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Dualed by Elsie Chapman Review

Dualed

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.

Plot:

Teens fighting to the death? One survivor? Okay. I can be a cruel, picky person. I thought that seemed a little Hunger Game-esque. But I shouldn’t care about that anymore. There are so many books out there like that. Besides, I really, really loved Dualed. There’s a person out there who’s just like you. And when you receive your assignment you only have a month to kill them or you’re both dead? Wow. Talk about raising the stakes. One will survive or two will die. How rough is that?

Plot: 4 out of 5

Characters:

I loved, loved, LOVED the characters! West was such an original character and I hardly see that these days. Especially when it comes to books like this with female protagonists. I tend to see a bunch of Katniss Alts, really. This was not the case. West lost everything. Everything but a childhood friend. She couldn’t lose him too, so she pushed him out. She went a new direction that would make her stronger—more prepared to defeat her Alt—even though it was obvious it was not her. No. She was a girl who was into the arts. Not killing. And Chord? I loved him. She pushed him out and he followed her from a distance. He made a promise to keep her safe and he was going to keep it, no matter what stupid, idiotic things West had the whim to do. Words cannot describe how much I loved the characters in this book.

Characters: Should be 6 out of 5, but I doubt that’s allowable

>Setting:

It really wasn’t a hard place to picture, with all the similar settings out there. But I loved it. Just the small hints at the technology shown without going into them or confusing the reader? How paper books are hardly used and how flexi-readers have taken over? Not to mention how The Board has signs on everything to make sure that the Idles and Actives know how to properly go about destroying their Alts? Even just the stuff that the Actives did to hide from their Alts at night and in the day. I could go all out over all the amazing pieces and props featured in this book.

Setting: 5 out of 5

It is very rare that I love a book as much as I did this one. Dualed has easily become one of my favorite books. I felt for West and felt like I knew her personally. I understood her actions. There wasn’t once that I was scratching my head over something she did that seemed out of character. Come February 26th? I’m forcing everyone I know to read this.

>Overall: 5 out of 5 since I apparently can’t go above that. Recommended for those 13 or 14+. If you’re interested in pre-ordering this awesomeness (no, I’m not at all biased) feel free to head over to Amazon!

>This book was sent to me via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

12 Comments


    1. // Reply

      Saw Hot Off the Presses a few weeks back and I’ve been waiting for a week where I actually had something to link up. I love your blog, by the way!


  1. // Reply

    I REALLY wanted this from Netgalley, but was denied. I can understand why, as I don’t have a blog and only review on Goodreads and Amazon and all those. Anyway, great review and now I am even more excited about reading this!!


    1. // Reply

      I hope you like it! I’ve seen some mixed reviews, but I really loved it.

      In all honesty, I’m surprised they approved me. I’d just started book blogging.


  2. // Reply

    I think I ‘ll have to get a copy of this. I wanted it from when I first saw it on netgalley but they wouldn’t give me a copy 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it so much! (6out of 5 must be good!)


    1. // Reply

      I’ve seen some negative reviews for it, so I’m hoping that I’m not the only crazy person who loves it, but I just absolutely adored West and was able to relate to her so much. I hope you really enjoy it! I can’t wait to have a print copy for my shelf.


    1. // Reply

      The negative reviews confuse me! I loved it. But, then again, I have a tendency to like certain movies that were flops. I hope you love it, though!

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