Dualed (Dualed, #1)

by Elsie Chapman

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Coincidentally, I have dual feelings on Dualed. On one hand, I loved it! On the other, I was annoyed by the questionable world building and the fact that it's the first book in a series. It starts off the day of West's father's funeral. Her whole family is gone, except for her and her older brother, Luc. While sitting down to eat, their friend Chord is "activated." It's now time for him to kill his Alt or be killed. The three immediately take off to do the job, but while it had the outcome they hoped for, there was a peripheral kill which causes West to become a bit desperate. Instead of waiting around to be activated, she joins the strikers (assassins for Alts) to get in some real training. Then it's her time to kill or be killed.

The premise of Dualed is really great and exciting, but like I said, the world building is questionable. I spent the first handful of chapters just wondering why this is all happening. There is an explanation involving war (isn't it always?) but it didn't satisfy me. The whole point of creating Alts is to weed out the weak and leave the strong for an army. But really, all they're doing is pitting two people who look alike (this is basically all Alts have in common) against each other, and getting the best of those two. You killed your Alt, but you could still be a worse fighter than hundreds of others who killed theirs. Wouldn't it make more sense to train all of the kids and then do some kind of bracket fighting for each class to see who really is the best? There's still unnecessary violence, but at least then it actually provides the wanted results: the best of the best, not just the better out of two. I had a few more issues with this world, but that's the gist of it.

Dualed could have been a solid 4★ or 4.5★ read for me, since I absolutely could not put it down once the story got going! West is kind of on the run. She's in denial about that. She has 31 days to kill her Alt, but she spends most of the time hiding out and taking on more striker jobs. She tells herself it's for more practice, but really, the idea of killing someone who looks just like her is messing with her head. She doesn't know this girl at all, but still, it's creepy. There's also a minor romance going on between West and her friend Chord. He helps her with her assignment whether she wants it or not, and he's a great support. There are no major scenes of them together, confessing their love; it all just happens naturally.

The ending was also perfect! Dualed could have easily been left as a standalone. There's closure and a sense of hope, and no cliffhanger! The ending was a real ending! Sure, there was no cliche rebellion and fighting the system, but that ending worked. Now, Divided is the cliche fighting the system sequel, and it kind of ruined this one for me. Oh well.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.