*A Copy Was Provided By Publisher For Review* Dualed is set in a society where everyone has a twin and between ages ten to twenty you will get your assignment. The assignment? hunt down your twin within thirty days and kill them before they kill you. I thought Dualed was a really interesting book it reminded me of The Hunger Gamed but still had it's own unique twist to that kept me entertained throughout the entire book. West our main character was really great, I thought she had a good head on her shoulders considering everything she has gone through, from her parents and sibling dying to her getting her assignment at age fifteen. Chord was a great character even though you don't see him as much as I would have liked, there was a spark that was hard to ignore I would like to see more of him in the sequel. The story itself was really good if a little slow at times and I did not always agree with West's decisions about her assignment and her side job she picks up. My one major complaint for the book is that I found at times that things were rushed, one moment West has a month for her assignment then the next chapter it skips to ten days left, that got on my nerves a bit I would have liked a little more detail. Overall I thought this book was really good and I think fans of The Hunger Games will enjoy it and I look forward to seeing what happens in the next book.

This book begins with a pretty interesting concept. It's a world where every person has an alternate, another them walking around and they're both waiting and training for the day when they'll be activated. To be activated means they will have a month to track down and kill their alternate, leaving only one of them alive who will "be worthy" "be the one". Fifteen year old West lives in this world and has been training her whole life to one day defeat her alternate. I really enjoyed being in West's head through this book. I found her to be a great character with realistic reactions. Preparing and training can never come close to the real thing. She proved to be smart, resourceful, and caring. She did spend a lot of time alone so unfortunately it meant less time to develop other characters. I really would have liked to see more of Chord. I would have liked more in-depth world-building since I was left with a lot of questions. They want the strongest Alt to be the one alive in the end but accidents happen, people get lucky shots, the rich have an advantage over the poor. Why is a fight to the death against your Alt the best way of determining your worthiness to live? I can understand why we didn't get a lot of information about the world since it's written from a fifteen year old girl's POV and the only answers she has are the ones the government decides to share with the public. The story moved along pretty quickly and there's quite a few tense fight scenes and cat-and-mouse scenes with West tracking or being tracked by her Alt. At times I did find it moved too fast and it meant missing some opportunities for characters growth. What I really loved was the flashbacks to a younger West and her family. I will be reading the second book. I'm interested to find out where the story goes from here and to see if the next book brings any more answers. *I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

View more of my review and others at my blog: www.mynotsovacantshelf.blogspot.com From the moment I heard about Dualed I knew immediately that I wanted to read it. The synopsis alone draws you in. When I started reading I did get a large Hunger Games vibe, and when I finished I realized that it was similar to the Hunger Games in the dystopian society where children kill other children way. But, this one is different. There are no TVs to capture the even, and they are not secluded. They dual an alternate version of themselves to prove who is the strongest and who will help defend the city should anything happen. And they do it all in broad day-light right in the middle of their cities. But I can’t deny that there were still a lot of similarities between Dualed and The Hunger Games even down to their characters. There is the boy who will do anything to save the girl, and the girl who walks around completely numb, emotionless, and robotic. Even having admitted that I still loved the book and I especially loved the characters. There was a lot of scenic description and even just some inner thoughts that I thought the book could do with out, but still I was rooting for West and I couldn’t stop reading about her ‘active’ journey. West meets others along the way—some she helps, some she puts in harms way, but her journey was one that I found interesting. I have a feeling that the next in the series, like The Hunger Games, will start to show the people and even West revolting against the way things are and I personally can’t wait to see what happens next. Good: West—Even when she is avoiding fighting she is still teaching herself how to fight. She’s confused, and strong. Chord—Chord was a character that I loved from the start. He is tech savvy and does everything he possibly can to protect West. She’s all he has left. Bad: The familiarity between The Hunger Games is a little offsetting. I felt, on occasion, like I was cheating on The Hunger Games. Like “May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favour” this novel also had a government slogan “Be the one, be worthy.” A little too Hunger Games for me. Again there was a lot of description and inner monologue that I thought was not necessary. And finally, I didn’t like how West sort of accepts how things are. She signs up to be a Striker! And later on just accepts that she has to kill. I don’t know what the next book in the series will bring, but I hope it brings a West that is more morally aligned. Overall (Writing style, story line, and general): Overall, I enjoyed it. I believe that it does deserve the four stars that I gave, and the series sound promising. The writing was easy to follow, and nothing really needed to be explained. I wasn’t confused by lingo (because it was always explained in a timely fashion). There wasn’t much wrong with the writing (at least that I could find, and especially for an uncorrected proof). I found Dualed by Elisa Chapman to be charming, emotional, adventurous, and overall a really good read; it’s a series that I hope to continue with. This book was provided courtesy of the publisher for review; however, this is no way affected my review.