For our first month of doing the Just Read It! Book Club, Bailey and I decided to read Dualed.
Author:Elsie ChapmanEdition: ARC via NetGalleySeries: Dualed #1Released Date: February 26th, 2013Publisher: Random House
Goodreads / Amazon 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.
West has been raises to fight, kill, and do whatever it takes to survive. In Kersh, everyone does the same thing as her - even her Alt. She's supposed to kill her Alt, a girl that looks just like her. Between the two of them, only one can survive, the other must perish. West is going to do whatever it takes to be the worthy Alt. "Be the one, be worthy..."
Between Bailey and I, I believe I was the one that was more excited to read this book. I always enjoy reading dystopians, and the way that they let you escape - into a new character and a new world. Dualed did just that for me.
This novel definitely sucks you in, once you get going with it. The beginning actually starts very quickly, and you're thrown right into some of the action that seems normal in West's life. You see how crazy her childhood was, seeing her siblings getting killed off because of their Alt's, or even other people's Alt's. The students don't even go to school for education - it's all preparation for the day where they meet their Alt and kill them.
West's character is kind of all over the place. It wasn't bad character development, but rather her personality, it seemed like. Her whole life was a struggle, so she didn't know what was right or wrong. She only knew she had to kill her Alt, and that was it. When Chord, her brother's best friend and her slight romantic interest, offers help, she sometimes denies it, while other times she will accept it. This is not an inconsistency on Elsie Chapman's part... rather, it's a result of a 15-year-old girl, with no one to confide in, but want's to feel strong. She wasn't to feel like the worthy Alt, and having someone help her makes her feel like she isn't worthy.
The one thing I did not like, was the fact that West signed up to be a Striker. Okay, it's fine that she does it, but she jumps into it with no information whatsoever! She's never killed someone before, and now she expects to kill other people's Alt's for money? It just seemed like an unnecessary addition to the novel.
I did really like Chord though! He was always one step ahead of West, and it constantly kept readers, and West on their toes. It's like something would happen, and you instantly knew that it was a result of something that Chord did. He was a good, consistent addition to the novel.There was a couple issues that I did have with this though. First, the world. I wish there was more about it. The only thing we knew was about the Alt's and their schools. There wasn't much more to it. There should have been some more description and imagery, I think. Even now, I don't have a good image of what Kersh looks like.
Also, West's Alt. Like many other people who have read this book, I wish I could see some snippets of West's Alt's life. There would have been so many more emotions that reader's would have if they could see how her Alt was struggling to kill and survive. Just a thought....
Overall, Dualed is a captivating novel that is quite worthy! ;) It wasn't that difficult of a read, and I zipped right through it one afternoon on my Kindle. It was definitely worth my time, but there were some things that needed work on. I know I will be reading Divided once it comes out!
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