12 | July | 2016 | socially awkward bookworm.

Gemini by Sonya Mukherjee
4 out of 5 stars.

Goodreads Description: 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.

I was given an ARC of Gemini when I visited Kepler’s bookstore in California back in March. I was told it was written by a local author and I was given the opportunity to review it for my blog. I was so excited, because it sounded like such an interesting read and it’s something I’ve never read about before. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up Gemini, because like I said, I never read any books that had to do with conjoined twins. I am actually having a bit of trouble writing my thoughts on this book. I’m not exactly sure what to say.

I’ll start off by saying that I did enjoy this book quite a lot. I really liked Clara and Hailey. I liked Hailey a bit more than I did Clara. Hailey was a little more outgoing than Clara was. She wanted to get out into the world and do things while Clara was scared of the world it seemed and was fine living in her little small town where everyone knew who they were. That of course is understandable, because being a conjoined twin has it’s struggles and you’ll get all the stares and whispers. I felt like she was holding Hailey back a lot and that’s a tough situation since they are conjoined. I was not at all a fan of their mother, especially toward the end of the book. I couldn’t stand her. She was way too overprotective of them and that got a bit annoying as I am sure it annoyed Hailey and Clara as well.

I’m sure it is not easy being conjoined twins and having to figure out how to live life together and out in the open for the world to judge you. Hailey and Clara definitely struggled with that a bit in the book. It mostly took place in their little town, so there wasn’t a whole lot of the outside world other than the people and things in their town. I did enjoy this book a lot though. I loved the twins and I enjoyed their story. I was disappointed in some of the characters and a little bit with the ending of the book. I was hoping for more from the ending. I actually just didn’t want the book to end, so I wanted more. I would have hoped for maybe an epilogue thrown in there or something. A look into the future with what happened with the twins after the end.

Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot and I am glad I was given the opportunity to read it. It’s something different and I haven’t come across any other books that have to do with conjoined twins. I definitely recommend picking up this book. It will be released July 26th, so be on the look out for it! 🙂