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Gemini Sonya Mukherjee Books

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Gemini Sonya Mukherjee Books

As soon as I learned about this book, I wanted to read it. It wasn’t available at the time, so I’d have to wait. And wait. And wait. I avoided reading reviews, but I saw the high average star rating it had—people who had the privilege of reading an advance copy loved it. But I still waited, and when you wait for something like this, especially when advance reviews say it’s great, you develop high expectations.

No high expectations in the world could have prepared me for how phenomenal this book is.

Gemini tells the story of conjoined twins Clara and Hailey. Their parents chose not to separate them after birth because of the risks, particularly because they’re connected at the bottom ends of their spinal cords, and their intestines are intertwined. Otherwise, they have two sets of arms and legs, and two distinct personalities, fashion sense, interests, and career goals.

They live in a small California town, and when they were younger, their mother visited school regularly and arranged playdates to make the community aware of their presence to prevent stares and such. By the time they’re in high school, they have attained a level of understanding amongst their peers and have solid friendships. I really enjoyed the camaraderie and support between Hailey and Clara and their friends Juanita and Bridget. There’s also the equivalent of a “mean girl” character, but the book doesn’t devolve into cattiness, a later confrontation with this girl includes unexpected and believable depth and an opportunity for narrative reflection.

The story takes place during the first part of their senior year, and it’s a time in a young adult’s life that’s rife with story potential. Themes of fitting in, first crushes and kisses, applying to college, and finding oneself make their way into the pages. Add in a new (and cute) boy in school and a Sadie Hawkins Dance—a perfect narrative choice, as it allows Clara and Hailey to optimistically ponder asking boys to the dance and also pessimistically wonder if boys would want to go with them because of their unique situation.

All these elements make this book sound like almost any other YA contemporary novel. And to some extent, it is—and there’s not a darn thing wrong with that. In fact, I praise author Mukherjee for making this story feel so comfortable. Just because a book is telling the story of characters who are “different” in some way, the book need not be different. Just as Hailey and Clara don’t appreciate stares and whispers, I believe they wouldn’t appreciate their YA story to focus on their conjoined-ness but instead be a story about their individual uniqueness while they happen to be conjoined. And within the pages of this YA novel, Mukherjee gives us just that.

And we’re given so much more. The issues their parents faced upon their birth—whether or not to separate Clara and Hailey in a risky surgery that could result in paralysis and/or death—are also dealt with. As a parent of (fraternal) twin daughters, it wasn’t a stretch to imagine myself in their situation and wonder what I would have done. I don’t have an answer other than doing everything I could to raise and protect my children, and that’s what their mother does. But I’d also want my girls to grow into wonderful, compassionate, independent thinkers like Hailey and Clara.

It was easy to empathize with these characters, and I often found myself cheering and crying for them. At the end of several chapters, I had to put the book down and process my own emotions. But I always picked it back up because I was so deeply engaged by their narration.

One of many strengths of the book is the narration. The chapters alternate between Clara and Hailey’s first-person point of view. It’s no surprise that the story is told this way, and the decision to do so isn’t particularly groundbreaking, but the execution is exceptional. Mukherjee switched the perspective at all the right times, making the story seamless, but she also uses the device in interesting ways, such as (1) to establish tension when one twin sees something and the other (the one narrating) doesn’t know it yet, and (2) to explore deep themes when something really awesome happens to one twin, yet the scene is narrated by the other twin!

I won’t apologize for being vague because I don’t want to reveal any spoilers, but that second example underscores two innate human desires: to be independent and not be alone. All of us, no matter what uniqueness we’re born with, deserve as much and deserve happiness, but it comes only with self-acceptance. By the end, Hailey and Clara make a powerful statement about that, and it was an absolute pleasure to experience the ride with them.

This is a MUST-READ book, it gets FIVE STARS from me, and there’s no doubt that Gemini will be near the top of my year-end favorite books list.


Tags : Amazon.com: Gemini (9781481456777): Sonya Mukherjee: Books,Sonya Mukherjee,Gemini,Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers,1481456776,Coming Of Age,Family - Siblings,Social Themes - New Experience,Conjoined twins,Conjoined twins;Fiction.,High schools,Schools,Sisters,Sisters;Fiction.,Twins,Twins;Fiction.,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),JUVENILE FICTION Family Siblings,Juvenile FictionDisabilities & Special Needs,Juvenile FictionSocial Themes - New Experience,Social Themes - Special Needs,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Coming of Age,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Disabilities & Special Needs,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Family Siblings,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes New Experience,debut; twins; sisters; conjoined twins; art; astrophysics; family; friends; disabilities; birth defects; siamese twins; teen fiction

Gemini Sonya Mukherjee Books Reviews

Sonya Mukherjee's has penned a heart-wrenching debut novel, with writing and heart that has left me speechless. GEMINI is a story of conjoined twins but Mukherjee effortlessly (seemingly) creates these two teens as wholly unique in their physical and emotion desires. Clara and Hailey are destined for different things, but they are conjoined at the base of their spinal columns. During their senior year they are already adjusting to the idea of attending a small-town college where their parents teach. The plan has been set by their parents, who will rely on the free tuition and the safety they’ve created in small-town life—one which limits stares and gossip when it comes to their daughters.
But Hailey wants to travel the world, see everything. Clara wants to go to outer space. Mukherjee does not pull any punches when she examines each girl’s desires, and the limitations that hold them back. This is an important book about dreams, and the pull they have at our individual hearts. And love, the tremendous sacrifices we make for those we care for most deeply.
This is a beautifully crafted novel that is wholly original and so moving. I am thrilled that it is in the world. Highly recommend.
Oh. Oh. Oh wow.

To begin with, a book about conjoined twin sisters was not something I expected to see this year. Even when I picked up GEMINI, I was thinking, okay, it's probably about stargazing! So wow. Amazed me right out of the gate.

What impressed me even more was the way Mukherjee constantly made me feel like I was reading a story about two sisters. Which, of course, is exactly what I was reading. But the fact of being conjoined was so natural and so everyday for protagonists Clara and Hailey that, even though it came up on almost every page, most of the time it was very practical. The girls navigate everyday situations and, for the most part, new situations, with the same blend of ease and insecurity that a lot of teenage girls might feel. It's really really good, guys.

At the end of the book, Hailey and Clara are forced to make some big decisions about the future, and while I won't give anything away, I will say that Mukherjee doesn't pull any punches here. I think it was handled absolutely perfectly.

I recommend this book to everyone with a sister, and really, everyone else too. Five stars.
I tore through the book this morning after getting it on my a week ago. From the very beginning I was hooked by the voice of the book it's really fresh and down-to-earth. These are two girls who are exceptional in their situation, but they're still just like anybody else raised in a small town in California, they have their own unique (and individual) dreams and desires.

Where the book shone, I think, was in the depiction of the town. It didn't go for the easy hooks and the easy plot points. There weren't mean girls and soul-crushing embarrassment. The characters didn't feel by-the-numbers, and the conflict felt like it arose from their individual desires and circumstances. And, in the end, there weren't easy answers, especially when it came to romance, but there was also plenty of hope, which is exactly, I think, why you read a book like this in order to experience faith in other people and hope for our futures.
As soon as I learned about this book, I wanted to read it. It wasn’t available at the time, so I’d have to wait. And wait. And wait. I avoided reading reviews, but I saw the high average star rating it had—people who had the privilege of reading an advance copy loved it. But I still waited, and when you wait for something like this, especially when advance reviews say it’s great, you develop high expectations.

No high expectations in the world could have prepared me for how phenomenal this book is.

Gemini tells the story of conjoined twins Clara and Hailey. Their parents chose not to separate them after birth because of the risks, particularly because they’re connected at the bottom ends of their spinal cords, and their intestines are intertwined. Otherwise, they have two sets of arms and legs, and two distinct personalities, fashion sense, interests, and career goals.

They live in a small California town, and when they were younger, their mother visited school regularly and arranged playdates to make the community aware of their presence to prevent stares and such. By the time they’re in high school, they have attained a level of understanding amongst their peers and have solid friendships. I really enjoyed the camaraderie and support between Hailey and Clara and their friends Juanita and Bridget. There’s also the equivalent of a “mean girl” character, but the book doesn’t devolve into cattiness, a later confrontation with this girl includes unexpected and believable depth and an opportunity for narrative reflection.

The story takes place during the first part of their senior year, and it’s a time in a young adult’s life that’s rife with story potential. Themes of fitting in, first crushes and kisses, applying to college, and finding oneself make their way into the pages. Add in a new (and cute) boy in school and a Sadie Hawkins Dance—a perfect narrative choice, as it allows Clara and Hailey to optimistically ponder asking boys to the dance and also pessimistically wonder if boys would want to go with them because of their unique situation.

All these elements make this book sound like almost any other YA contemporary novel. And to some extent, it is—and there’s not a darn thing wrong with that. In fact, I praise author Mukherjee for making this story feel so comfortable. Just because a book is telling the story of characters who are “different” in some way, the book need not be different. Just as Hailey and Clara don’t appreciate stares and whispers, I believe they wouldn’t appreciate their YA story to focus on their conjoined-ness but instead be a story about their individual uniqueness while they happen to be conjoined. And within the pages of this YA novel, Mukherjee gives us just that.

And we’re given so much more. The issues their parents faced upon their birth—whether or not to separate Clara and Hailey in a risky surgery that could result in paralysis and/or death—are also dealt with. As a parent of (fraternal) twin daughters, it wasn’t a stretch to imagine myself in their situation and wonder what I would have done. I don’t have an answer other than doing everything I could to raise and protect my children, and that’s what their mother does. But I’d also want my girls to grow into wonderful, compassionate, independent thinkers like Hailey and Clara.

It was easy to empathize with these characters, and I often found myself cheering and crying for them. At the end of several chapters, I had to put the book down and process my own emotions. But I always picked it back up because I was so deeply engaged by their narration.

One of many strengths of the book is the narration. The chapters alternate between Clara and Hailey’s first-person point of view. It’s no surprise that the story is told this way, and the decision to do so isn’t particularly groundbreaking, but the execution is exceptional. Mukherjee switched the perspective at all the right times, making the story seamless, but she also uses the device in interesting ways, such as (1) to establish tension when one twin sees something and the other (the one narrating) doesn’t know it yet, and (2) to explore deep themes when something really awesome happens to one twin, yet the scene is narrated by the other twin!

I won’t apologize for being vague because I don’t want to reveal any spoilers, but that second example underscores two innate human desires to be independent and not be alone. All of us, no matter what uniqueness we’re born with, deserve as much and deserve happiness, but it comes only with self-acceptance. By the end, Hailey and Clara make a powerful statement about that, and it was an absolute pleasure to experience the ride with them.

This is a MUST-READ book, it gets FIVE STARS from me, and there’s no doubt that Gemini will be near the top of my year-end favorite books list.