Dualed (Ambuzzador Review)

Book: Dualed
Author: Elsie Chapman
Format: ARC
Pages: 291
Source: Received from Random House through the Random Buzzers Ambuzzador Program.

Blurb:

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.

 

 

My Rating:

When I saw that there was a chance to join the Ambuzzador program at RandomBuzzers I had to jump on the opportunity right away seeing as I had been wanting to read this one for a while, I hurried up and filled out my application and then kept wondering if I would get selected. Well, I did and I am so happy that I got a chance to read this book because I absolutely loved it.

 

The description of this book is what drew me to it in the first place. The whole idea of having someone out there who looks just like you and shares the same DNA but grows up under a different set of parents was intriguing. Then you throw in the fact that they get assignments to kill their alternates and whoever is the winner gets to become a useful part of society, this just brings the book to a whole other level.

 

I loved West. She was intelligent and strong even though she didn't see it in the beginning. When it came down to the one person she wanted to protect she would risk everything. I admit I was unhappy with a lot of West's decisions early on in the novel, I just wanted her to finish off her Alternate and be happy. Of course that wouldn't have made a very good story so looking back now I am pleased that she went through all of the issues and trials that she did. Then we have Chord, the boy that West has known for a long time due to the fact that he's best friends with her brother. When it came time for West to complete her assignment, Chord was there every step of the way trying to help her in any way that he could even though West was not very kind about it.

 

The action in this novel is intense. I found myself on the edge of my seat as I was reading, eager to see how things would turn out. There were moments where things were extremely emotional and then there were moments when you couldn't help but be angry. Though the romance doesn't take a major role in this novel, it is still there and it is extremely sweet.

 

I received this ARC through the Random Buzzers Ambuzzador program, this did not effect my thoughts or opinions in anyway.