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Zoe Hana Mikuta

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Gearbreakers Kindle Edition

by Zoe Hana Mikuta (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 533 ratings

Book 1 of 2: Gearbreakers

Editors' pick Best Science Fiction & Fantasy

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Two girls on opposite sides of a war discover they're fighting for a common purpose—and falling for each other—in Zoe Hana Mikuta's high-octane debut Gearbreakers, perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown's Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu's Legend series.

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

The shadow of Godolia's tyrannical rule is spreading, aided by their giant mechanized weapons known as Windups. War and oppression are everyday constants for the people of the Badlands, who live under the thumb of their cruel Godolia overlords.

Eris Shindanai is a Gearbreaker, a brash young rebel who specializes in taking down Windups from the inside. 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...

Praise for Gearbreakers:

"An absolute joyride ... Zoe Hana Mikuta is a talent to be in awe of." —Chloe Gong, New York Times-bestselling author of These Violent Delights

"Dark, fierce, thrilling, and tender, Gearbreakers will make your blood sing." —Nina Varela, author of Crier's War

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Gearbreakers:

"An absolute joyride of a story set in a vivid, arresting world. Gearbreakers is sci-fi at its very finest, combining the grandeur of mecha fighting machines with the intimacy of (splendidly feral) found family. Zoe Hana Mikuta is a talent to be in awe of." ―Chloe Gong, New York Times-bestselling author of These Violent Delights

"Dark, fierce, thrilling, and tender, Gearbreakers will make your blood sing. Set in a ruthless, vividly imagined world against the scope of gods and sword-fighting mechas and a crushing war, Zoe Hana Mikuta deftly balances the brutal with the hopeful. An electric heart beats on every page of this breathlessly paced cyberpunk adventure." ―Nina Varela, author of Crier's War

"An intense sci-fi adventure with heart, hard choices, and found family ... Delivered through propulsive prose and immersive worldbuilding, Gearbreakers is twisty, ominous, and high-octane. ... Glitteringly cinematic." ―Tor.com

"Even more entertaining than a big summer blockbuster." ―PopSugar

"A brutal and commanding debut ... Mikuta has delivered an extraordinary novel that perfectly balances high-octane action with intimate character development and tender hope." ―Vulture

"Zoe Hana Mikuta’s Gearbreakers will ruin your life and I mean that in the best way possible. ... Will blow your mind." ―Culturess

"Like Pacific Rim, Gearbreakers brings a sense of the poetic to the action-driven proceedings. In the case of Pacific Rim, the poetry was in the visuals, while in Gearbreakers, it manifests in the musicality of the language. Debut author Zoe Hana Mikuta has a way with words, and it will be exciting to see how her voice develops over time." ―NPR

"Frantic, bordering on chaotic, fight scenes deftly convey the world’s reality, wherein second-guessing guarantees death. ... Quippy exchanges among the inclusive cast bring a levity that balances their grim realities, and the cliffhanger ending of this action-packed series starter suggests that a deeper political conspiracy will unfold in the sequel." ―Publishers Weekly

"Mechas, a fight against tyranny, and a sapphic love story―these elements combine to make an absolutely thrilling cyberpunk story." ―Alex, bookseller at Browseabout Books (Rehoboth Beach, DE)

About the Author

Zoe Hana Mikuta currently attends the University of Washington in Seattle, studying English with a creative writing focus. She grew up in Boulder, Colorado, where she developed a deep love of Muay Thai kickboxing and nurtured a slow and steady infatuation for fictional worlds. When she is not writing, Zoe can be found embroidering runes onto her jean pockets, studying tarot or herbology, or curled up with a cup of caramel coffee and a good, bloody but heartwarming book. She is the author of the Gearbreakers duology (Gearbreakers and Godslayers).

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08B569JK1
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Feiwel & Friends (June 29, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 29, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3127 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 408 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #27,689 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 533 ratings

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Zoe Hana Mikuta currently attends the University of Washington in Seattle, studying English with a creative writing focus. She grew up in Boulder, Colorado, where she developed a deep love of Muay Thai kickboxing and nurtured a slow and steady infatuation for fictional worlds. When she is not writing, Zoe can be found embroidering runes onto her jean pockets, studying tarot or herbology, or curled up with a cup of caramel coffee and a good, bloody but heartwarming book. Gearbreakers is her debut novel.

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4.4 out of 5

533 global ratings

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Jennifer C.

Action-packed!

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2022

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Sona has been trained by Godolia for years to be a pilot, the final step being undergoing surgery to convert her body to one that can sync with a Valkyrie Windup, but she has kept hidden her true goal the entire time: to take down the ones responsible for the destruction of her home.

Eris has been with the rebels for years and has become a notorious Gearbreaker, one known only by her codename, Eris, when she is captured by Godolia and taken back to the Windup base as a prisoner to break or torture.

Those these two women don't realize it when they first meet, they will become one of the biggest thorns in Godolia's side as they seek to bring them down and end the oppression of their reign once and for all.

Ho-ly CRAP! This book was amazing. Almost from the very beginning, the plot was off and running, with very few opportunities for a breath. Told using a dual-POV, we are provided the opportunity to get to know both of our heroines while also seeing how they each view the world. And, let me tell you, as much as they have nearly identical goals from the beginning, their introduction does not go well. Nor, once they decide to play nice with each other, does Sona's introduction to the rest of the Gearbreakers.

Honestly, I don't think I ever really thought that Sona was safe while with the Gearbreakers, as there always seemed to be someone trying to kill her for all kinds of reasons - some good if annoying and others just plain dumb.

Though we don't spend much time in Godolia with the other pilots, it is long enough to get to know them, and I appreciated their character development. Though not as well-fleshed out as the other Gearbreakers, they were not stereotypes, which was nice to see.

The other Gearbreakers certainly had more focus in their character development, and I found Xander quickly becoming my favorite despite the fact that he didn't speak. I will admit to beginning to get annoyed with Milo, but that was (of course) the point of his behaviors.

The various battles described were really good, and it wasn't always immediately clear who would win and who might end up injured. Then we get to that ending and OH. MY. GOD!!!! Zoe Hana Mikuta - I have questions! Let me say that it's a good thing Godslayers has already been published because if I had had to wait for it after that ending... Well, I'm glad I don't. Know I'm not going to tell you what happens. Just know that it is awesome. It is big. It will leave you near speechless. And you may find yourself wanting to throw something at the wall. Or maybe that's just me. Either way, if I hadn't already been loving the book, the ending would have sold the rest of the book for me.

I went back and forth between reading and listening to the audiobook for this one. The audiobook, narrated by Catharine Ho and Cindy Kay, was really good. Having the dual narrators helped make it really easy to identify which POV a chapter was, and though the voices used for the other characters were slightly different for each narrator, it was still easy to tell who was who in the story. As much as I enjoyed when I was listening, I will definitely try to get a copy of the audiobook for Godslayers, so I can listen to them.

If you like mechas and giant mecha battles, underdog stories, crazy teammates, murder attempts, f/f romance, and, oh, did I mention the crazy teammates? Anyway, if those things sound fun to you, then you definitely need to pick up a copy of this book and read it. Of course, as soon as you do, you'll also need to read Godslayers, so be prepared for that.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Gearbreakers. An enjoyable read that wastes it's potential

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2022

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As a debut novel, Mikuta's Gearbreakers is a good work. The characters were enjoyable, the relationship is decent (something Young Adult novels often bungle I find), and overall, I enjoyed the time reading this book. If you're in the market for a sapphic young adult novel, then I recommend picking this up and seeing if you enjoy it too.

However, to warn a bit, I do think the book wastes a lot of this potential. The author had too strong of a habit of introducing potentially interesting story ideas and dynamics only to be rid of them in a matter of a couple chapters. This happens far more with Bellasona's storyline rather than Eris's, but there are a couple more times throughout the novel she does the same. Introduce an interesting idea that can cause suspense or tension only to end up dropping it or resolving it fairly quickly. To a degree, I can also see how this would come off as the author not having a clear plan through her story.

I also found that the fight scenes were a bit hard to follow and the evil empire is little too cliche, feeling like they're just evil because the author needs them to be evil.

My last major point against the book is that the author doesn't quite capture the scale or power of these 80ft mechas well enough that they ever truly feel like "god made material" as they're often likened to in-universe. At one point, one of the main characters, Eris, stops the blast from the main gun of one of these mechas with a pair of cryo-gloves when, in reality, scale alone makes that hard to fathom how a pair of gloves that can fit on a 16 year old girl would also stop the fiery blast from an 80ft mecha specialized to shoot fire. Another time, the team is ambushed in a junkyard with none of their gear or these gloves by a mecha wandering upon them while they're just kind of scavenging, and despite being off-guard and without any of their standard equipment, it felt like they took it out without any real difficulty from the mech itself (all injuries sustained by interior guards to keep them from sabotaging the mech).

In any case, as said before, there are problems, but as a debut novel, I think it's a good, enjoyable book that I wouldn't mind going back to. And if there is nowhere to go but up for Mikuta, I'm sure Godslayers will hammer out some of these issues for me.

4 people found this helpful

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Ryan Pond

Chock full of well-placed twists and turns

Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2023

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The story hits on all of the highs and lows you would expect, and touches on just about every emotion across the spectrum.

It's set in a dystopian world that's not completely devoid of Hope, but it's not full of it either. It exists in this great middle ground where you feel like it could break either way.

The primary characters are very well developed and defined, and it has a great supporting cast however I do wish there was a little more time and definition spent on them.

The first line of this novel is absolutely riveting and had me hooked from the beginning, and every time that I thought I understood what it meant and where it was all headed, there was a new turn in the story to keep me that much more and grossed.

Reading this was time well spent and I can't wait to move on to Godslayers, a title that makes complete sense by the end of Gearbreakers.

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Duda

I don’t want to hurt this author, but

Reviewed in Brazil on May 10, 2022

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Hard to swallow. It has a style of writing that I don’t particularly enjoy and it was really hard to read it entirely. Doesn’t have a satisfying romance or war plot. The last chapters were supposed to be critical for the story, but instead it felt dull and sometimes rushed. The characters personalities seemed forced and shallow, their deaths and/or suffering didn’t mean anything to me and I couldn’t sympathize with any of them at all. The world building tries to be detailed but, in reality, the pieces seemed patched together and not actually planned out. What bothered me the most was the confusing and dull explanations of feelings and events instead of showing me and making me actually feel that. Some parts were salvageable and I actually got some good laughs. My favorite line was in page 361: “You do not get to love someone and think they won’t feel it”

3 people found this helpful

Leanne

a good book

Reviewed in Canada on December 9, 2021

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I really liked this book. It was such an interesting concept and I adored all of the characters and the plot twists and the little bit of gayness. Would reccomend it if you want an engrossing read!

Aksu

My New favourite book

Reviewed in Germany on January 15, 2024

Verified Purchase

This kind of read like a fanfiction in the best way possible. Very likable characters, fast paced and action packed everything I love in a book!

Ella

I. LOVE. THIS.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 16, 2022

Verified Purchase

The way Sona and Eris are going to absolutely serve enemies-to-friends-to-lovers-to-memory-loss-to-enemies-to-lovers. I am so excited for the angst of that whole dynamic in Godslayers