Kyle and Judy, seventeen-year-old fraternal twins, tell two sides of the story of the last month of junior year, when Garret, who claims to be a vampire, moves in their house to finish the school year after his parents move for a job. Both Kyle and Judy have a crush on Garret, who will he chose, and is he really a vampire?

I was tempted to skip Judy’s chapters, because she was not a likeable character at the beginning of the book. Kyle calls her “Monster” and it fits. I was glad I didn’t skip them when we finally got to see some personal growth on her part. Kyle was much more appealing to me and I cared about what he wanted. Garret, I’m still not sure about, I didn’t relate to him as well as I might have, having been in his “moving” shoes frequently, myself. I didn’t react the way he did to all the moves. Unexpectedly racy in some parts, funny in others, I’m glad I read it.
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Another skim-read for me. It wasnt the type of read I was looking for, but still enjoyable all the same. ( )

From the cover description and the first few pages of Gemini Bites, I was ready for something amusing and a little bit over the top. It seemed to me that the book was setting out to be a vampire-involved love triangle with twins (Kyle and Judy), one of whom is a (fake) Born Again. I couldn't shake the idea that Ryan had used a dart board to pull the various elements together, and I liked it. That feeling is way better than the one where it seems the author is being dead serious with the same elements.

As I got deeper into the book, it became fairly obvious that the vampire character isn't really one - the book is solidly grounded in reality with no fantasy elements, though still humorous in places. At first I was vaguely disappointed, but that passed as I found myself really enjoying the characters' perplexion about Garret's persona. Ultimately, though, the vampiric elements are central to the story, which is as much about sibling rivalry and exploration of identity as it is about the love triangle (there are actually two!).

There are two things that I really loved about the book: the first is that while it is a LGBT book and one of the narrating characters is gay, it isn't an "Issue" book about being gay. Kyle simply is and it's one part of his identity, and that's that. The second element that I liked is the narrative style. The chapters alternate between first-person narratives by Kyle and his twin Judy, each of whom has their own perspective and voice. As they are the central characters with their competition and rivalry, I liked that we aren't stuck with just one side, and also that it wasn't some omniscient narrator. The twins' voices felt genuine to me, a lot like how I remember my teenage years being.

While Kyle is fairly secure in his identity and doesn't explore it much, he is bothered by the way Judy seems to detest him. He's also preoccupied with their houseguest and classmate Garret, who may or may not be a vampire. For his half, the book is about teenage love and dealing with a big family, including a sister that he loves but who continually goes out of her way to ruin things for him.

Judy doesn't have a clear idea of what she wants, other than a boyfriend. She pretends to be Born Again to get the attention of Jacob, meanwhile hiding it even from her family that it's fake. She can be petty and angry/mean without fully intending to be. She doesn't necessarily think about how others perceive her because she is fighting so hard to keep them from seeing her insecurities. Her half of the book is about these insecurities, the way she tries to fake what she isn't (in several ways) to get what she thinks she wants, without really knowing that that is.

If there was anything that stood out to me as something I didn't like, it was the solution to the two major conflicts. When Judy and Kyle work out their differences, followed by Kyle and Garret working out theirs, the dialogue felt a little too scripted and perfect. I had trouble believing that 16-year-olds would talk to each other like that, though it did work well for the story, and I happen to have really liked the way the romance grew between the boys, including the love triangle aspect. I also noted at least two places that needed a copy-editor for how they momentarily threw me out of the story: at one point, the dad is watching football on a Sunday in May, well after football season; at another, Kyle and his best friend Ian discuss their calculus teacher and hope they won't have him for trig the next year, though I was under the impression that trig comes before calculus. I was also confused about Kyle and Judy's younger sister's ages, as they often seemed a good deal older than they should have been.

On the whole, I did enjoy this book quite a lot, and I think it was well worth my time. It was exactly the sort of book I was itching to read - light but not shallow, with romance and humor elements without being all-out romance or humor. ( )

A male character and a female character lust after the same alluring but sinister, sexually-ambiguous figure. I was wondering where I had seen this premise before, and then I remembered: The Rocky Horror Pictures Show. In Gemini Bites, however, the male and female in question are a twin brother and sister, are still in high school, and the object of their lust is their family's temporary boarder, another high school student who is trying to convince everyone that he is a vampire. The book is enjoyable and kept me reading right up to the pat, all-loose-ends-tied-up happy ending.

The twins tell the story in alternating chapters. The gay brother, Kyle, is a much more convincing character than the straight sister, Judy, and Kyle's chapters are better written. One-note Judy, who always tries remake herself into a reflection of her current crush's interests, resembles a sitcom character.

At my public library this book is classified as "young adult", but I think it should be moved to the high school section, which contains edgier fiction, due to its sexual content. ( )

Reviewed by Lauren Ashley for TeensReadToo.com

While it's not certain if Garret is gay or straight - or even bi - Kyle is out and pretty much proud of who he is. He's never dated anyone, but had some experience with guys, and his best friend happens to be gay, as well. Kyle is pretty amusing, as he's a huge exaggerator and yet he finds himself starting to become more and more interested in Garret, who swears that he's a vampire. Well, one of their fellow classmates seems to believe it, and he'll do just about anything he can to rid their school of evil...even if that means ridding them of Garret altogether.

As for Judy, whenever she finds she likes a guy, she starts to become "interested" in whatever they like - and her recent conquest is all about the Bible. But when Judy realizes that Kyle is starting to like Garret, she can't let her brother win, can she?

GEMINI BITES is told in alternating chapters, first Judy, then Kyle, and so on. I seemed to enjoy Kyle's storyline a little more, but then again, I did first pick up this book for the LGBT content and that would be Kyle. He's also a funny character and you really do start to care for him and the way he's treated by Judy. This is especially poignant since the twins come from a big family and it's hard to find time with their parents.

Judy is a good character too, though. She really goes through her own progressions and you'll find yourself shaking your head, yet letting laughter slip out, at some of her more mean statements.

In all, both teens are well-rounded and I felt like you got to see a big picture of who they were and what they were interested in. Kyle wasn't just the horny teen guy obsessing over boys, and Judy wasn't just a mean "actress" trying to get a boyfriend. You even see an interesting side of her, good and bad, when it comes to her best friend, Sasha. This girl was an amusing character, but you do feel for her, too. And it reminded me a lot of Brittany on Glee. She's a bit ditsy and clueless and yet can see things that other people overlook sometimes. You just have to love her!

As for their family, they were a lot of fun. The three younger siblings were a bit hard to keep straight sometimes, but the eldest, Tommy and Dexter, seemed to be their own people in the little time they had to "shine." Their parents were also very sweet and you could tell they cared and wanted to be there for their kids as much as they could- even though it's hard with a house full of them.

I'm really thankful I was given the chance to read GEMINI BITES. I would definitely recommend it! ( )