Dualed (Hardback)
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Short Description for Dualed Two of you exist. 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 f...
Full description- Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
- Published: 26 February 2013
- Format: Hardback 304 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Science Fiction | Romance
- ISBN 13: 9780307931542 ISBN 10: 0307931544
- Sales rank: 53,249
Reviews for Dualed
Fast-Paced Debut with Lots of Action
In Dualed , we are brought into Kersh: a city-state in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has been left infertile. The Board - the governing body - somehow has managed to find a way to create/grow human clones in labs two at a time. Every set of twins (or Alts) are separated at birth (hatching?) and each baby is raised by a different family. They never meet until the time comes for them to hunt down and kill their clone upon their activation. You see, the Board teaches that the survival of Kersh depends upon the strength of its population, so only those who kill their Alts are worthy of living there. This world-building is interesting, but it left me hungering for more. It seemed like there were holes in the story and zip-aheads (you know, when you fast forward in time - roll with it) that confused me a bit. When it came to other aspects of the story, I could suspend disbelief enough to believe Kersh wanted to be a land of killers, but I wanted to read more about why the Board activated certain individuals when they did. I also wish there would have been more showing of the parents and how they dealt with the loss of one child, but having another walking around, genetically the same.
The writing itself in Dualed was gripping, but I did have a bit of trouble connecting with the characters. West Grayer is a young girl surrounded by death and loss, and I think she is a fair representation of that. She is withdrawn and pushes away anyone who attempts to get close to or help her. I think this included me. However, West was fascinating to observe (I never felt like I was there with her like I do in many books), and I enjoyed her interactions with Chord. My favorite thing about her was the doubt she felt about being the worthy one, being as she was a hired assassin for other people's Alts. As for West's Alt, I wish I could have known her a little better. We were only given brief glimpses of her life, and mystery does not always translate to villainy.
After it's all said and done, I have to applaud Elsie Chapman for Dualed . There were times that I was left scratching my head because of the pace, but I never felt the urge to put the book down. I think the strange and broken future world that saw kids killing kids on the streets kept my attention trained so completely upon it. I knew from a few chapters into the book that it may not be for me, but Chapman had me and wasn't going to let me go. And though I know that Dualed 's sequel, Divided , will be coming out next year, I found the ending to be completely satisfying. I'm a huge fan of Old School science fiction's open endings, but that's not the case with Dualed . I can't imagine that any readers will be left standing at the edge of a cliff begging for book 2 because of how it all wraps up. Then again, I just read the ARC, so there may be a huge twist at the end that I completely missed.
Teen or adult reader alike, I think you should read the book for yourself. It's so fast and action-packed, it's likely you will forget that you are reading.
3.5/5 Stars
*To satisfy FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that I received a digital eARC of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It has in no way affected the outcome. All opinions expressed are rambling, honest, and completely my own. by Kayla BeckDualed
Dualed introduces us to a world that has been ravaged by war and a city that has managed to close itself off as a safe haven, but the price for this is extremely high. Everyone is expected to be the best solider they can be just in case something happens to that wall that protects them, and so the concept of Alternates comes in. Two versions of the same person, and like the ever famous quote from Highlander 'there can only be one'.
This turned out to be a great debut and a rather interesting dystopian. Unlike other dystopians this doesn't focus on a main character working to bring down the government or some 'big bad', instead it focuses on a girl who simply wants to survive her accepted way of life. I personally get a bit tired of every day teens dismantling governments and I just want to see how people cope and deal with what they've been forced into, and that's exactly what West does. When we meet her West has already been through so much and she hasn't even been assigned to kill her alt yet, I thought that the opening chapter was very strong. The world building that Chapman does in the first few chapters is very solid and gives that emotional understanding of exactly what kind of place she's in and just what she's going to have to deal with. The introduction of the Strikers, hired alt killers, is something I could totally see happening if something like this ever occurred and kind of brought about a bit of moral turmoil for me. I couldn't decide if it was a good thing because it saved people from doing something terrible or if it was just as bad because someone is still having to die.
West is a tough girl, but she's also still just a fifteen year old girl. She makes mistakes, sometimes she's too stubborn, and most of all she's conflicted. She knows what she needs to do and she's always thought she was prepared for it, but when the time comes she finds herself unsure and at times she makes some really bad choices. The hunt that happens between her and her Alt was really intense at times and kept me guessing on how it was all going to end. I would have loved to see more about West's Alt, because while we get to know her a bit it's not enough to truly compare her to West. Chord I felt probably could have been fleshed out a tad more but I enjoyed his loyalty to West, despite her constant attempts to push him away and refuse his help.
The ending wraps up nicely and i was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to see more of West or the city of Kersh, but I found out that there will be a second book called Divided. So I'm super curious as to what will happen next because I honestly don't know but I have a few hopes for it. Overall this turned out to be a pretty solid debut and I'm looking froward to more from Chapman. by Michelle @ In Libris VeritasA Story that Makes You Question Your Morals
In the city of Kersh, everyone has an Alt, short for alternative. An Alt, is exactly what it sounds like. An Alt, is an Alternate you. A twin that you never know. A twin you have to kill to prove your worth. To prove that you deserve to live, that you are the better copy of yourself. In DUALED, West Grayer, struggles with the concept of having an Alt, and having to kill her. She has trained her whole life for the day when she will get her assignment. The test that will prove her worthiness to continue living in Kersh. But she knows, you can train your body and maybe your mind. But it is hard to train your emotions, especially when something tragic just occurred.
DUALED had me at the very beginning. I was thrust into a world I knew little about, and began to start collecting the facts right away. Elsie Chapman wrote an effective introduction. She had West began narrating what was going on, and give the reader some action at the same time. Needless to say, I was NOT bored. Within the first few chapters, someone had already died. In DUALED, West experiences a few flashbacks and has short flashes of memories of the past. What someone said, or who the car originally belonged to. And little by little, those tiny flashes, start giving you a hint about West's childhood, her family, and what happened to them.
The plot was very fast paced. It started out really fast. I wondered how Elsie Chapman would take it from there. How can you continue the build suspense after you kill a character? I was not disappointed. Throughout the story, there were various amounts of action. Sometimes there wasn't much, just West reminiscing on the past and what could have been. Other times, she was out there kicking a whole lot of butt. It kept me wanting to see what would happen next, yet provided me with some time to relax and truly understand what was going on in the story.
I have mixed feelings about West. At first, I liked her. Okay, maybe she was a bit hot headed, and stubborn, but overall she was likable. You could understand why she was acting the way she was. I felt that West started out strong and then became weaker. There were times when I felt like yelling at her "Why are you doing this? Stop and think!" However, I do understand why she did those certain things. I can't imagine living in a society like the one West lives in. For her, it is literally, kill or be killed. That's the difference between life or death. It makes you question your morals. Is it worth taking someone else's life just to save yours? West was able to keep me guessing what she would do next. She was kind of unpredictable with her emotions all out of whack. I would say she managed to redeem herself at the end.
The romance. What can I say about the romance? Only that it was interesting to read about and maybe that I wish there was more... Oh well, I hear there are more books to come. (The amount in this book is just fine but...) One can only hope. West's love interest is Chord. He is not as well developed as West, but he doesn't need to be. Chord is like the perfect boyfriend. More like the best friend turned boyfriend. The one that seems to be protective and still give you some space. The one that understands.
*NOTE: I received this book as an Ambuzzador for Random Buzzers. This in no way effected by opinion.
Originally posted at Icy Cold Reads. by Emz
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