Title: The Replaced
Author: Kimberly Derting
ISBN: 9780062293633
No. of Pages: 368
Genre: Young Adult; Science Fiction
Origins: HarperTeen
Release Date: 28 April 2015
Synopsis:
“Kyra hasn’t been the same since she returned from her mysterious five-year disappearance. Now, on the run from the NSA, Kyra is forced to hide out with others who, like her, have been Returned. Yet she is determined to find Tyler, the boy she loves who was also abducted . . . all because of her. When her group intercepts a message that Tyler might still be alive, Kyra risks everything to get him back. But he is being held by a shadowy government organization that experiments on the Returned, and going after him puts the rest of the group in danger. Even if Kyra gets Tyler back, the fight to save him—and the rest of the Returned—is just beginning.”
Thoughts on the Novel: The Replaced involves so many twists and turns;it can be distracting at just how much information the readers get in a very short period. In spite of all that information overload though, readers will have the uncomfortable feeling that there is a big piece of the puzzle missing between the abductors and the abducted. One spends the entire novel waiting for the final piece to drop into place, which it never does. One can only hope the final novel will fix this omission.
As for the information readers do get, it is intense and insane. Aliens, romance, mysterious government agencies, secret hideouts, super powers, good versus bad, right versus wrong – The Replaced has it all. It definitely is not a series for everyone; there is something about the idea of alien abductions which makes the story more of a stretch of the imagination than sparkly vampires or angsty werewolves. For those who are looking for something different in the YA science fiction/fantasy world though, the Taken series continues to be a breath of fresh air.
BOTTOM LINE: A decent sequel to a unique series that answers some questions but leaves plenty more for the finale.
