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Technically like 3.5 - 3.8 stars since this book is a strange one. Tbh, I haven't read a Lauren Oliver book in a long time. It was probably a good detox since I came to Replica with absolutely no expectations. In fact I was originally going to skip over Replica since Panic was drainingly bad, and though Vanishing Girls was better, it was still nothing like the Before I Fall or even Delirium (Book 1 only) that I read. The feeling wasn't the same. But Replica, has a gorgeous cover. Point A. Point B, is that I was just a little bit intrigued by the dual story going on. Plus The Quarterly Book Club right now is having a Science Fiction Quarterly Read so I figured, why not? If I have no expectations, it can't be horrible right?
I was right. SO first off I want to say, I really loved her writing in this. It's brief and emotive. Oliver's strongest points has always been her writing. And that was pretty evident in this one. The weak point for me though, is the plot is still like many of her other books, a bit thin. Things are happening, but the history or purpose for certain things aren't 100% clear.
In saying that though, this book reminded me of Oliver's earlier books. (Granted I haven't reread those, so the feeling might just be nostalgic with no truth at all to them.) And it reads REALLY FAST.
Which side to start first
It's best to start with LYRA's story first, because the feel of her existence is really fascinating. And I was glad I read her side first before Gemma's, otherwise, I probably would have thought maybe Gemma was a bit boring. But without knowing Lyra's side, I feel like you can't understand Gemma's as much.
Lyra's Story
Lyra is the Replica, and her side is shorter than Gemma's. The briefness of her side isn't filled with much plot. Rather it seems like she is a bigger part of the whole. The whole being, Gemma's side of the story that unfolds everything else. So for Lyra, it's more about what happens next, where is she going and why. What I liked most about her side of the story is that it's really a story about identity and the search for it, and what might it mean to her existence. She for one was pretty accepting of what she is, yet all around her are people who can't accept it. What I didn't like about her story is that it ends abruptly, hence why until I read Gemma's side, her story felt incomplete, as if it had been chopped in half.
Gemma's Story
Is more contemporary and less out of the ordinary. Her story reads like your classic girl out of her league story, just physically unliking herself, while never fitting in anywhere. And then it develops on a journey, also it seemed, of discovery, to find answers to thoughts in her head or mysteries that have surrounded her whole life. Along the way, she makes new friends and fights with old ones, and rediscovers who she is as well. By rediscovers, she begins to understand who she is.
Overall
As Oliver noted somewhere, Replica is a story about identity and I really see this in the story. This was perhaps my favourite part between Lyra and Gemma. It's funny since I had no expectations I found myself liking this more than I should. Indeed there are probably many questionable things about the story as a whole, but it was hard for me to put this down. Maybe what I was looking for, was a story that is nostalgic, brings back YA with a vengeance in ways I can't even explain (I think looking at what's popular lately, it's no surprise why YA doesn't feel like YA anymore: A Court of Thorns and Roses. Throne of Glass. I think I'm being far too mean here, but there's a difference between Maas' books and say....something else...anyway moving on), and just gives me something new to look at while being plain old cliched. The downside of Replica is the plot of course, that's one, and then I still have questions about Caelum (think I spelt that wrong), and Haven, and Saperstein and pretty much everything about the plot, as well as some after thoughts about certain issues raised but not dealt with. And funnily enough, Oliver does a lot of commenting on 'beautiful boy/beautiful body' in here, but compared to when I've seen this don in say...Maas's works...this was not that annoying. I think it works because Lyra has been separated from males for most of her life, so evidently male specimens become an object of fascination. But on a theme story wise about identity, on character development, I think both Lyra and Gemma did okay. Haha, this overall section doesn't seem like I'm giving much of a positive review, maybe it's the weather, or the down feels of the world right now, but there's probably a sense of ridiculousness to Replica that makes it really appreciating right now.
I was right. SO first off I want to say, I really loved her writing in this. It's brief and emotive. Oliver's strongest points has always been her writing. And that was pretty evident in this one. The weak point for me though, is the plot is still like many of her other books, a bit thin. Things are happening, but the history or purpose for certain things aren't 100% clear.
In saying that though, this book reminded me of Oliver's earlier books. (Granted I haven't reread those, so the feeling might just be nostalgic with no truth at all to them.) And it reads REALLY FAST.
Which side to start first
It's best to start with LYRA's story first, because the feel of her existence is really fascinating. And I was glad I read her side first before Gemma's, otherwise, I probably would have thought maybe Gemma was a bit boring. But without knowing Lyra's side, I feel like you can't understand Gemma's as much.
Lyra's Story
Lyra is the Replica, and her side is shorter than Gemma's. The briefness of her side isn't filled with much plot. Rather it seems like she is a bigger part of the whole. The whole being, Gemma's side of the story that unfolds everything else. So for Lyra, it's more about what happens next, where is she going and why. What I liked most about her side of the story is that it's really a story about identity and the search for it, and what might it mean to her existence. She for one was pretty accepting of what she is, yet all around her are people who can't accept it. What I didn't like about her story is that it ends abruptly, hence why until I read Gemma's side, her story felt incomplete, as if it had been chopped in half.
Gemma's Story
Is more contemporary and less out of the ordinary. Her story reads like your classic girl out of her league story, just physically unliking herself, while never fitting in anywhere. And then it develops on a journey, also it seemed, of discovery, to find answers to thoughts in her head or mysteries that have surrounded her whole life. Along the way, she makes new friends and fights with old ones, and rediscovers who she is as well. By rediscovers, she begins to understand who she is.
Overall
As Oliver noted somewhere, Replica is a story about identity and I really see this in the story. This was perhaps my favourite part between Lyra and Gemma. It's funny since I had no expectations I found myself liking this more than I should. Indeed there are probably many questionable things about the story as a whole, but it was hard for me to put this down. Maybe what I was looking for, was a story that is nostalgic, brings back YA with a vengeance in ways I can't even explain (I think looking at what's popular lately, it's no surprise why YA doesn't feel like YA anymore: A Court of Thorns and Roses. Throne of Glass. I think I'm being far too mean here, but there's a difference between Maas' books and say....something else...anyway moving on), and just gives me something new to look at while being plain old cliched. The downside of Replica is the plot of course, that's one, and then I still have questions about Caelum (think I spelt that wrong), and Haven, and Saperstein and pretty much everything about the plot, as well as some after thoughts about certain issues raised but not dealt with. And funnily enough, Oliver does a lot of commenting on 'beautiful boy/beautiful body' in here, but compared to when I've seen this don in say...Maas's works...this was not that annoying. I think it works because Lyra has been separated from males for most of her life, so evidently male specimens become an object of fascination. But on a theme story wise about identity, on character development, I think both Lyra and Gemma did okay. Haha, this overall section doesn't seem like I'm giving much of a positive review, maybe it's the weather, or the down feels of the world right now, but there's probably a sense of ridiculousness to Replica that makes it really appreciating right now.