of the two main characters mixed up rather frequently because the girls were so similar. The world building was pretty vague as well.
However, I did enjoy the concept. It was awesome! I loved the idea of the Windups! I adored Gundam and Pacific Rim, so it was great to see another story with giant man-operated robots. That was definitely the selling point of this book, and the part that stood out the most in my head. The rebel faction of the Gearbreakers was cool, too, and so was the tech that they had.
I’m super sad that I didn’t love this one, because it had great potential. The concept was interesting, it was an enemies to lovers romance, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi – it had all the elements for a story that I should have loved, but it sadly fell flat for me.
Overall Assessment
Plot: 1.5/5
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 3.5/5
Originality: 3.5/5
Characters: 2/5
World-building: 2.5/5
Feels: 1/5
Cover: 3.5/5
Overall rating: 3/5
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