First
and foremost Happy Memorial Day everyone.
I hope you all enjoy your day and thank those who have fought so hard
for us to enjoy our lives and freedoms.
It
was my great pleasure to receive another sequel to read and review thanks to
NetGalley and Random House Children's. It
was provided to me for an honest opinion and as I enjoyed the first book I was
eager to read book 2 which comes out tomorrow, May 27th.
Divided by Elsie Chapman is the sequel
to the Dualed which I previously
reviewed here. A dystopian series about
a world protected from the Surround, the only catch to live in the safety you must prove yourself and be a killer. Each person is born with an Alt, an alternate
them which upon activation both Alts have 30 days to find one another and
kill. Only one can live if neither
finishes both die. Only the worthy can
live and protect the city if the walls should ever fall. A tough society. Everyone who completes is considered worthy
and accept for few acceptations, a killer.
Now from here there are spoilers for Book 1 so read on at your own
risk. In Dualed we left our main character West dealing with her completion and adjusting to what she did by becoming a striker, assassin for hire, to hone her skills and dull out the pain of losing the last of her family. Some may not agree with her choice. I personally look at it from an objective angle. I'm not in that situation, thankfully, and enjoy the ride. Besides if characters made decisions we wanted every single time there wouldn't be any story and wouldn’t be unique. Now West is done with that life, only the nightmares and marks to remind her. She has plans for her future with Chord, as a complete, making plans is more real and solid.
That
is until a head honcho from the board, those who control everything, approaches
West with an offer she can't refuse.
Become a striker again for 3 unworthies for a chance at something much
more precious. Is anything worth going
back to that? And is there really a
choice? What happens when she realizes
she's been lied to and in order to secure her future she'll have to dig deeper
to get to the bottom of things without endangering everyone she has left.
Much
like Dualed this book is not only
about the action and violence as it may seem but more importantly it's about
ones struggle of self worth. West has
been through so much and is just starting to get her feet on solid ground when
the rug is ripped out from under her yet again.
Life is all about the choices we make and how we live our lives.
 |
| It's not always this clear... |
As
a character, West is different and I don't always agree with her train of
thought sure but I can see her struggle with it and that back and forth with oneself. Still I like her and root for her get through
it. See where she saw a choice given to
her I didn't. I saw a threat laid out
like a choice which is how I looked at everything that happened and sometimes
when she would go through her rationalizations though I might not agree I still
enjoyed hearing her ideas. Then you have
the sturdy Chord who is her rock and you had to admit easy to love. He struggles with the past like West and with
everything she does now but he loves her and he wants to be there for her even
when he struggles to accept some things.
In
Divided we get a better understanding
of the world itself. Before it as about
the Alts and the program to keep them all strong. Now we see more into that and how it came
about, which was really interesting and have much more dimension. Seeing behind the curtain of the world and
how it ticks and everyone works inside like bees of a hive. I give Divided
4-4.5 Stars. It had everything I expected
in a sequel and I enjoyed it. Share your
thoughts and comments below, I want to know what you think about this series
and/or premise.
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