Review: Dualed by Elsie Chapman


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 (goodreads).
Review based on advanced copy! Thanks Netgalley and Random House!

Dystopian world. There are two of you. And you have to FIGHT TO THE DEATH. Yes please! :) However, Chapman's debut novel did not meet my high expectations. 

The novel begins on the right foot, the reader is introduced to West while she is mourning the loss of another family member. The mood is somber and West's voice reflects her helplessness in the world that only wants the best. For so much action to happen in the first 30 or so pages, the plot does slow considerably and never picks back. Never. Not even towards the end. 


 Moving on to the characters, I was not that impressed that leading lady West. For such an interesting government, I expected her to have more thoughts or revelations about the whole Alt thing, but she just went along with it like a dutiful citizen. Her love interest, Chord, was no better. I didn't feel as though he had a personality besides to besides to emotionally frustrate West.

While I expected more from the overall story, Chapman's writing style shows promise for future novels.

I read the summary to the sequel in this series and it sounds more like what I was expecting from Dualed, sadly I don't know if I care enough to continue with it.


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