Gemini Rising by Eleanor Wood

Have you ever met anyone who’s technicolour? I mean, like really in glorious technicolour, so that they make the rest of the world look black and white, and you suddenly realise what you’ve been missing all your life?

Published by Carina on June 7th 2013

Goodreads Summary

How far would you go to fit in? Sorana Salem is ok with being not quite bottom of the pile at her exclusive private school. Until the mysterious Johansson twins arrive unexpectedly mid-term. Hypnotically beautiful and immensely cool, magnetic Elyse and mute Melanie aren’t like the school’s usual identikit mean girls.Soon Sorana’s sharing sleepovers and Saturday nights out with the twins. But their new world of Ouidja boards and older boys might not be as simple as it seems. And the dark secrets that they share could be about to take Sorana down a path that’s impossible to turn back from…

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This book had an extremely strong opening. Right from the start I was hypnotised by the twins Elyse and Melanie. There was something exciting, yet dangerous about them, that left you feeling a little uncomfortable throughout the book. They reminded me of the twins in Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger.

  I really liked the main character, Sorana – just like her class mates, she was intrigued by the girls and I hoped as soon as she met them, many questions about them would be answered. Unfortunately, for me, I felt the questions surrounding their mysterious nature were answered a little late. I didn’t feel we got to know much about the girls until the last couple of  chapters and even then I struggled to see the connection between the Gemini star sign, which had played such a major role in the plot to begin with plot. 

Don’t get me wrong, I  did enjoy the story. I felt the characters were well written and intriguing enough that I wanted to know more. However, I did feel the ending let the book down a little, as it felt  disconnected. I also felt the climatic build up fell a little flat when we were then told what happened, rather than actually seeing it all in a dramatic climax. 

If I’m honest, I’d say that with a little more editing, this story could’ve been amazing. It had that mysterious about it which made you want to read more. I would definitely read more by this author in the future, as I am pretty sure Eleanor Woods has a lot more to give.