Replica (Replica, #1)

by Lauren Oliver

From the New York Times bestselling author of BEFORE I FALL and the Delirium Trilogy, come two astonishing stories in one epic, masterful novel that explores the issues of individuality, identity, and humanity.

Lyra's story begins in the Haven Institute, a building tucked away on a private island off the coast of Florida that from a distance looks serene and even beautiful. But up close the locked doors, military guards, and biohazard suits tell a different story. In truth, Haven is a clandestine research facility where thousands of replicas, or human models, are born, raised, and observed. When a surprise attack is launched on Haven, two of its young experimental subjects - Lyra, aka number 24, and the boy known only as 72 - manage to escape.

Gemma has been in and out of hospitals for as long as she can remember. A lonely teen, her life is circumscribed by home, school, and her best friend, April. But after she is nearly abducted by a stranger claiming to know her, Gemma starts to investigate her family's past and discovers her father's mysterious connection to the secretive Haven Institute. Hungry for answers, she travels to Florida, only to stumble upon two replicas and a completely new set of questions.

While the stories of Lyra and Gemma mirror each other, each contains breathtaking revelations critically important to the other story. Using a downloadable chapter guide, listeners can decide how they would like to listen to the audiobook, as with the print version. They can listen to the story of Gemma or Lyra straight through first, followed by the other girl's story, or they can move between chapters in Lyra's and Gemma's sections. No matter how it is listened to, REPLICA is an ambitious, thought-provoking masterwork.

(P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

• ISBN10: 0062394177
• ISBN13: 9780062394170
• Publish Date: 20 June 2017 (first published 4 October 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 560
• Language: English

Reviews

[Katie King]

so. i agree with everyone else that the flipped sides are just a gimmick. alternating the perspectives is probably going to work best for most people even though it’s fkn annoying to keep flipping your book.

agree with everyone that there was a good opportunity for a moral dilemma here, but we didn’t really see it outside of Gemma’s dad (a bit). what we DID see was a LOT OF INSTALOVE. A LOT. holy fk if you’re into instalove, this is the perfect book for you.

i don’t understand the purpose of a lot that happened like: jake? gemma’s dad being angry? dr emily? dr o’donnell?

tbh i prefered Lyra’s side by a mile and would rather read a whole book about her. she started out good but once she joined up with Lyra, she just became a swooning teenage girl with ~feelings~. Gemma sucks and i’m SO TIRED of hearing how fat/gross she is. i thought we were past this in YA. ffs.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I think what Lauren Oliver set out to do here insofar as format is really interesting and original – Replica is a flip book, meaning that instead of having an integrated POV, you can literally flip the book over and start the other POV afterward… or read chapter-by-chapter. Reader’s choice! As an audiobook listener, the choice was made for me (all one, then the other) but I do appreciate the concept and think it was a cool idea.

The audiobook read’s Lyra’s POV first, then flips the book over to Gemma’s POV, so I’m going to address it like that… almost like two different stories that intermingle.

Lyra’s POV is interesting. In Lyra’s perspective, we see a little of Haven. We see a world where people are cloned in order to grow viruses and test medication. An illegal operation of a science-fiction (maybe even dystopian) sort, I thought that the world building in this half (44%, realistically) was promising. Had the story continued with the revelation of Haven and further development of the sci-fi elements, I think I may have enjoyed Replica. I’ve always found cloning to be an interesting dystopian element, but unfortunately, Lauren Oliver did not follow that storyline. In fact, I felt like Lyra’s POV stopped rather abruptly.

Gemma’s POV was such a contrast to Lyra’s. Gemma almost always describes herself in terms of her weight. She talks constantly about her lack of experience and how her weight keeps people from looking at her… generally, there was a lot of focus on this, and there’s a difference between representing a minority and making the whole thing unnecessarily uncomfortable by saying, “hey! look at his! an overweight MC!” over and over again. So immediately, as we’re getting into Gemma’s POV, I found myself a bit repelled by it. The deeper into the book I got, the less believable her situation seemed. She runs away to Florida and ultimately, her parents let it happen, and so does her best friend. She becomes quick friends with two different boys who are both attracted to her and speak to her in an uncomfortably familiar way, and there are no red flags about this? In fact, her first kiss and main romance is with a guy she herself calls “Pervy Pete”.

So, you know, that’s the quality of romance we’re working with here.

If I had started with Gemma’s POV, I absolutely would have DNF’d this book. But Lyra’s POV was interesting, with a lot of potential in world building. I kept waiting for some proper closure for Lyra, and that’s what kept me going through Gemma’s POV. But honestly? I found the ending unsatisfying. There were so many things that could have happened, so much more excitement, but I never felt we got plot closure.

So while the physical concept was cool, and plot had promise, I don’t particularly recommend Replica. It did not deliver.

This book had an interesting premise, and it was enjoyable, but it had so much more potential. The characters were bland, they were drawn to every single male they met, and please just talk to your best friend, she deserves to know the truth!


My main issues with this book:

- Fat and thin shaming
- Gemma’s parents are wealthy and even though they are worried when she disappears, they don’t actually do anything to make sure she is okay?
- The water had alligators, but they are okay walking through it for a very long time?
- Switching the novel upside down to read the perspective of the other person was really annoying. It would have been so much better if it was done like in normal books with multiple perspectives.
- It was super repetitive
- April was used as plot device instead of being a real character

It was enjoyable, but it was not entertaining enough for me to read the next book in this series.

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

4.25★ Audiobook⎮ I feel pretty good about giving this book 4.25 stars and rounding down to 4 stars on Goodreads. Replica is a perfect example of a story that is “good, but not great”. It was perfectly enjoyable and there was nothing wrong with it, per se. But I didn’t find it quite as “epic” as the cover suggests.

I think that may be at least partially due to the audiobook translation. In traditional form, the idea of splitting this novel into two parts and allowing it to be read from either direction is a lot more appealing than it comes across as an audiobook. For one thing, the listener loses the option of hearing the latter story first because you have no idea where it begins. Without that element, a lot of Replica’s novelty and marketability are lost. For that reason, Replica felt more generic than I believe it was intended to be.

With that said, Replica was still intriguing story. The pacing was enjoyable and I appreciate Lauren Oliver biding her time while divulging information instead of unloading it in concentrated doses. There was a good amount of action, which was methodically spaced throughout the novel.

The Science Fiction elements were adjusted appropriately to fit the Young Adult age group. There was nothing overly technical or complicated about its SciFi aspects and it also wasn’t your stereotypical YA gush-fest. It somewhat reminded me of Veronica Roth’s Divergent series, if a little more simplistic.

Replica was an easy listen, especially considering its Science Fiction elements. I would not be opposed to hearing its sequel, which debuts this upcoming October, but I also won’t be itching to get my hands on it. Replica was more of a “take it or leave it” kind of story for me, although I did enjoy the fact that it was partially set near my hometown in North Carolina. I think this series has potential to grow and evolve (as do its characters) with each installment, so I am a bit curious to see how Oliver develops it.

Narration review: The dual narration definitely helped convey the “two stories” approach Oliver took when writing Replica. Sarah Drew (April Kepner from Grey’s Anatomy, FYI) voiced Lyra in the first half of the book and Erin Spencer voiced Gemma in the second half. Sarah Drew also narrated Lauren Oliver’s Delirium trilogy. I always seem to struggle while listening to Drew’s narration because I so strongly associate her voice with her Grey’s Anatomy character. Strangely enough, even though I have heard Erin Spencer narrate several other titles, I didn’t seem to have the same problem with her.

Not only was it the right call to have two narrators for this audiobook, but having two narrators with such distinctly different vocal tones made the listening experience that much easier. This distinction cemented the “two girls, two stories” concept in my mind in a way that the book couldn’t have. In the case of Replica, I cannot make a recommendation between the book and the audiobook, as I feel that they both provide something to the story that the other cannot. So if you have a chance, why not try them both? ♣︎

[Stephanie]

Gemma side > Lyra side. I don't think Lyra's story was strong enough to stand on its own. And I could have read Gemma's as a stand alone book with some of Lyra's details mixed in. It was "aight".

[Kelly]

3.5
Replica is a unique narrative that places the reader in command. A storyline of two girls as distinct as their points of view. I begun reading Replica in alternating chapters but found Lyra's point of view much more engaging and read her narrative to completion. Lyra was inquisitive, emotive and lives a solitary existence within the walls of the institute. She's charmingly naive as she begins to explore her world and the existence beyond the compound where she meets a male Replica. Only known as Seventy Two, the engineered teen is confused and disorientated before domestic terrorists strike the facility.

Escaping confinement, Lyra and Seventy Two discover a world beyond the Haven Institute, a world in which Gemma and her companion Pete are seeking answers.

Once a fragile and sickly young girl, Gemma is now a young woman who has been victimised by the taunting of her peers. While her mother is determined to ensconce her only child, it's Gemma's relationship with her father that has deteriorated and provokes Gemma to pursue answers. Although Gemma's character was engaging, she felt incredibly tedious and accepting of her circumstances. What begins as a road trip with Gemma and the local pervert, soon develops into a tentative yet awkward romance. Two virtual strangers thrown together and finding love, thankfully the romance didn't overwhelm the storyline although I would prefer a friendship or alliance as an alternative.

At Haven, the female and male Replica population were segregated and Lyra was in the process of forming an emotional connection with her fellow female Replicas. She understood the concept of love but not the realisation and I felt may have been a missed opportunity to explore a same sex relationship rather than the physical attraction to Seventy Two.

Lauren Oliver is an author who is imaginative and prolific, but her narratives can appear hollow and passive. Her middle grade series is absolutely wonderful and I wonder if perhaps that's where her imagination and creativity resides. I enjoyed Replica but had expected more, although the lyrical aspect woven throughout was lovely. I anticipate that the next installation in the series will focus on character development so readers can form an emotional attachment and invest in their plight. Fingers crossed.

[Sam@WLABB]

I was super excited to score on of these at BEA back in May (I had to wait on the drop line twice), because I am so enamored with Oliver. Once again, Lauren Oliver creates in intriguing story filled with all sorts of mayhem - clones, conspiracies, murder, secrets, and lies. In between all that mayhem, she planted some very sweet moments of first love with first kisses and everything.

Yes this story has clones and bombers and secret government projects, but at the heart of this, it's a story about two girls who feel like they don't quite belong in their world. I loved the parallels between the lives of Lyra and Gemma. Although on grew up in a testing facility and the other grew up in a lavish mansion, they both had so many of the same fears. An message that resonated with me as I fret over the current climate in my country.

This book is fairly quick paced, and filled with lots of fleeing and hiding and lying, but Oliver also gave us some humor. I especially loved Pete. Pete had so much more depth as a person, than he was originally given credit for, and I liked getting to peel away those layers as he heart was slowly revealed.

I was a little let down by the ending. Each ending (both Gemma's and Lyra's) just did not give me any sort of closure. It seemed more like the ending of an episode versus a book. Lo and behold! Goodreads lists a Replica 2 book, so perhaps, I will get the answers/closure I need.

Interesting concept, with the reading getting some choice of how to read it (I read Gemma and then Lyra all the way through). I am looking forward to more of this story and have great expectations for this series.