Replica by Lauren Oliver (2016)

Lyra’s real name is 24, and has never known life outside the Haven Institute. She is a replica, a human model based on the DNA of an actual human being. Her days are filled with tests to make sure she’s maintaining her abilities and following the nurse's’ orders. The only reason she can read is because a former nurse taught her, and ever since, she’s been stealing files to study. In the last few days, things have been hectic; male Replica 72 has gone missing, and all the possessions in her life are being threatened to be taken away. So, at a time with low security, she takes her belonging outside to hide, and finds replica 72. While they’re outside, the Haven Institute blows up, and sends them both out to the swamps, fighting for survival. There, they run into Gemma, which has the face of replicas, but it human. With Gemma is Jake, and together they convince Lyra and 72 to come with them to safety. As Lyra and 72 try to understand the real world, Gemma and Jake come closer and closer to finding out the mystery of the Haven Institute, and when they all truly discover the truth of what they’ve been missing, worlds will explode.

. I have anticipated Replica ever since it was announced. I am a pretty big fan of Lauren Oliver’s, and I feel like with every book release, she improves her writing. With Replica, I was overall pleased, and I felt had a really original concept. To be fair, I also really like the book’s cover.

The way this book works is it’s split into two books: Lyra’s and Gemma’s. On the front side is Lyra’s (the purple butterfly), and when you flip the book around, it’s Gemma’s side (the orange butterfly). Supposedly, you can read the books as stand alones, but Lauren Oliver said the both books play off of each other. You can also read the books one after the other, or go back and forth on chapters. The chapters option seemed like a lot of hassle, so I read Lyra’s book first, and the Gemma’s. Now that I’ve read both, I would recommend reading Gemma’s first. I felt like Gemma’s story had a lot more background knowledge that helped move the story forward. I know there’s supposed to be some knowledge missing from both stories, but there was almost so much information missing from Lyra’s side that it was sometimes hard to follow. I also completely mis-charactered Gemma into being a lot older than she actually was/

I still found Lyra’s perspective to be interesting, though. This is someone that has never been taught any language, and only knows words she has picked up through overhearing talk. So, she had a lot of interesting, and sometimes comical, names for average day objects. It was almost like seeing the world through toddler’s eyes. That being said, I still thought that she was a really strong character. She and 72 were very strategic with the knowledge they had. Granted, they didn’t have a lot of knowledge, so their decisions sometimes backfired on them. Still, it was obvious that they were trying really hard to understand the new world. I also really liked Gemma. I felt that she was realistic and believable. In YA, it’s seen a lot that when the main character is put in an out-out-this-world situation, she knows exactly what to do and prevails automatically. This was not the case. Instead, Gemma acted like any teenage girl would act in her situation, which means she made some wrong decisions.

Despite some difficulties with the actual reading, I really enjoyed Replica. There is a sequel coming out, but I don’t know if I’ll be reading, because the book wrapped up perfectly as it is.  

4 Stars