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A review by lorilaws
Replica by Lauren Oliver
3.0
I consider myself a huge Lauren Oliver fan. She is one of my favorite authors. Delirium and Before I Fall completely blew me away. I was hoping to have that much love for Replica, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Replica has a really interesting concept. It’s actually 2 books in one or 2 POVs split up, however you want to look at it. You can read it however you like, cover to cover or alternating POVs. I chose to alternate, even though I had an eARC. It wasn’t as annoying to switch as I thought it would be. I enjoyed reading it that way. I was afraid that reading some of the same scenes twice would feel a bit tedious, but it didn’t.
Although Lyra and Gemma are in similar situations, their stories were very different. I think I enjoyed Lyra’s story a bit more. She was so…innocent? She has had this unfathomable life up to this point. I was definitely more invested in her story. I wanted things to be better for her. Gemma was also likeable. I just didn’t feel a huge connection with her. I didn’t love either of the romances either and that makes me sad. They were fine, but I just didn’t feel any sparks.
There’s a lot of mystery in Replica. Everyone seems to have secrets. No one is safe. This was the best part of the story for me. Unraveling the mystery with Lyra and Gemma was fun and sometimes anxiety inducing. There was a big twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. I love when that happens. We were left with a lot of questions, but a lot were also answered before the end of the book.
Haven and the concept of the replicas was really fascinating. It was almost eerie. There were snippets of backstory about Haven. You get glimpses of what life was like in Haven from Lyra and it was depressing. Since having children I have a tendency to get emotional in regards to babies and small kids in bad situations. There’s quite a bit of that in this book. It was sad, but important to the story.
Overall, Replica was a captivating read. I wish that I could’ve connected with the characters a bit more. I also would’ve liked it if the pace would have moved faster at times. This book was no Delirium or Before I Fall, but it kept me turning pages. I plan to pick up book two and hopefully unravel more of the mystery.
Replica has a really interesting concept. It’s actually 2 books in one or 2 POVs split up, however you want to look at it. You can read it however you like, cover to cover or alternating POVs. I chose to alternate, even though I had an eARC. It wasn’t as annoying to switch as I thought it would be. I enjoyed reading it that way. I was afraid that reading some of the same scenes twice would feel a bit tedious, but it didn’t.
Although Lyra and Gemma are in similar situations, their stories were very different. I think I enjoyed Lyra’s story a bit more. She was so…innocent? She has had this unfathomable life up to this point. I was definitely more invested in her story. I wanted things to be better for her. Gemma was also likeable. I just didn’t feel a huge connection with her. I didn’t love either of the romances either and that makes me sad. They were fine, but I just didn’t feel any sparks.
There’s a lot of mystery in Replica. Everyone seems to have secrets. No one is safe. This was the best part of the story for me. Unraveling the mystery with Lyra and Gemma was fun and sometimes anxiety inducing. There was a big twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. I love when that happens. We were left with a lot of questions, but a lot were also answered before the end of the book.
Haven and the concept of the replicas was really fascinating. It was almost eerie. There were snippets of backstory about Haven. You get glimpses of what life was like in Haven from Lyra and it was depressing. Since having children I have a tendency to get emotional in regards to babies and small kids in bad situations. There’s quite a bit of that in this book. It was sad, but important to the story.
Overall, Replica was a captivating read. I wish that I could’ve connected with the characters a bit more. I also would’ve liked it if the pace would have moved faster at times. This book was no Delirium or Before I Fall, but it kept me turning pages. I plan to pick up book two and hopefully unravel more of the mystery.