The Gemini Connection

The Gemini Connection is exhilarating! It’s an edge of your seat sci-fi with a mystery! You are gong to love the emotion and uniqueness this one has to offer!

Oh, the feels! On the surface, this began as a fast paced sci-fi story. Having dug deeper, it offered emotional connections, thrills, and a bit of the paranormal!

This was my first book read by Teri Polen, and it certainly won’t be my last. I loved her writing style. It flowed seamlessly. It sparked vivid images in my mind, and strong feelings in my heart.

I loved how she took a typical YA sci-fi setting and gave it life. I loved the fact that her main character was a teenage male instead of a female. And, I loved how she took a little predictability and twisted it with some shocking moments to create an incredibly exciting story!

I read the whole thing in one sitting! It was such a compulsive read!! I loved the world, the science aspects, the emotions, and the characters!

I loved our main characters, Evan and Simon. They had a strong, brotherly connection that spoke volumes in a genre that normally highlights female characters. I enjoyed their strengths, their weaknesses, their differences, and their personalities!

Evan was hard working and intense, but also extremely vulnerable deep down. Simon was intelligent and level headed. Together, the pair symbolized true friendship.

I also really loved our supporting characters. Max really stood out to me. He represented anger and struggle, but also hope and love. And, Syd represented patience, beauty, and loyalty.

Teri created intensely beautiful relationships and friendships (and even included an awesome LGBT relationship) in the story. She created a story that flowed with emotion and heart pounding thrills. I couldn’t put this one down! I loved the paranormal aspects of the story involving Simon and Evan being able to feel each other’s emotions, and found the creation of the mind benders to be really intriguing! I’d recommend this one to all YA sci-fi readers, hands down!

Thank you to the author for providing me with this free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This story really throws you in a deep end, the first chapter is a whirlwind of action - I actually scrolled back to make sure I hadn't missed a more traditional opening gambit, and was a really refreshing way to start off! The story is told in both present day and flashback in the POV's of each brother initially bringing us to the cataclysmic of Simon's disappearance and continuing with essentially a sci-fi thriller as Evan starts up his own search for Simon having given up with the PI's lack of progress. As the backdrop to it all is Scientific Innovations, an apparent overlord covering everything from cure development and food growth to the ability of Bending - to enter peoples minds and banish nightmares or help them make lost connections, Evan has a natural ability with this role created by years of honing his skills with the mental link between he and Simon - a link initially thought to be just that of twins but ultimately so much more. Scientific Innovations is place where it sometimes seems very little is held to account in the pursuit of its aims, with much more going on than there seems. Evan's search becomes very cat and mouse at times and it's heartbreaking to see not only him but also others reach their breaking points to try and put things right.

It's a story that I really didn't want to put down I finished in a day because no matter how hard I tried to stop to do other things, I just couldn't. The characters were amazingly written and well balanced, it was also the first time in a long time that I've read a book with a male protagonist. Women aren't under represented though and those present are fighting just as hard and fast as their male counterparts. The story itself felt original, it's an apocalyptic world but we never get bogged down with lots of irrelevant information about what led to the world of Tage being that way. It is what it is and we hit the ground running. The science isn't overwhelming either, explanation is given when needed but again the author is very careful not to weigh down the pace and flow of the story with over complicated science speak. It's a bit angsty at times, but then we are dealing with 16/17 year olds so it's forgiven!

Why the 4 stars then? Well despite everything I loved about it there were a few sticking points. Some of the writing could have been better edited "the doors opened silently, the sound barely detectable" stood out as a quite silly in an otherwise flawless read. Some scenes felt forced and unnecessary - like one between Evan and Syd and it also just ended really abruptly. As it is a standalone it could have taken the time to really say goodbye to the characters but then I suppose that all comes down to preference, but these points did just bring down my enjoyment of what was essentially amazing read

I had a hard time with the jumps between the different perspectives. Even though they were within chapters it didn't seem to flow between the chapters for me. Thank you for giving me a chance with this book.

I read this over the summer, but I had been so falling so behind in my reviews!
First of all, the connection between twins has always been interesting to me, and this book was one of those I-can't-put-this-down- leave-me-alone-so-I-can-read. I had the pleasure of reading Sarah and I loved it, as I loved this one too. I was even given the opportunity to interview Teri Polen and she was wonderful and I'm glad she's trying new genres and look forward to her next adventure.

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for release of this copy for review!

This book was so good!

It is told in POV's of the brothers and it is both present day and flashbacks. Bringing us to the cataclysmic of Simon's disappearance and continuing with essentially a sci-fi thriller as Evan starts up his own search for Simon having given up with the PI's lack of progress. As the backdrop to it all is Scientific Innovations, an apparent overlord covering everything from cure development and food growth to the ability of Bending - to enter peoples minds and banish nightmares or help them make lost connections, Evan has a natural ability with this role created by years of honing his skills with the mental link between he and Simon - a link initially thought to be just that of twins but ultimately so much more. Scientific Innovations is place where it sometimes seems very little is held to account in the pursuit of its aims, with much more going on than there seems. Evan's search becomes very cat and mouse at times and it's heartbreaking to see not only him but also others reach their breaking points to try and put things right.

I dove into this book and loved it!

Evan and Simon might share an unusually strong bond, but that doesn't mean their relationship is without its bumps. Getting to hear the story from both sides of the brotherly connection, it's interesting to see the differences between them. I love the idea of bending, being able to get inside people's minds to unlock memories or relieve nightmares. Will definitely have you on the edge of your seat!