I think the main reason the rating is what it is was because the plot just felt non-existent and all over the place at times. The progression of the world-building wasn't working for me and I do have to say that it does focus a lot more on the character relationships than what what I wanted. Of course, if that's your type, then you would still enjoy this book. I usually a look for deeper more gritty SCi-Fi. I think we can agree that it's hard to continue a story when the main characters perspectives are investing. *disappointed sighs*

I probably would have continued reading this for that found family aspect though. Those parts were the good parts. (and you know... sapphic... *twinkle*)

I can see this being loved by people who like relatively lighter Sci-Fi that focuses more on found family bonding and the enemies-to-lovers aspect. It just wasn't for me.

I loved the queer rep in this book! I think the writing could have used a little more refinement, but overall I really enjoyed this story and I'm looking forward to reading book 2!

A delightful romp of a book with dark and contemplative subtext. Eris and Sona are on opposite sides of a war - or so they think. While this is a common trope, it's done with such care and attention in Gearbreakers that it feels completely new. There are no easy alliances. Death is dealt rapidly - but with emotional reckonings.

And even as the author hits powerful emotional beats, she keeps the characters - and readers - laughing with a combination of reckless childhood antics and gallows humor. Even though the story has a large cast, it isn't difficult to differentiate between the characters and their relationships to the two main girls.

And the mecha! I wasn't sure how a concept like giant fighting robots would translate to the page, but the fight scenes are done so well, both from the perspective of Eris on the ground and Sona in the Windups.

Phenomenally done and left me in extreme anticipation of the sequel!

Perfect for our teens! I'll be giving this to fans of War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi or Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh, even though the stories are fairly different across the board. Plenty of intrigue and action, plus excellent characters.

An action-packed ride from start to finish. I devoured this story and was completely captivated by the dual-POV adventure. Pacific Rim x This Is How You Stop The Time War but for a YA audience. While Xiran Jay Zhao's Iron Widow book, isn't out yet, Gearbreakers and Iron Widow feel like spiritual siblings or cousins; titles where if you enjoy one, you'll surely enjoy the other. Incredibly great!

“We went past praying to deities and started to build them instead”

This is a story about raging against the machines.

I saw this pitched as Red Rising meets Pacific Rim, and as I love both of those things I was all in & thrilled when the publisher was lovely enough to provide e & audio copies.

So was it as advertised? Yes, and no. While it had reminiscent aspects, this was entirely its own story. The author avoided so many of the tropes that pop up in YA & Sci Fi in general, and created a vast world with so many possibilities for future books. The characters were compelling, and I cared about their dynamics even when their interactions were brief.

While I thoroughly enjoyed it & it’s an amazing debut, l did want more time & world building. I think the content of this book easily could have been spread into a trilogy, because there were so many aspects that felt like they flew by.. hoping for a lengthy sequel!

Thank you so much Macmillan for the eArc!

4/5 stars

Sapphic, futuristic, sci-fi, found family, slow burn, enemies to lovers, this book had it all and was so fun. Being one of my most anticipated reads of the summer, I came into it very excited and overall, I would say I wasn't disappointed.

I'm not going to lie though, the plot didn't have much direction at times and for the first like 25% of the book, I was incredibly confused due to basically a complete lack of world-building. But, I found myself not caring about those issues due to the characters and writing style. Eris and Sona's relationship was so sweet and I am completely in love with both of them. The slow burn, enemies to lovers was done perfectly and the tension between them was unbearable in such a good way. The found family trope was also so fun and I can't wait to get to know everyone more in the next book.

One thing I want to address is the lack of clear-cut queer rep in this book. The author has said that one of the main characters was lesbian and the other was bisexual, however, neither are explicitly expressed in the book which I found disappointing.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, fast-paced, ya sci-fi book.

age rating: 14+
tropes: enemies to lovers, found family, nightmare trope, slight love triangle
tw: blood + gore, torture, gun voilence, technological implants

Gearbreakers is an action-packed, fast-paced YA sci-fi novel that I couldn't put down. I was pretty much sold on this book the moment I heard "giant robots." The two main characters, Eris and Sona, are well-developed and compelling. They're both so fiery and courageous, and I loved their interactions. I do wish I had felt a stronger connection with the side characters. I'd love to see more of Jenny! The world-building was intriguing, and I can't wait to learn more about Godolia in the sequel. After the dramatic conclusion of Gearbreakers, I'm counting down the days!

3.5/5 stars (rounded up)
I have some mixed opinions. I can definitely see why people didn't end up liking this book but I also get why others love it.

Gearbreakers is an intense sci-fi novel where I found myself continuously yelling at the two main characters to kiss. Seriously, the slow-burn is real. To be very honest, I was not convinced by the first 20% of the book. The pacing was slow and the author was setting things up but I was just bored. But things really pick up after that and I absolutely loved the fire and attraction between Sona and Eris!

I think the highlight of this book for me were the characters. To start off, Sona is so determined yet fearful of belonging to the Godolia. Her past forms her desire for revenge which consumes her entire core. She’s very strong and also eloquent and calm. On one side we’ll have Eris spit-firing but Sona just calmly answers her and I love this dynamic. Right, coming to Eris, she’s absolutely wild, chaotic and reckless which are all qualities that I love. Sona sees a glowing fire and bravery in her and I honestly couldn’t agree more. And yet Eris has such a soft heart that she tries to hide by her brash behaviour and language and I just love to see her banter with and also be soft around Sona. It’s a very slow yet heartwarming romance and I’m all here for it!

Also, this might just be me but almost all of these characters are tough and have spunk and courage and a lot of the times it felt as if the author was trying to hard, especially with their dialogues… those weren’t my favourite. But other than that, I loved this rag-tag group of characters.

The world-building is also easy to understand and certain aspects are well-developed but I would have liked to know a bit more about the world outside Gearbreakers and Godolia, as well as some of their history which was mentioned somewhere in the beginning and then never really came up.

I honestly couldn’t visualise the fight scenes with the mechas. Some of them were really detailed to the point I got confused as to which plane the fight was happening, the pilot or the windup. So I ended up skimming through some of the fight scenes. But oh my god that ending! It has me kinda shocked and really pumped for the next book!

This booook! *screams intensify*

Let’s see if I can coherently put together my thoughts so I can tell you just how much I loved this book.

I am such a sucker for sapphic science fiction stories, they’re just SO GOOD! Mix in a healthy dose of found family between a horde of misfits, and this book is going down as my favorite read of the summer.

The relationship between Eris and Sona was perfect, I mean those two absolutely own me and I cannot wait for the next book just to see what happens next after that CLIFFHANGER. Even the rest of Eris’s team (especially Xander, excuse me while I go cry) have one of my favorite group dynamic since Six of Crows

I don’t often talk about world-building in reviews, because I tend to focus more on the characters, but the world that is set up in this book is so interesting. I love the concept of the mecha’s (although I had trouble picturing exactly how large they were).

The only minor, and I mean minuscule, issue I had was that it was a little hard to get a flow going at the beginning with Sona’s narration, but honestly that could have been caused more by my environment than the book itself.

Overall, I absolutely recommend this book. It’s a fast-paced read with absolutely amazing characters and an equally fascinating setting.

Pacific Rim meets Tehlor Kay Mejia''s We Set the Dark on Fire in this story about gigantic robotic "gods," the young people piloting them, and the rebels fighting back against them. Sona Steelcrest is a windup pilot. She was cybernetically enhanced by the rulers of Godolia to become part of an elite unit of pilots controlling the Valkyries, enormous robotic fighting machines that reign down destruction on all who stand in their way. But she's hiding a secret: her childhood home was destroyed by Godolia, crushed beneath the feet of a windup just like the one she now pilots. So when she sees a chance to rescue one of the Gearbreakers who takes down windups like hers, she leaps on it. In a dangerous gamble, the two break out of the academy where Sona was trained, full of pilots just like her and their monstrous windups. But though she's helped save Eris, one of the best the Gearbreakers have to offer, will Sona ever be accepted as anything other than a Godolian abomination?

I absolutely loved this book and the story of these broken girls trying to survive and learn to deal with their emotions in a horrific dystopian world. There are lots of unknowns since this is clearly the start of a series, but I don't mind that too much since so much is set up and the story we do get is so good. But Mikuta is clearly not messing around with that cliffhanger. Consider yourself warned.

In the Badlands, every day is war, literally. Godolia’s rule is spreading, due in large part to their giant mechanized weapons known as Windups. Gearbreaker Eris Shindanai specializes in taking down these machines from the inside. When she’s captured, she’ll have to rely on help from Sona Steelcrest, a cybernetically enhanced Windup pilot, to survive. Sona wants out, and she’s willing to help her enemy in order to escape. As the two grow closer, Eris will have to convince her crew that not only can Sona be trusted, but she can help them take down the Windups and build a better future, for both their people and each other.

I flitted back and forth between the print and audio version of this, and both experiences were a blast. It moves quickly, and I’m a sucker for humans who have been made into part machines. Make it queer, and you have got me 100%. I liked the push and pull between the two main characters. It’s an enemies to lovers story, but it’s grittier than a romance novel. Definitely hard sci-fi with a somewhat romantic subplot.

I enjoyed the characters immensely, anti-heroes, rebels, and those with the fight to change. They are as gritty as their world and stories. The narration was excellent in the audio version and kept me embroiled in the adventure from start to finish. If you’re looking for something with high tension and enormous stakes, definitely check this one out. Do recommend.

This book was phenomenal! It had me gripped from the beginning to end! I love the dual perspectives and how they came together! I'm anxiously awaiting book two since we got left on a cliffhanger of epic portions!

This book was very hard to get through and I'm having a hard time putting my finger on why; I will try to articulate my thoughts here, but they will be sporadic.

First of all, I felt like the story really dragged. The action scenes were often, and went on for an unenjoyable amount of time. The more calm scenes also felt just too long. I think the book would really benefit from cutting out at least a sentence from each page.

I also found the world building and concept to be, while very original, just not very compelling. Perhaps I'm just not a fan of sci-fi, but I found the whole concept of a war with machines and people to be.. uninspired? Boring? I did really like the character of Sona, and I thought her internal narration was the most interesting part of the book, but the concept of machines vs humans on the whole was just very boring to me.

I really enjoyed the writing style in this book. I think the author knew how to write things beautifully. However it was still very hard for me to get through regardless? I think my distaste for the plot overshadowed my like for the writing style in the end.

Overall, the plot felt like there was very little structure. This may be cheating since you normally wouldn't research an author before reading their book, but I know the author said she didn't write an outline for this story before she wrote it, and it kind of shows.

Overall, I just wasn't a huge fan of this book. However I did enjoy the audiobook, so if you think you'll like this book I would definitely say the audiobook is worth a listen! The narrator does a great job :) 2.5 stars.

Rebels who specialize in battling mechanical giants are "gearbreakers." After her capture, a rebel leader forms an unlikely alliance with a military warrior on the opposing side.

4.5 Stars

I had SO. MUCH. FUN. with this book! Pacific Rim + Mockingjay + found family + revenge + queer girls.

I was so hooked on this book so fast and I just couldn't put it down. I loved both of the main characters (dual POV), the pacing felt great, the action was fun, the emotions felt real, I enjoyed all the side characters...really just not a lot to complain about here. I've been making an effort to read more sci-fi this year in particular, and this cyberpunk-y action novel is unlike anything I've picked up so far.

If anything, I would have liked more fight scenes - or rather, the same number but more detailed. There are a few fade-to-black fights that I would have much preferred to actually experience. I'm also curious to see if we'll get more world-building with the dictatorial government in the second book, I feel like I still have a lot of "why" questions that weren't answered here.

All in all, a ton of fun. would recommend, can't wait for the second. (Speaking of which, I thought this book was a standalone until it ENDED LIKE THAT??? And now I have to wait for the next one???? Devastating. Very excited to see what's next.)

This YA Sci-Fi tale about mecha robots, a resistance, and a girl avenging the loss of her family and village was refreshing, vivid, and action-packed. This is an enemies-to-lovers LGBT+ tale, set in a dystopian world where rulers of Gondolia created mechanical false gods to oppress the people living outside their domain.

Sona is a pilot of Gondolia, the youngest to pilot a Valkyrie craft. She is fresh from the Academy, having recently undergone the procedures to let her command the mecha. A significant part of her is mechanical now, but her heart remains true to her roots - the family she lost at the hands of the false gods. She is waiting for her chance to strike and finds it when The Frostbringer is brought to her base.

Eris is young commander of a Gearbreaker crew. These rebels work to bring down the mechas and bring hope to the Badlands. Eris is young, fierce, and hardened. But she is loyal and sees something in Sona that makes her risk everything to bring her to the Gearbreakers.

Together they work to develop a plan to strike at the heart of Gondolia, all the while defending their partnership and discovering a deeper relationship between them.

This is a strong series start. The world-building is fantastic and the action scenes are so well detailed. Sona and Eris are both strong, complex female main characters. The ending was unexpected and leaves you clamoring to join the Gearbreakers cause.

Reviews posted 7/29.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was very intrigued by this book after seeing the author talk about it on social media. This is not my typical genre, as I don't tend to go for sci-fi robot-y type things, but the author definitely made it seem like something I would like, especially due to the sapphic relationship. Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I didn't really care about the world building, and while the giant mechas controlled by pilots seemed like a cool premise, it's still just not my thing. I was essentially reading for the relationship between the two girls, but I didn't really like either of the characters, and I didn't really believe their relationship. I definitely think there will be people who really enjoy this, especially those interested in action and science fiction, but this was not for me, unfortunately.

I did not know much about Gearbreakers prior to cracking it open, but what I had heard only had me excited - Korean queer rep? Dystopian? Science fiction? Yes, yes, yes please!

However, after reading it my feelings for the novel are lukewarm at best. One of my biggest dislikes of Mikuta's story is the concept of the mechas themselves. Basically giant robot suits operated by pilots, sent to terrorize and commit genocide against entire villages in order to protect the capitalistic interests of the powers that be. Great storyline, but the idea of the mechas themselves were just not it for me.

I also found the relationship between the two main characters to be forced. Where is the chemistry? What draws them to each other? I don't see it. It felt a bit like insta-love, but without any sizzle.

Despite the cliffhanger ending, I know I will not be reading the sequel. It might work for some, but not for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Fear is a waste of time. A waste of breath. I don't fear death and I don't fear Godolia and I sure as hells don't fear what you think of me." — Zoe Hana Mikuta, Gearbreakers 

Trigger warnings: death, blood, violence, torture

It took awhile for me to finish this book due to circumstances out of my control, but the reduction in my speed of reading was just what I needed with this kind of story. I am blown away by Zoe Hana Mikuta and the world she created. I usually don't gravitate towards the Sci-Fi/Dystopian genre for two reasons:

1) I believe I am not intellectual enough to absorb and comprehend all the sciencey specks  

2) I honestly just find it such an intimidating genre to get into

But Mikuta's Gearbreakers was nothing like that at all. Sure, it did take me a nanosecond or two to understand the world she depicted...but after going back and forth between "pages", I found it so enjoyable. I am reminded of several anime series featuring giant robots, particularly one called Mobile Police Patlabor, or simply Patlabor. I instantly knew this was going to be a new favorite.

Gearbreakers is Mikuta's debut and the world she built is far different from that of our own. It's about a technological war, found family, belonging, power, giant mechanized robots, cybernetically- enhanced "humans"...and at the center of it all there is Eris Shindanai and Sona Steelcrest: two girls fighting on opposite sides of that war. The story is told through each of the girl's viewpoints. All of the characters are extraordinary and unique. I loved getting to know them all and reading the camaraderie between Eris's crewmembers. However, Eris and Sona are definitely my favorite couple. Their meet cute was lacking the "cute" part, but it was memorable and mayhaps a bit volatile...and I fell hard. 

Overall, it is edgy and fantastical; already I am imagining what the movie adaptation would be like. I have never been so happy to pick up a book based on the cover. 

I am very grateful and honored to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me the eARC in exchange for this honest review. I can't wait to pick up a physical copy soon! 😍😍😍