Review: Divided (Dualed #2) by Elsie Chapman
Series: Dualed #2
Genre: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: May 27, 2014
ADD TO GOODREADS
The hunter becomes the hunted. . . .
West Grayer is done killing. She defeated her Alternate, a twin raised by another family, and proved she’s worthy of a future. She’s ready to move on with her life.
The Board has other plans. They want her to kill one last time, and offer her a deal worth killing for. But when West recognizes her target as a ghost from her past, she realizes she’s in over her head. The Board is lying, and West will have to uncover the truth of the past to secure her future.
How far will the Board go to keep their secrets safe? And how far will West go to save those she loves? With nonstop action and surprising twists, Elsie Chapman’s intoxicating sequel to Dualed reveals everything.
Review
Divided
by Elsie Chapman was a book I went into reading with much hesitation.
Until I was invited to read the sequel I really had no intention of
picking Divided up. I'm not gonna lie my experiences with the first
book Dualed left quite an unpleasant taste in my mouth and I really
had very little to no hope that the sequel would provide more of the
same.
Yet,sometimes,
despite all protestations to the contrary a books sequel can and will
surprise even the most stubborn of readers. This was exactly my
experience with Divided. It wasn't a perfect book, heck I didn't even
like West in parts and yet, I couldn't bring myself to put it down.
Funny how that works, isn't it?
One
of the things I really enjoyed about the sequel was the pacing.
Everything that happens in Divided takes place over the span of just
a few days. Such a short time line kept the plot moving along at a
brisk clip and since this was the sequel the narrative didn't need to
be bogged down by character or world development.
Another
thing I really enjoyed was the twist revealed around the 60% mark. I
won't give it away but it definitely puts certain elements to the
citizens willingly killing their alts in perspective.
Lastly,
I think what I liked best of all was that I actually now feel
reinvested in the series. The ending certainly left me curious and I
want to know what happened to the Alts that West “killed”. Did
they heed her advice and flee while they could? Or will they prove to
be like their Idles and try to make an example of West deceiving them
all?
Now
as I mentioned above I did have some issues with Divided. While maybe
not as many as the first book they did keep me from ultimately rating
the story higher.
First
off, I really disliked Chord this go round. He felt like a creeper to
me and I didn't like how he always seemed to be pressuring West to be
physical with him. Plus Chord always seemed to pop up at the most
opportune moments. Simply put, I don't trust him and don't think West
should either.
Secondly,
I really am so over West being a martyr. Nobody wants to kill. She
had a choice not to even if it meant dying herself. I'll just never
get over how self centered West seems to be when it suits her and
then plays the victim when it doesn't.
Lastly,
I really wish we had at least some glimpse from the survivors in the
surround. It was made pretty clear that the outside will play some
role in the future so why not give us a taste for better or worse of
what might lay in store?
Final
Thoughts
Overall,
I was glad that I decided to give Divided a go. The writing felt more
polished this go round and the characters while certainly not perfect
were at least tolerable to follow. No hesitation this time, I
definitely recommend picking up Divided and giving it a go. With that
being said, I'll be rating Divided by Elsie Chapman ★★★.
*Copy
provided by Publisher. All opinions are my own and I was not
compensated in any which way for providing them.
About the Author
I’m repped by The Chudney Agency. My debut novel, DUALED and its sequel, DIVIDED are both available now. Published by Random House Children’s Books.
Follow Elsie on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.
I have seen the first book around but never really read it. I'm sorry that this book wasn't as good as it could be, but I'm glad you enjoyed it overall. I hope that with the next book things will get even better. Great review :)
ReplyDeleteNo matter what it still was a far cry more enjoyable than the first book in the series.
ReplyDeleteI was invited to read the sequel, too, but considering I hadn't even read the review copy of the first book yet, I passed. I remember there being some seriously mixed reviews on Dualed, and so I moved it down the pile and still haven't gotten to it. The premise sounds great, but I tend to trust my fellow reviewers. And knowing you were hesitant to read this and then seeing your three stars for this sequel doesn't bode well.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can understand. Honestly though the sequel is much better than the first book for sure. At least for me it was.
ReplyDelete