There are elements of the world building that are done well, some behind the scene touches, such as the way that West avoids key areas because of the check-ins required, that illustrate that Chapman has spent some time really developing her story, which is why the parts that don’t work stand out so much. This element of the story was problematic for two reasons: 1) it was inconsistent with how her character is initially portrayed and 2) it slowed the pace and gave you a lot of time to think about the first issue. And yet, when she is activated, she goes on the run. After the first few chapters, she has literally lost everything. Our main character is West, who begin our story anxious to train. The very premise of this book stretches credibility and plausibility to extremes, which means that the others elements must be spot on to create buy in from your readers. Some background is given for how this version of the world came to be, but it is hard to imagine that there was a lot of buy in to this scenario. As hard as it is to imagine going into some type of arena to fight to the death, it is even harder to imagine a world where there is another with the same DNA mix out there that you must assassinate. There are elements of the story that are interesting, although also quite disturbing. Dualed joins a growing list of post Hunger Games seeming books where we see kids killing kids in some sort of test to see who will survive and to try and build the “best” possible society. Since I mentioned Dualed in my Mind Games review earlier today, I thought I should go ahead and review it. 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. though both have the power to destroy her.Įlsie Chapman’s suspenseful YA debut weaves unexpected romance into a novel full of fast-paced action and thought-provoking philosophy.

If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence.

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.

Dualed by elsie chapman