5/5 Stars

I had extremely high expectations coming into this, and I was not let down. The writing truly displays sci-fi and the found family trope at its finest and I was left in awe once I finished reading. Zoe Hana Mikuta has created a stunning debut that is an emotional, captivating, and incredibly fun read. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to survive without the second book in my life, but I can’t wait to see what Mikuta has in store!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review

Gearbreakers follows Sona and Eris. Sona is a pilot of a giant mecha weapon called a Windup. She's secretly working on the inside to destroy Godolia and put an end to its tyrannical reign. Eris is a Gearbreaker, skilled in taking down Windups from the outside. One day, Eris is put into a Godolia prison, where she meets Sona.

This book is amazing. With amazing characters, writing, and pacing, every element of this book works together to bring you a masterpiece.

I found the writing to be the highlight of this book for me. With immersive battle scenes, great commentary, and skillful descriptions, this book is brought to life. I am not kidding when I say I fell in love with the writing after the first page.

The characters were perfect with funny and realistic interactions. A lot of the characters do play into a stereotype, but I think it works in their favor. They are all loveable and have amazing relationships with one another. The bond between Sona and Eris was perfect and I wouldn't change it in any way.

If you think the premise is interesting, the book is infinitely better. It shifted gears halfway through which I thought was a really awesome choice. All of the minor plot points ended up making the ending that much better. Speaking of which, the book has a jaw-dropping end that you can not be disappointed by.

Overall, Gearbreakers is an amazing book that I would absolutely recommend.

The pitch said this book is perfect for fans of Marie Lu's Legend series and hell yeah, I did enjoy this amazing PUNK-SFF debut from Zoe Hana Mikuta.

The worldbuilding is unique in my honest opinion but I can also say, draws inspiration from Madmax and the characters' flaws are centered all throughout the storyline.

Waiting for my physical copy to arrive so I can relive the moments.

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING OMG. Still in shock about how much I loved this so FRTC but this was a PHENOMENAL debut and I’m so excited to see more of Mikuta’s work in the future

it is the sensation of a blanket being drawn around your shoulders, fuzzy with comfort and the faint scenes of memories you can't quite remember flickering through your mind. it is the innate sense of family, not bound by blood, but bound by love, and the warm rush of happiness you receive that comes with both tender care and acceptance.

it is the sound of twigs in a forest snapping under your foot, sensing the vibrations of nearby mechas towering high above your head, and the electrifying relationship two girls have with each other. gearbreakers is all of this, and so much more.

gearbreakers shattered my soul and then managed to stitch it together again. it's a book that i felt so seen in and now takes a special place in my heart reserved just for it. every single thing was pulled together in such a perfect way, and it felt as if everything was as it seemed.

the characters by far were the best part. the chaotic found family, the sapphics, and the villains--all of them painted a wonderful morally grey--made this reading experience so immersive.

sora is a cybernetically enhanced pilot who commands a mecha, one of the few survivors of a past tragic disaster. she submits to the government of godolia, but secretly wants to bring it all down. eris is a gearbreaker, part of a rebel crew that takes down mechas from the inside. she is brash, vengeful, and cunning, and i loved her for it.

although the beginning was a bit slow for my taste, i was thoroughly invested once the pace started to pick up. mikuta's writing is descriptive, but not overly so, and is entwined with a certain lethalness that complements this steampunk world.

overall, i enjoyed this more than i expected, and will eagerly be anticipating the release of the next book!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan/Feiwel and Friends for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was drawn to this book from the premise, but the writing style was not quite for me. Although I appreciated the quick back and forth dialogue between characters, and it definitely helped move the story along, there were times I felt we lingered in the POV characters' heads for too long and it didn't feel natural (as in, it helped give exposition, but feels like something the characters wouldn't be thinking about, given their experiences at that point in the story).

Mikuta's writing is vivid and packs a punch, but there were also many times that the prose became flowery in excess.

Overall, Mikuta's writing is solid, but it didn't hit in the way I thought it might. I'm still looking forward to seeing how Mikuta grows as a writer, and I will most likely pick up her future works.

oh my GOODNESS!!

This book has been so hyped up lately, and I was thrilled to receive the arc for it. I am so SO glad that I did, but also sad that I can't talk about it with anyone!!

Zoe has such a way with words, and characters, and relationships. This book FLEW by, and this is some of the best pacing I have ever read.

The action, the relationships, the angst, AH! The ending was also incredible, and thrilling, and leaves me waiting to see what the author writes next!

Enemies to possibility, romance, and rebellion - Gearbreakers has it all. While the start was pretty rocky - in terms of all the world construction and getting to know the POVs - I quickly became obsessed. At the beginning, it's just difficult to get a handle on the technology, the differences and the intricacies of Eris and Sona. Conceptually, cyborgs and SF worlds will always get to my heart. So I was overjoyed when it became a bit clearer and I was able to focus on the story and the characters.

Gearbreakers blooms into a story about found family, rebellion, and loyalty. For fans of Skyhunter, Gearbreakers has to be the best reading companion! I loved the side characters, the ways they're all reeling from the effects of the rebellion, the days they spend running for their lives, and the nights haunted by loss. The ways we fear the symbols of death, oppression, and loss, but they're just made of metal. Gearbreakers examines the different avenues of rebellion. Of commitment and what we are willing to lose.

- Wow, what a ride GEARBREAKERS is! It's the slow burn sapphic mecha pilot burn the world down story I didn't know I needed.
- The battle scenes in this book are AWESOME. I was on the edge of my seat every time.
- I do think there were maybe a few too many characters in the crew to keep track of, and I wanted a bit more worldbuilding, but I'm hoping that all comes in the sequel. I'm following Eris and Sona through to the (probably bitter) end.

Gearbreakers is the grungy sapphic thrill ride I never knew was missing from my life. I was entertained start to finish. The action drew me in, but the characters sealed the deal.

You can expect:
- feral murder babies in a delightfully dysfunctional found family
- Lots of badass giant mech fights
- Humans with cyborg-esque body modifications
- Tough girls who get shit done and are soft only for each other
- Action-packed tactical sequences
- THE YEARNING

I could go on and on about how fantastic this world and its characters are, but one of the greatest highlights of this book is purely Mikuta’s writing. I literally can’t handle that this is only her debut. The writing flows so beautifully and is so poetic. Mikuta writes in a way that evokes so much emotion, so many tiny snippets of familiarity that you can’t help being fully immersed in whatever she’s describing. I loved everything about this story, but the writing is so good that I’d come back to this author’s future work even if I didn’t. It’s a serious treat to experience.

So pleased that we are being blessed with this book during Pride Month. A true win for us all.

I already can’t wait to read this again!



Extra special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

CW- death, murder, violence, torture, body horror, kidnapping
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Gearkbreakers is a sci-fi story that follows two girls that are on opposite sides of the war as they realize that they have a common goal.
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This book was WONDERFUL. It is truly pure sapphic goodness, and I loved every second of it. The way everything was interwoven together was truly amazing.
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One of my favorite parts of this entire book was the found family. That is one of my all time favorite tropes, and it was done so well here. Each character had a distinctive personality and different relationships with each other and it was just all so well thought out.
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I cannot wait for the sequel to come out! I would recommend this to fans that enjoyed Six of Crows and the sci-fi aspect of The Ones We’re Meant to Find.
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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillian Children's Publishing Group for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book blew me away. It is marketed as a cyberpunk sapphic sci-fi novel and it was exactly that. I absolutely loved this book. The found family is this book was so amazing. There is queer Korean rep in this book and i've never felt so seen in a book. This book was phenomenal. THE ENDING. I need the next book NOW please.

Gearbreakers was one of my most anticipated releases for 2021, and also one of the highest on my TBR, so I was beyond excited when I got an ARC! I mean, pitched as a sapphic enemies-to-lovers, filled with mechas, robots, angst, pining, angry queer girls, and found family, who wouldn’t want to pick this book up? Although it had a slightly unsteady start, after around the 30-35% mark, the pacing, and tone of writing dramatically changed – leading Gearbreakers to be a new favourite!

Thank you so much to Macmillan International for providing me with a copy of ‘Gearbreakers’ in exchange for an honest review! This did not affect my opinion in any way. All quotes are from an advance copy and may differ in final publication.

"Godolia, like a mouth in the desert, breathing in its age. In comes the world. Out come its Gods."

I don’t think I’ve ever read a story like Gearbreakers before. With a unique plot, setting, and storyline, I think it just brought something fresh. Even though it was so different, it was never too hard to understand, and I found myself immersed in the story within the first few chapters. Because this story was so distinctive, I found myself longing to know what happened next! I feel like it would have been so easy for this story to become cliché or overly-trope-y and I find it admirable that it managed to stay original throughout.

The writing was fueled by emotion, and the word choice really helped increase the intensity and fervour of conversations between the characters. There was so much rage, and fury when these characters were fighting for the things and people they loved, and after around the 20% mark, Zoe Hana Mikuta’s beautiful prose helped accentuate, and enhance that.

As I mentioned earlier, this story followed a really unique concept, which also meant there was a really distinctive world. Even though I had absolutely no background knowledge about Godolia, or the hierarchies and systems, this book was written in such a way that by the time I’d read a few pages, I knew all about the setting. There was also no info-dumping at all, and I was never confused at any point in time, which is something I loved. The worldbuilding was atmospheric, descriptive, and helped increase the stakes, and severity of plot twists.

"We went past praying to deities and started to build them instead..."

Gearbreakers was like the perfect pitch for a novel. When I first heard that it would have found family, Asian representation, enemies-to-lovers, angry queer girls, angst, pining, tattooing as a form of affection, mechas, and swordfights, I both, wanted to read it ASAP, and was also scared it wouldn’t live up to all the high expectations I had. I was lucky enough to be able to read it before its release date – and luckily, it lived up to almost all of my expectations as well. Along with all of the above, and everything it initially promised, Gearbreakers also had sister dynamics that made me feel SOFT. No, these dynamics weren’t a main part of the story, but through all the interactions between Eris and Jenny, you could see how protective Jenny was of Eris, even though she tried not to show it, and seeing that dynamic was so heartwarming!

Morally grey, complex characters are my favourite, and Gearbreakers was full of them. Although I wouldn’t necessarily call both of the main characters in this book morally grey, both of them were certainly very complex. It was so interesting to see how their past experiences, and the differences in the way they were brought up affected the decisions they currently made. I loved the banter, and both the conversation and dialogue felt so natural!

There were also a LOT of action-packed scenes full of fights, and strategy, mechas and violence, which I found really fun. These fast-paced chapters highly contrasted with the more intimate ones that only featured the crew, and because it was balanced so well, I flew through the novel. Seeing how the character personalities varied from when they were alone, or with people they trusted, versus in the battle field just added a layer of depth to the story.

As I mentioned earlier, the start to Gearbreakers was slightly uneven. The writing felt messy during the first 20% and the story only fell into complete rhythm by the 30% mark. Although, yes, this may seem like a while – I was emotionally invested in the characters and their stories, and to be honest, the entire story after that was completely worth the wait.

"To the reckless, lovestruck kids. (The former may be lethal, but the latter makes it worth it.)"

Overall, although it had a slightly rocky start, Gearbreakers was full of unexpected twists, surprises, and was an action-packed story that kept me gripping the edge of my seat in anticipation throughout. This book was one of my most anticipated for 2021, and let me just say, it did NOT disappoint. Filled with mechas, giant machines, angry queer girls, morally grey characters, enemies-to-lovers, and set in a futuristic society with loads of political tension, Gearbreakers was the science fiction of my dreams.

I wanted to like this one; I really did. The concept sounded great. But on starting, I found it overwritten; full of details that seemed there mainly to show that the author can craft long and flowery sentences (even if they're flowery sentences about giant robots). There are far too many sentences where there are metaphors and similes just to show that the author knows what they are.

I found the plot similar -- it's full of dramatic confrontations and reveals, but it felt like they were there mainly to be DRAMATIC. -- right up and including the fairly unsatisfying cliffhanger ending.

This will probably still work for some people who are in it purely for the aesthetics of giant robots in a post-apocalyptic setting. But it didn't work for me.

Woah.

Gearbreakers was one of my most anticipated reads of this year and it did not disappoint. This is definitely my new favorite Sci-Fi book. The worldbuilding was so detailed (it was a bit confusing at times, but I understood what was happening) and the dynamic between the two main characters was amazing. Sona's character was perfect. The way she handled situations made me like her even more. The fact that Sona and Eris were always by each others sides when anything happened omg I'm in love with this.

I'd love to see more of Eris's crew (found family is my favorite thing ever). Everyone seemed so interesting and I need to see more of them!!!

THE ENDING. WHAT WAS THAT FOR? I neeeeddd another book right now. Anyways, such a good read and I definitely recommend everyone go get it when it comes out!!!

Thank you to the publisher for approving my ARC!

Let's talk about the good first:
1. The writing was really good. It was fun, fast-paced and easy to read. I was almost immediately sucked into the world and story.
2. The world building was amazing!!! It felt like a mix of Renegades by Marissa Meyer and Mad Max Fury Road.
3. I did really like the characters, they were easy to root for and had some really great dialogue moments between some of the Gearbreakers.

Let's discuss some criticisms:
1. While I liked Sona and Eris, I also felt like they were SO similar (which may have been intentional) but I still found it difficult to switch perspectives because their voices sounded so similar. Despite their names being at the chapter head I still felt a bit confused at times when switching POV.
2. It was difficult to feel the stakes were high in this world, I wish there was a little more in the beginning about how Godolia is evil, and what it's like to live in the Badlands (I know we got a bit of this when seeing Sona's backstory and Eris's life but IMO it wasn't enough)

Overall, this was a solid book. I would def recommend to a friend who enjoys dystopian/sci fi young adult books.

Gearbreakers
by Zoe Hana Mikuta
Macmillan Children's Publishing Group

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this entertaining book!

I really enjoyed the premise of the story! Giant machines with humans that are cyber-enhanced that plug into these great machines and become one. They then destroy any enemies, which is anyone that is against the very controlling government. To become one of these pilots is full of pain and possibly death. Very cruel training from an early age.

The resistance fighters know a trick to bring down the giant machines and that is to jam up the gears in the middle of it. There is a couple of guards in the middle but no one expects them to get that far. That's why they're called Gearbeakers.

One pilot went through all this training to turn against the government. She helps a gearbreaker escape. But can they trust each other? Love is in the air despite the distrust from others.

This is where I found the book went downhill. It was then all about teenage love angst. The last half the book was more about romantic feelings than action, butt kicking, machine action! I know it's a teen book but there are giant machines! Lets get busy not kiss face!

It's a LGBT book so if this offends you well don't pick it up!
I found it entertaining and loved the action packed scenes. Teens will like both, action and romance, lol! I am just not into romance books. Definitely an author to watch!

(2.5, rounded down)

I had extremely high expectations going into this book, but I was both let down and underwhelmed after reading. I had a lot of problems with this book across the board, which I'll address later in my review. My biggest problem by far was the plot, or lack there of. The premise of this book is really interesting, but the execution was poor. The plot was clearly not thought out, and the story seemed stagnant to say the least as a result. Additionally, the worldbuilding gave the readers very little to go on, especially with such an extensive dystopia featured.

I also took issue with the overall romance in the book. The main character was in a previously established relationship with a man, but clearly cheated emotionally with the other main character. When talking to some bisexual friends, they felt like this fell into negative stereotypes of bisexual people, women especially so. And for a book so widely promoted as a women loving women romance, it left much to be desired in that category. There was so little basis in the relationship that I almost didn't want them together. I'm not even sure this book qualifies as sapphic relationship period.

It seemed like this book was going for the ever popular found family trope but left the side characters so underdeveloped that it fell flat. The side characters' only traits were being crazy jokesters but it was so painfully overdone that I wanted to throw my phone across the room. This book redid the same two jokes every other page, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. The dialogue felt like it was constantly reusing the same practiced comebacks that made me want to slam my head into the wall.

Overall, the plot was non-existent, the worldbuilding made no sense, and the characters were so painfully annoying that even they couldn't save it. I realize now how mean this review sounds, but I was genuinely so excited to read this book and had my expectations shattered.

The premise of the book is really good, so I hope the author is able to improve in the second book. I am actually curious to see how they work with the ending, because it was very underwhelming while still being insanely dramatic.

this book was enjoyable and i believe many will love it, but there were a few things i was disappointed by.

the plot was unique and exciting, but it was also very confusing in many parts. it took a really long time until i was able to understand what was happening.

also, sometimes i would get confused on whose chapter i was reading, but it wasn’t a major issue. despite these, there was a lot i enjoyed!

i loved reading eris and sona’s interactions! the characters were very lovable and easy to root for. the found family aspect was great as well!!

while i this book wasn’t all i hoped it would be, it still has a lot of amazing aspects that i think i’m many will enjoy!

Thank you so much to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What an amazing debut from Zoe Hana Mikuta! Gearbreakers was a brilliant sci-fi novel filled with show-stopping action sequences and scenes between amazing characters that kept tugging at my heartstrings. The diversity and representation in this book was phenomenal and I truly think every sci-fi lover should read this book. 4.5 stars from me!

Gearbreakers is set in a world under Godolia’s tyrannical rule, aided by giant mechas (essentially giant mechanized weapons) known as Windups. Those who live in the Badlands constantly face war and oppression instigated from the cruel Godolia overlords. Eris Shindanai is a young rebel who specializes in taking down Windups from the inside, known as a Gearbreaker. 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.

The characters in this book were so unique and I was so invested in learning about their backstories and motivations. At first, it was hard to keep track of each character’s role, as there is an ensemble of side characters surrounding Eris and Sona, but soon it became clear that each character has a distinct drive and purpose in this war, which made them so interesting to follow. I personally loved Sona’s character development. She’s super cheeky and I loved all her little comments towards Eris and her friends. Seeing her struggle with wanting to feel human while also being a cybernetically enhanced Pilot was also heart-wrenching and I wish I could reach through the pages to give her a hug. I felt so bad for her towards the end of the book as the cliffhanger was set in place and I’m hoping everything works out for her and Eris in Book 2! Overall, the tension between Sona and Eris was so good. I was at the edge of my seat for every longing thought, and look,and touch between them.

I think my favorite aspect about this book was the action sequences. This book is ACTION-PACKED. I’m a huge fan of Pacific Rim and honestly any robot movie and reading Gearbreakers literally made me feel like I was thrust into the middle of the battles depicted on page. They were so vividly described that I could feel my heart skipping beats during every action scene. There’s also nothing I love more than found-family and seeing these group of characters take down these 200ft mechas was so incredibly cool. The futuristic world that Zoe Hana Mikuta builds in Gearbreakers is every sci-fi lover’s dream and I would do nothing more than to see this book be played out on the big screen.

I highly recommend picking up a copy of Gearbreakers when it hits shelves on June 29 or pre-ordering it now!