Dualed by Elsie Chapman304 Pages
Release Date: February 26th, 2013
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Genre: Dystopian
Level: YA
Rating: 2.5-3 STARS
Goodreads Summary:
You or your Alt? Only one will survive.
The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.
Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.
Elsie Chapman's suspenseful YA debut weaves unexpected romance into a novel full of fast-paced action and thought-provoking philosophy. When the story ends, discussions will begin about this future society where every adult is a murderer and every child knows there is another out there who just might be better.
Elsie Chapman creates a new twist to the concept of "survival of the fittest" in which you and your Alt fight to the death in her debut Dualed. I didn't really understand how the whole twin thing worked and it wasn't really explained in the book either. I mean does the givernment pick two couples who want a baby and make it so their babies have the same genetic makeup? There also wasn't much world building and history of how everything came to be. Also the government is a big aspect of dystopian novels and while it was mentioned in the book, they didn't make a big deal out of it.
However, Elsie Chapman created very strong characters and showed relationship development quite well. West Grayer was determined yet stubborn. And she had it rough with all her family now gone. One thing I wished you changed was pushing Chord away when she most needed him and how she took forever to finally realize that she had to kill her Alt. It was a good idea for her to become an assassin and helped shape her for when she met her Alt.
Chord wasn't what I expected and in a good way. He was a pretty cool guy and I found it so cute of how much he cared for West even if he showed it indirectly and protectively *coughs* putting a GPS on her phone *coughs* It was funny and pretty entertaining seeing both of them deny their feelings for each other.
Dualed is a good dystopian read, not the best but pretty decent. I would only recommend this to dytopian or fight scene lovers. If you're looking for a romancy dystopian like Delirium or Under the Never Sky this isn't really the book for you. I was a bit disappointed after reading this since I heard great things about it and I really like the concept and it definitely has potential. If you do pick it up, I hope you have a better reaction than me! Happy Readings!!!
I don't know if I am going to be reading this one. I like Dystopians, but lately they haven't been hitting the spot. If I read one, it has to be UNBELIEVABLE! Dualed sounds good, but not exactly the type of dystopian that will thrill me. So, maybe one day, but not for now.....
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