Replica

Replica
By Lauren Oliver
Harper, 2016. 236 pgs, 284 pgs. Young Adult

The first thing you need to know about this book is that it is two books in one. Replica tells the stories of Lyra and Gemma in a flip-book fashion. You can read one story in it's entirety  and then the other (which is what I did) or read alternating chapters. Once you read the first story, you flip the book over to read the second story.

Lyra is a replica, or what we might call a clone, and has lived at the Haven Institute in Florida her entire life. Haven is a facility surrounded by military guards and secrets. Most people have no clue what is happening on the private island where it is housed, including the replicas living there. Lyra only knows Haven as her home, but when an explosion rocks the island, she along with 72 (another replica) escape to see what there is beyond the Haven walls.

Gemma is a normal girl, except she has always felt less than normal because she is overweight. She is the only child of wealthy parents. Her father was one of the co-founders of Fine and Ives, a pharmaceutical company, although he parted ways with the company after a lengthy legal battle. Gemma doesn't know the history of why her dad and the company split, but she does know that whatever happened, her parents don't want to tell her about it. After an incident involving a Frankenstein mask and almost being kidnapped, Gemma  decides she needs to know more about Fine and Ives. Her research leads her to discover Haven, so she decides to go to Florida to see what she can learn.

This book is sci-fi with plenty of mystery elements mixed in. I found it to be extremely captivating and am anxious to read the sequel that should come out in 2017.

AMM