Gearbreakers

I received an ARC from Edelweiss
TW: minor body horror, off page torture, gun violence, death by fire
4

Godolia rules with the iron fist of a broken world's new gods- giant mechas called Wind Ups, piloted by soldiers with enough tech surgically implanted in them to be the perfect tools. Eris is one of many who've chosen rebellion- she's a gearbreaker, leader of a band of teenagers who train to take down Wind Ups whenever possible. Sona is a pilot, chosen to control the most advanced, and lethal of the Wind Ups- but no one knows Soma isn't loyal. When Eris' mission goes awry, the two find themselves in an uneasy allyship, one that may turn into something more, and may result in doing some real damage to the empire.

I was so excited for this book! I love the cover, I love the idea of giant robots being fought by chaotic sapphics, and for the most part it did really hold up to what I was hoping for.

Aesthetically, I think everything's great. It isn't a totally new world, but it sinks into the scifi end-of-life-as-we-know-it thing well enough to not need all that much world building. There's the expected tyranny, bands of rebels, robotics, and it doesn't try to reinvent the wheel by dwelling on it so long it takes your focus off of what is unique. I love the pictures painted, the description of the gearbreakers driving with music blasting, the pilot and her mechanical eye, the spector of a Wind Up hiding in the night.
There's a brashness that isn't unexpected in this kind of setting but is definitely really fun and enjoyable. These characters all have sharp edges, good and bad alike, and are messy. You get a chance to see both sides operating as a unit, having fun with each other and taking their work seriously, and it doesn't ever shy away from the destruction of those things. The violence and pain is highlighted in a place where it could have been smoothed over.
I think this quote actually kind of says it all:

"I get it, I really do. Not everyone has the stomach to shoot a teenager in the head. But I'm not going to thank you for it; I'm not going to hesitate just because you are. I'm going to live with whatever I have to do because it means I get to live."

I'm someone who action can really wear on until I don't want to keep reading, so I have to say that Mikuta does it well here. For all the rough edges and battling it never gets to be too much or too detailed. I also appreciate that even though the Gearbreakers are being rebellious and trying to take down robots it's never seen as an even fight- two sides trying to flatten the other. The Gearbreakers are basically just fueled by spite and are trying to make things as difficult for the conquerors as possible. That feels a lot more realistic to me than the grand action plans and organizations I often see, and it also makes a lot of sense with the characters and their personalities.

The side characters in this book are fantastic, and they bring more life to the whole thing. Nova is my favorite character, personally, but every character who makes up Eris' team, or her sister, or even characters Sona knows from her team are all well written, unique, and feel real. Where the world is a little sparse the characters make you forget all of that.

However, where it comes to characters I wish I liked our leads more. I fully expected to like Sona better, because I was invested in her backstory from the beginning and the idea of her turning away from the side that allows her so much power seemed so promising. But in the end Sona never fleshed out the way I expected, and all the tension of changing sides never really came up. I'll talk more on that a bit later.
Eris, however, grew from a character I felt was kind of flat and flashy to someone I was genuinely really invested in. I love her found family and her relationship with her sister, and the way she allows softness into the story without it feeling overly soft, or conflicting with her character. She's a well rounded character, and I look forward to seeing more of her as she deals with the end of this book.

Onto the tension issue- maybe this is more a problem with the promotion. I was fully expecting a story of a solider being convinced to change sides and a tentative allyship only partially covering the enemy lines they've already placed each other on the other side of. But Sona is ready to leave from the very first page. I get why she was a pilot, her back story is the most interesting part of her, honestly, but I wish that she had been more conflicted or in denial or something so that she didn't just feel like an overly convenient key out. She goes along with everything, she's got no personal investment beyond general revenge, and it makes her feel really flimsy. It also makes the tension of the escape a lot less tense than it could have been.

The other problem with Sona and her lack of tension is that it makes the romance that much less interesting, and that much less believable. I will say, it does get very cute by the end, but for the most part all the hinting just felt out of the blue. Sona flirting was just a person randomly flirting (at the least opportune times), it never felt like they had any chemistry or Sona had any reason to flirt with her in the first place. There's nothing pulling them together except for their joint escape and that escape is basically just Eris leaning into being suspicious of Sona and Sona shrugging and docilely following behind her. For someone who's survived so much and is so able to kill she's surprisingly lowkey and unpassionate.

Theres's a lot to like here, even though the romance didn't live up to what I was hoping. I'm looking forward to the next book!