Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Gemini by Sonya Mukherjee, hosted by Irish Banana Tours! Today I shall share my thoughts on the book with you, and then you can enter to win your own copy, YAY!
Gemini by Sonya Mukherjee Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on July 26th 2016
Pages: 336
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley
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In a powerful and daring debut novel, Sonya Mukherjee shares the story of sisters Clara and Hailey, conjoined twins who are learning what it means to be truly extraordinary.
Seventeen-year-old conjoined twins Clara and Hailey have lived in the same small town their entire lives—no one stares at them anymore. But there are cracks in their quiet existence, and they’re slowly becoming more apparent. Clara and Hailey are at a crossroads. Clara wants to stay close to home, avoid all attention, and study the night sky. Hailey wants to travel the world, learn from great artists, and dance with mysterious boys. As high school graduation approaches, each twin must untangle her dreams from her sister’s, and figure out what it means to be her own person.
Told in alternating perspectives, this unconventional coming-of-age tale shows how dreams can break your heart—but the love between sisters can mend it.
True story, conjoined twins are something I enjoy reading about a lot. There are such a finite number of people on earth who can ever understand what it is like sharing a body with another human being, and I find it incredibly impressive when authors manage to get into this headspace. Obviously I can’t say for sure, but Sonya’s portrayal of both girls felt incredibly authentic.
I really enjoyed both Clara and Hailey as characters. Sure, they were sisters and had stuff in common, but they were also definitely their own people- in a realistic way. They were, aside from being conjoined, teenaged girls who faced a lot of the same decisions and apprehensions that every other teen faces. Yes, their struggles were amplified by the fact that they shared one body. But the heart of the story was really all about two young women trying to find their places in the world, making plans for their futures, and the apprehension and worry that often accompanies it.
Clearly, this is a very character driven book, but the girls are so relatable that it works well. We get to see the girls’ hopes and dreams, their relationships with each other as well as friends, family, and yes, even some boys. And while the town they’ve spent their whole lives in is completely used to their presence (there’s no awkward gawking or anything- nor is there really any special treatment, which I thought was pretty awesome), the author makes it clear that the whole world doesn’t react the same way.
My only minor qualm would probably be that I may have wanted a bit more from the ending? It wasn’t bad by any means- I just think that I was expecting a few more tugs at my heartstrings. Maybe I am just a masochist, I don’t know.
Bottom Line: I adored this story, and cared deeply for both Clara and Hailey. While I certainly can’t relate to being a conjoined twin, I can absolutely relate to them trying to figure out who they were and what they wanted to be in life, and it was a lovely journey to take!
About Sonya Mukherjee
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Week 1:7/18:YA Reads – Q&AWeek 2:
I’ve had my eye on this one for a while. Glad you enjoyed it! I’ll be impatiently waiting for it at my local library :). Great review!
I’ve been very curious about this book because I’ve never read anything about cojoined twins, but I’m also fascinated and want to know more about their lifestyles. It’s good to know that the concept was realistically explored. I especially like that they aren’t seen as weird or given special treatment. I’m curious about the ending, but I think I’m going to try to get a copy when the book releases!
Lovely review, Shannon! <3
P.S I hope you're well! I miss talking to you!
I’ve honestly never read a single book about conjoined twins before, so Gemini is definitely an intruiging read for me! I’ve seen it once or twice on social media but this is the first time I’ve actually read a review for it and realized what it’s all about. It’s definitely going to be in my TBR list. I love reading about experiences that I’m not aware of, so reading about conjoined twins might be a perfect read for me! Great review as always, Shannon!
Interesting! I’ve never read a book about conjoined twins. That would be an unusual perspective.
I’ve been hearing so much good things about this book, which fueled my excitement so much more. I love character driven books, and I haven’t read a book about conjoined twins so maybe you can imagine my enthusiasm for this, LOL. Great review! 😀
This is such an interesting book. I’ve been meaning to put it on hold, but I’m very very distracted by anime and school. OH WELL. But I definitely want to check it out now!
I’m not a twin either, but I love reading about characters who are really different than me. These sound like ones I can really care about.
I’ve never read a book about conjoined twins before but I really want to read this – it sounds amazing! Great review!
This sounds like a really interesting and emotional novel. I’m definitely going to have to give it a try. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! <3
This book sounds really interesting!
I’ve read a couple of books about conjoined twins. Still, it’s hard for me to imagine being in that situation. With the characters in this book being so different, I think it would be a huge struggle!
I recently read this one too and I loved it. I had never read a book about conjoined twins before and it was very interesting. I agree that I thought the ending would be more painful too (and yes, I am a masochist because I am kind of sad that it wasn’t more heartbreaking). I also was scared that the ending would go a certain way (you know what I mean), but I’m glad it was a bit more realistic.
Awesome review! I’ve really been wanting to read this one, and your review made me even more impatient! <3
YOU WANTED EVERYONE TO DIE HUH? WOW. I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU WOULD WANT TO WISH SUCH PAIN ON THESE POOR CHARACTERS. SHAME ON YOU
Just kidding. Totally understand what you mean about wanting a book to be more emotional. I’m glad you enjoyed this Shamom! Have you read One yet? By Sarah Crossan? This reminds me of it 😛
It’s weird to see my name as one of the book characters. Haha. But thank you for this honest review, I’m putting this onto my TBR <3
Thanks for the chance to win!
This book sounds so good – it reminds me of a musical called Side Show that I saw a long time ago. It was a fascinating story!
This sounds like an interesting story. Thanks for your review, I’m looking forward to reading it myself.
I’ve been dying to read this book for such a long time, and I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of it. I hope to get one today, but I’m a little bit more concerned with preordering my Harry Potter and the Cursed Child that I still haven’t ordered. Oops.
Anyway… I’m glad you enjoyed it! AND we have another thing in common… I love reading about conjoined twins, too. Did you ever watch that reality show about Abby and Brittany on TLC? I was obsessed with that!
I’ve read the title for the book but I never read the description so i didn’t know what it was about. Now I wish I had paid attention to it earlier. I remember when I was a kid, Discovery Channel showed on TV a documentary on conjoined twins, from the head, stomach, heart. It was so interesting to watch and learn from and now I wish I could find it to see it again. I’ll definitely be on the look out for this one. So happy you enjoyed it!
I literally just finished this and I thought it was okaaaay. Hailey kinda killed the book for me. She was enormously selfish. I learned a lot from it tbh, but some of their actions just bugged me. Glad you mostly liked it!! <3
I have seen this one around and it is definitely interesting to me, I am a twin so I feel like I could identify with it. Although we are not, nor were we ever conjoined. However, our twin connection was and still is very strong. I think I may need to read this one! Great review!
Oooh this one sounds great! I’ve been eyeing this book for a while because the cover is so beautiful! I’ve read some mixed reviews but I’ll probably still end up picking it up at some point because the other book that I’ve read about conjoined twins (One by Sarah Crossan) was amazing!
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