Title: Dualed
Author: Elsie Chapman
Publication: February 26th, 2013 by Random House Books for Young Readers
Format, pages: Hardcover, 304
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Thriller
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

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.

Elsie Chapman’s young adult debut Dualed at first looks like it could roundhouse kick every other book near it off the shelf and crashing to the floor, but upon reading and closer inspection, Dualed may just trip over its own feet. Don’t get me wrong, Dualed was an action filled, pulse thumping read and I relished in the story and the protagonist of West, but this book and the execution of this idea was heavily skewed, that it ran with a one-minded approach, that no matter how much I wanted to cheer and get behind our characters West and Chord, I couldn’t help thinking about the Alts that have fallen, the “foes” that I did not get to know.

Dualed brandishes the saying ‘Survival of the Fittest’ with the city of Kersh using it as a way for conformity, for honour, for advancement in its citizens. Every individual has a genetically identical twin – known as an Alternate (Alt for short) – with a different family, way of living, etc. At fifteen, each person is given an assignment of killing their Alt, and the one to survive acquires life benefits that they wouldn’t have gotten previously – better everything. West Grayer, our protagonist, aids forbiddingly her boyfriend with terminating his Alt, but in the process her brother is killed (no spoiling, this is within the first chapter). West then joins the Strikers, a hidden organisation that targets Alts before assignments even begin and hired by the wealthy, to find strength in herself and some vengeance for her brother’s premature death. But while she does she gets her own assignment, given information to her Alt’s whereabouts, and must bring down her Alt if she is to survive in the end.

Like I said, Dualed is very much one-sided. We only get this story through the point of view of West, so by the time it comes to her facing her Alt all we understand and told about is West’s drive to come out of this dual alive. The Alts are one-sided, only ever seen as the enemy (besides Kersh to the Strikers), and it is only here and there that we can piece together the life of the Alt through West visiting her Alt’s home, spying on her Alt, seeing how her Alt does things. This novel could have been well executed if we were given the point of view of West’s Alt as well. We hardly got to know her. We actually knew really nothing about her except her parents care for her and are, how it always go, on her side. It’s a very flat society – one-sided. I would have enjoyed it more if the ending was also quite different. Again, the ending was very one-sided, not budging that flatline up or down; it frustrated me to no end because I wanted there to be something, a change in our characters, a change in the way this book ended.

Also, the Alts barely said a single word, such as in the confrontation between West and her Alt, the climax of the book. Poor.

West, however, was a character I did like. She was stubborn to the point that stubbornness was tolerable because it showed that she would rather go into a fight with the first swing than stand back, cowering in the corner, waiting to be hit first. After all, look at the society that she lives in. Her protectiveness and sort of maternal trait comes out when she refrains from killing a boy for her Striker assignment but rather protects him from others, teaching him to fight, teaching him to protect himself. I liked her until the end, until the end where I thought something – something like realisation, or defiance (like she showed previously) – was going to make her drop her weapons and walk away, possibly hand in hand with her Alt to start a rebellion and bring down the higher powers of Kersh. But no.

The book on a whole, without thinking about what I would’ve like to have been done differently on Chapman’s part and getting all philosophical and humanitarian-like, was solid. Not the best. But solid. It was enjoyable, tense, suspenseful. If you’re after heavy, well developed and thought out science fiction or dystopians than you might want to look elsewhere. Dualed will spike your blood pressure; as well as your inner critic. But Elsie Chapman is surely an author to watch out for in years to come; she can write pretty great action scenes.

Thanks to Random House for Young Readers via NetGalley for the egalley to review.

What others said about this book:

Wendy @ The Midnight Garden:

All that said, this one definitely satisfies if you’re looking for a fast-paced, suspenseful read. I literally read it in a day, which is a statement in itself of its high entertainment factor!

Other books in this series:

1. Dualed (February, 2013)
2. Divided (February, 2014)

Title: Crusher
Author: Niall Leonard
Publication: October 1, 2012 by Doubleday (Random House Australia)
Format, pages: Paperback, 329
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Crime, Contemporary
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

To catch a killer, Finn Maguire may have to become one….

Everything changed the day Finn found his father in a pool of blood, bludgeoned to death. His dull, dreary life is turned upside downas he become’s the prime suspect. How can he clear his name and find out who hated his dad enough to kill him?

Facing danger at every turn, uncovering dark family secrets and braving the seedy London underworld,Finn is about to discover that only the people you trust can really hurt you….

Once I heard about the book: Finally a YA crime novel! After finishing the book: Finally… I’ve finished! Crusher by husband of Fifty Shades of Grey’s E.L. James Niall Leonard was not bad per se; it just needed a lot of improvement. I did not necessarily hate it, but there were a number of factors that contributed to Crusher not making an impression on me. Crusher was just a pretty average book with not much excitement in the ‘thriller’ department. The only reason I kept reading was to know the killer of Finn’s fath… stepfather. Not for Finn our protagonist. Not for anything else. Just to discover the killer. And by the time the major ‘twists’ and ‘surprises’ did come in the last fifty pages, I was not interested and could not have cared less who it was.

One factor that contributed to the way I felt about Crusher was that I just did not connect with Finn; he was far from the character I am, so there was nothing for me to associate with. There was nothing for me to sympathise with considering he is a school drop-out, past drug user and rebellious teenager, who has also experienced detention centres first hand. Such traits are not desirable, and although when we first meet Finn he has progressed beyond the rebellious teenager, there was not much of a change through the rest of the book as he goes on a quest to find his stepfather’s killer. Also Finn is dyslexic – if this was the trait that Finn possessed in order to make me sympathise for him, then it did not do what it was intended to achieve. Percy Jackson was so successful – and still is – with dyslexic children because it showed that they can be heroes as well. Although Finn somehow becomes a hero in his own right – he wasn’t someone that I cheered on though and I didn’t see him as a hero – he constantly referred to dyslexia as being his downfall for why he was illiterate and unqualified. Another undesirable trait: a lack of self-worth.

Finn’s character was emotionless for much of the time; another reason for why I couldn’t connect with him. Maybe it was because of his upbringing, the separation of his parents, or his rebellious past. Maybe it was because he was an apathetic individual. Finn showed absolutely no devastation when he found his stepfather murdered, yet this whole book was really about Finn finding the killer. It more out of curiosity at who the killer was than revenge or satisfaction when he does find the killer. And for the whole book there was no Awww’s and Ahhhh’s and Yesssss’s from me. It was interesting that Finn called his stepfather ‘Dad’. I don’t call my stepfather dad nor am I particularly fond of him (still after so many years – I shouldn’t even say that, but it’s true). But this may be a reason for why he wanted to find the killer; because his stepfather was all he had since his mother left them both years ago. Then again, we go back to the shrug and lack of sorrow and panic when Finn found his stepfather dead. I’m leaving this point there.

The cast of characters were lacklustre and the plot was all bone with little flesh. Even then, the bone that there was fell flat, continuing to thin out due to the lack of thrill this book promised. Although there was a scene that was made to get your heart galloping, it did not, and the whole book stayed at the same level throughout. The last fifty or so pages had the most turn of events, however I was not as pulled in by them as I was meant to be. I hate to say this, but I’m sure you won’t take much away from this book. Unless you want to discover the killer then go ahead; I’m not stopping you. You won’t be all that surprised.

Thank you to Random House Australia for providing a copy to review.

 Title: BZRK
 Author: Michael Grant
 Publication: March, 2012 by Hardie Grant Egmont ~ February 28,2012
 Format, pages: Paperback, 407
 Source: Publisher
 Finished on: December 11, 2011
My Rating:  

 A global war is raging. You can’t see it, but it’s happening all around you.

 Inside you.

 Down in the meat.

Welcome to the nano – the microscopic matrix where invisible armies will   determine the future of mankind. Here, the ultimate battle is for sanity. Losing is not an option when a world of madness is at stake.

BZRK.

An epic, ground-breaking new thriller from the author who gave us Gone…Writing just doesn’t get better than this.

 Goodreads || Book Depository

If you’re a big fan of Michael Grant’s Gone series like I am, and eagerly anticipating for Fear, then you are absolutely going to devour BZRK, the first book in his new thriller series. Where Gone was my entrée in 2010 and Plague my main course in 2011 (the books in between being complementary champagnes and refreshments), BZRK was my dessert – although filled with internal bodily environments, blood, bits of brain, and shards of bone, it was sweet and delectable the entire way through, or as they say, “cooked to perfection” – before my satisfying tea and biscuits – Fear – arrives in April. Yes, I understand you must think I’m delusional after spending over a year and a half in the restaurant called ‘The Fayz’ with a dessert special containing nanobots and a thrill ride… but I’m hooked. All I need is a hook-ah/er and I’d be even more hooked then I already am. Michael Grant can give me my hookah course so that way I can save the hooker course for when I find myself in Amsterdam again… BRAIDEN! You’re getting off-topic mate! Get with it! Okay I will.

So you’ve come here to read my thoughts on BZRK and yet you found me discussing hookers. All I can say is Michael Grant’s writing, his novels, his characters, his worlds, are a drug. Maybe Gone was the hookah in the first place. Oh God! I am getting totally sidetracked because I don’t know how to – or don’t really want to – write a review for this exciting and thrilling book. There’s one way to comprehend how I feel after reading it: BZRK literally f***s up your brain, your mind, as if an army of nanobots has invaded your cranial cavity and is now pulling and pushing and poking about, injecting every neuron in your brain with psychedelic drugs. Or it could feel like you’re undertaking aversion therapy (think of Clockwork Orange). Either way, I’m studying Psychology so I could well know what this “pleasurable” experience felt like. Or you know, going back to basics and being a so-called “adult”, it’s like eating your favourite dessert… where the psychedelics and dessert are one and the same. Round and round in circles I go.

Sensible time: In alternating perspectives we find ourselves introduced to Noah and Sadie, two separate individuals, an ocean dividing them, each with an event that is about to dramatically change their lives and thrust them into a war they never knew even existed. A war involving nanobots and biots, two opposing sides, which happens in the very meat of the individuals each side is either trying to defend, or attempting to succeed. Even by reading this, these microscopic DNA-based bots may have crawled onto your skin, into your eyes, your nose, your ears, scurrying along your optic nerve, your olfactory or trigeminal tracts, your auditory nerve, heading straight for your brain, their target, to invade, to control, to takeover your every action, your every thought, your every right as a human being on this planet. The next time you do something stupid or caught by the police for doing something against the law (like running a red light), blame it on the bots. Or give them Michael Grant’s number for your contact and let him explain the situation. He’s the creator. A damn phenomenal creator who knows how to twist your mind every which way humanly – and not-so humanly – possible.

But we can’t blame it on Michael Grant of course. So he gives us a pair of conjoined twins – Charles and Benjamin – to pile all the blame on. These twins have one goal: to “attempt” to make a better world. Do they succeed? You’ll find out. This “better world” is termed Nexus Humanus, where we become an interconnected species and able to communicate with one another more efficiently (like we don’t communicate enough!), to make one another an equal, with equal rights and equal lives – their view on what a utopia should be. Being conjoined is hard enough in a world where you are outed, different, targeted. So they’ve worked hard at this Nexus Humanus, to build it, and they’re going to do all it takes to make it work. Although they’re the true villains of this twisted society, we can’t blame them entirely for the war which has started. This war between the “baddies” working for the twins, the Armstrong Fancy Gift Corporation, and their nanobots. The “goodies”, those in the guerilla group BZRK – that also recruit Noah and Sadie – using DNA-derived biots to destroy the nanobots, to protect the very rights of the human being affected with these bots. Which side would you choose? They’re both fighting for a cause which they believe is right. And why shouldn’t they?

You may have seen goodies and baddies in quotation marks. That is because in BZRK there’s no point in taking sides. Each character in this book has the right to believe in what they want to believe in, to do the things they want to do, to be the person they want to be. There’s no denying them of that opportunity. Bugman who works for the twins is just a teenage boy like you and me, the teenage you will be like or how you were like. And when you put him besides Noah and Sadie, there’s really no difference. They have their dreams and aspirations even if it’s to do with revenge or just to find peace and happiness in the world around you. You feel sympathy for the “baddies” and the “goodies” and Michael Grant gives you access into each of their lives, their emotions and feelings. You begin to feel empathy to everyone. A trait we all must possess today. But looking out of one character’s eyes makes the other set of eyes, which you are directly glaring at, seem evil and sinister like a monster’s, and vice versa.

The only issue I did have with BZRK was the changing from macro to micro, the view of the human to the view of the bot/biot. It was confusing at first, but as you read and understand the descriptions and moments more, you find yourself automatically being transported from the macro to the micro, from being face to face to being face to brain. So as you change, it’s an automatic “transferral” of view which I’ll term it as. And this was my only issue – hence the half a star deduction – but everything else was sheer perfection and an enjoyment of epic proportions (DESSERT! hehehe).

And like I said: BZRK f***s you up hardcore.

*

Now when I think about it, I did feel an itch in my eye when I met Michael Grant in 2010 when he came to Melbourne (at Jam Factory’s Borders – now closed [blame it on the bots!]). Thought it was an eyelash but I’m beginning to think it was much more than just an eyelash…