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.
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.
