5 STARS

What did I just read. Gearbreakers is everything I could have wanted in a book. After that ending, I don't know how I'm going to be able to wait for book 2.

"So what do you say, Sona? Wanna be an inconvenience with me?"

Gearbreakers takes place in Godolia—a high-tech location of tyrannical rule that uses mechas to aid in their power. Told from the point of view of two young girls, both on opposite sides of the war, Gearbreakers allows the story to unfold in such a spectacular and amazing way. When Sona, a Windup pilot, encounters Eris, they discover that they are both secretly fighting for the same side.

"And you . . . you are ridiculous, and chaotic, and arrogant, and a headache, and—and—" Her hands lift from her sides, unfurl helplessly. And then she's laughing. "You are going to kill me one day, Eris Shindanai, I have never been surer of anything."

Gearbreakers is somehow the most violent and terrifying book while also being the fluffiest and wholesome book ever. I love it so much. The found family in Gearbreakers was one of my favorite parts—especially all of the banter and the dynamic between the Gearbreakers. I love seeing a half-asian character in a sf/f book written by an actual half-asian author. It makes me feel so represented to see a queer and wasian character in this book. Reading this book feels both like a warm hug and a stab in the gut. I cannot wait any longer for the next book.

What an incredible read! Eris & Sona will live in my mind rent free. The machines were incredible, the Gearbreakers were impressive, the friendship and family was so beautiful. This was such a good read full of found family, adventure, love and twists! I can’t wait for the sequel!!

The dystopian setting of the book was very interesting! I really enjoyed the dynamic that Eris had with her crew. I am not not sure if this is a standalone or not but I am really hoping the author is able to continue the story.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our library collection and recommended it to students.

Big points for being a mecha story. And it doesn't shy away from kids being forced to do horrible things, which is, well, not integral to mecha stories, but at least a common theme in many of them. And bonus points for queer content.

I do have to say that I frequently felt like I didn't quite get what was going on. I felt like the characters were speaking on a wavelength I wasn't privy to. Like if you want into a room and everyone has all these injokes that you don't get, so you can't quite communicate with them. And you'd think that one of the characters being introduced into this family/community of Gearbreakers would help you, the reader, to better understand them. But she seems to understand them already and then starts talking like them.

Which is to say, I understood this book better in the beginning. And it seemed like I understood it less and less as time went on.

It also seemed more violent than Hunger Games, somehow!

I probably won't be reading the next book in the series, but I'm glad this book exists. I'm sure there are right readers for it out there.

Yesss. Everything about this book was absolutely impeccable. I'm obsessed. From the absolutely exquisite writing to the plot and characters and love story. I can't wait for the next book and everything else Zoe Hana Mikuta writes.

Disclaimer: I got this book in exchange for an honest review.

This review will be up on Pop-Culturalist.com on June 29th. I'm not going to discuss any spoilers in this one, because it will be on the review. This book is ideal for fans of Pacific Rim, Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu's Legend series. Two, young girls are on different sides during a war but they realize they are fighting for the same cause and they start to fall in love. I loved reading about Eris more than Sona and I enjoyed this overall!

Perfect for YA fans of sci-fi/fantasy, Gearbreakers is a fresh and fun book that will please a wide variety of YA readers. Zoe Hana Mikuta has created a twisty plot with solid works-building that will engage readers and have them turning page after page.

Eris is a Gearbreaker who takes down Windups. Sona is a cybernetically enhanced Windup pilot. They’re supposed to be on opposite sides of the war, but they’re fighting for a common purpose. They also start to fall for one another.

It’s seriously my favorite book that I’ve read within the past year at least. I’ve already started recommending it to people, and I’m now following the author on social media to be sure I know when #2 is in the works. So good!

There are also some lovely friendships, and readers can look forward to the tech-savvy Jenny, Eris’ sister. Hand this one to fans of Hunger Games, Marie Lu, Divergent, and the like. Fun, science fiction novel with a wlw romance. I’m so excited for others to read this one, and I look forward to the sequel once that is available. Be prepared to be left with a cliffhanger.

I went into this book with my hopes and expectations incredibly high. And somehow...it managed to exceed them.

Here is a list of out of context reasons I loved it because I still can't form coherent thoughts:

- CHARACTERS. Messy, witty, beautiful characters.
- Found family!!
- Sapphics that tattoo and flirt at the same time.
- CYBERPUNK SAPPHICS DID I MENTION
- Slow-burn enemies to allies to…
- Badass !! action !! scenes!!!
- the fuck you but i love?? you dynamic
- WOMEN

EArc provided by Netgalley and Macmillan publishing in exchange for honest review.

There was a lot of cheesy dialogue that was similar between the two main characters. Things like "You don't have my permission to die today." A lot of it felt forced and hard to take seriously.

The beginning didn't flow well for me, making it hard to stay interested. I feel more explanation could be given about this world and what's going on. The dual perspectives in the beginning don't add much for me other than more to be left wondering about.

I came really close to not finishing this at all. It was a struggle just to get to 30%. I ended up mostly skimming the rest of the book to see if it would catch me.

Thank you very much Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am SO happy to have received this ARC and happy to report that I LOVED this book, one of my most anticipated book releases of 2021. It has everything I could ever want: a sci-fi setting that has the vibes of Pacific Rim, a found family aspect a-la Firefly, and two girls falling in love.
This book is YA but it does NOT shy away from anything, especially not the horrors of war. There are very bloody and violent scenes. These characters are ruthless - I've seen them described as feral, which I agree with. But you love them all the same.

The amazing writing pulled me in from the very first chapter, and the two perspectives of Sona and Eris were each written very differently, so the two characters felt like they had very different personalities from the start. I feel like sometimes dual POVs tend to sound the same, but this book masterfully differentiates from them. All the characters in this book feel lifelike.

My only complaint is that it could get a little bit info-dumpy at times; there was a passage at the beginning that info-dumped about a war, which I feel could have been conveyed to the reader just by weaving it into the story and character's conversations. Despite this, Gearbreakers was an incredibly impressive debut novel, and I can't wait to read more by Zoe Hana Mikuta.

Two girls on opposite sides of a war discover they're fighting for a common purpose--and falling for each other

I went into this book with my hopes and expectations incredibly high. And somehow, still it managed to exceed them. Here is a list of out of context reasons I loved it:

CHARACTERS. Messy, witty, beautiful characters.
Found family!!
Sapphics that tattoo and flirt at the same time.
CYBERPUNK SAPPHICS DID I MENTION
Slow-burn enemies to allies to…
Brilliantly described mecha-windups
Badass action scenes!!!