I loved the formate of this story. I was equally invested in both sides of the story. I think i enjoyed this story so much because of how I read it, one chapter from each side. I really loved the whole cast of characters and hope in the next book (final book) we delve into the main characters as tad more. I loved the world building in this novel and also how it was so hard to predict the twists. It was a very fast pace story but so heartbreaking at points. I hope to read book 2 soon. It was the first lauren silver book that made me want to come back to the world and i hope to try out more of her other books in the future. ( )

I loved the formate of this story. I was equally invested in both sides of the story. I think i enjoyed this story so much because of how I read it, one chapter from each side. I really loved the whole cast of characters and hope in the next book (final book) we delve into the main characters as tad more. I loved the world building in this novel and also how it was so hard to predict the twists. It was a very fast pace story but so heartbreaking at points. I hope to read book 2 soon. It was the first lauren silver book that made me want to come back to the world and i hope to try out more of her other books in the future. ( )

Replica/Lauren Oliver I keep having such high hopes for Oliver's books. Before I Fall is one of my top five books of all time, but nothing else she's written has compared. Conceptually, I always get really excited, but Replica too fell flat of my expectations.
 
I'd definitely recommend reading this in alternating chapters. Otherwise, I don't really see the point of reading whoever's story you read second. I'm incredibly indecisive so I decided to read them in alternating chapters and I'm glad I did--there weren't spoilers, persay, but you know what's going to happen.
 
I really love the premise of having the same story from two different viewpoints...but I just don't  think it was necessary here. I love the idea Oliver was going for, that people view events in extremely different ways, but I found a lot of the repeated scenes felt a little redundant. (Maybe they wouldn't have if I'd read them one at a time?)
 
This nonetheless was a solid read and I enjoyed the mystery behind the clones, though I found it a little hard to buy.
 
Once again, a great premise from Lauren Oliver that didn't meet my hopes. ( )

Teen-YA level. I enjoyed this book! It was presented so differently, two stories in one, but with a twist (of the wrists) to read each. One story was from Lyra's perspective, then flip the entire book over and you get Gemma's story. The interesting thing is that, of course they are going to connect, but you don't know when or where. You, as the reader, get to decide when to flip. I read about that situation a bit before starting the book and found that some people read it traditionally, one girl's story first all the way through, then flipped to the other. Some people flipped with each chapter. I started with Lyra until it felt right, or a little confusing perhaps, before flipping. I preferred Lyra's story, so tended to stick with her longer. Some reviewers complained about the suddenness of the relationship with a boy for each girl, but I didn't find it sudden or unthinkable at all. I liked how their two perspectives filled in some missing information to each other's story. I thought it was well written and am looking forward to the next book in the series! ( )

Interesting look at cloning and human experimentation from the perspective of two girls—one who has grown up in a lab as a human guinea pig, and another whose father is responsible for the experiments, and who is trying to figure out what exactly her connection is to the Haven Institute. Really good emotional exploration.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
( )

I quite liked the idea of the plot and where it was heading but I felt the writing of the book just let it down. None of the characters seemed 3-dimensional and the main female characters spent far too much time inappropriately thinking about the boys they had just met or had not giving much thought to before. It was unrealistic, crude and just disappointing. You'd hope that you could read about characters who didn't think about boys' lips or abs in the middle of a stressful scene.
And while I did like the plot I did feel it never really took off. With the unique formatting of the book everything was repeated and dragged out so I never really felt any urgency. I did read this a chapter from each side at a time, which may have added to that but I didn't want to read the same book twice. And actually with each side being 250/290 pages there just wasn't enough time to fully explore the plot.
I'll have to wait and see what the plot is for the next one but I'm not really intrigued enough to read book two when it comes out. ( )

I found this book to be a little dry. I think lots of people were excited for this book because of the format where on one side is one girl's story and then you can flip it over for the other story. I think this is an interesting format but I read a book with a similar format called [b:Sincerely, Sophie; Sincerely, Katie|7237471| Sincerely, Sophie; Sincerely, Katie|Courtney Sheinmel|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347246534s/7237471.jpg|8159955] and I own a book called [b:Only Revolutions|40152|Only Revolutions|Mark Z. Danielewski|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1285310946s/40152.jpg|892647] by [a:Mark Z. Danielewski|13974|Mark Z. Danielewski|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1348252837p2/13974.jpg] who wrote house of leaves which also has a similar format, so this idea wasn't was new or exciting to me as it may have been to some people. As far as the actual story goes I thought it had a lot of potential to be interesting but I was often a little bored while reading it. None of the things that were supposed to surprise me every really did, I didn't think that either of the main girls, Gemma and Lyra, really ever had a chance to develop strong personalities which lead to me not really enjoying either of their characters. I read this book flipping back and forth after each chapter which I think did work fairly well and I really have no interesting in re-reading this book using a different method though someone else could choose to just read one side straight through and then switch to the next and I don't think much would be lost. I think if you do read it that way start with Lyra's side, just because I found her story to be more boring so it might be better to end the book on a stronger note and read Gemma's side second. There was also a lot of insta-love in this book and that is something I really don't like and the author also sort of included a love triangle so that is two different relationship tropes that I really do not enjoy crammed into one book. Overall I thought this was definitely an interesting concept for a book but I don't feel like the format added anything very interesting to the story and like I said I've seen books like this before. The switching perspectives weren't too repetitive or anything but it didn't add anything to the story either. I may read the next book in the series but this book didn't leave off on a cliffhanger or anything so I'm not dying to find out what happens next or anything. definitely just an average book. ( )

I enjoyed this two for one book. One side is Lyra's story, her life as a replica, kept on an island, for medical experimentation, told she isn't human. The other side is Gemma's, who's lived a sheltered life of luxury, isolated by social cruelty, feeling alien. The stories interconnect in interesting, yet implausible ways, the coincidences that set up the overarching story line are a little hard to take. Gemma just happens to find the right person to get her to Haven, which she's just found out about? Most of them are on Gemma's side of the story, pushing the series starter along. But it is definitely a starter with a cliff hanger ending--lots more questions at the end than at the beginning. If you like clone stories, this one is one you will want to read.

I did not read this in alternating chapters, I read Lyra's story then Gamma's. If you want me to read the chapters alternating--don't make me flip the book, I don't want more than one bookmark. ( )

I hesitated between 3 and 4 stars but overall I really enjoyed the book. Replica very much felt like only half the story that has to be told, so I'm really glad there's a sequel. Otherwise, it would've been very unsatisfying. ( )

This review is also featured on Behind the pages: Replica

The only life Lyra knows is the one locked behind Haven’s walls. There are endless rounds of needles and medicine, tests and doctors. She lives with other replicas, humans created from the cells of their duplicates. To watch another replica die is just another day to Lyra. When the chance to escape arises, Lyra is thrown into a world she has no idea how to survive.

Gemma lives a sheltered life, with parents who are afraid she is made of glass. As a child, she endured countless surgeries to stay healthy, and grow into the young woman she is now. She’s always been annoyed but understanding with her parents. Until Gemma begins to noise around in her father’s business and discovers a place called Haven.

I loved the dual stories told in Replica and the writing style Lauren Oliver chose. Readers can read the two stories in whatever order they want. But, instead of alternating chapters between the two characters I read Lyra first and then Gemma. Lyra’s story carried more of a sci-fi feel as she was brought up in the lab. A large part of her story revolved around what happened in Haven, and how different she felt being a replica. She was raised to believe she was an object; she wasn’t an actual person.

Gemma’s storyline was more of a typical young adult novel. She’s an insecure girl, sheltered and lonely. She’s learning about boys, and how she’s beginning to see them differently and is embarrassed about it. She is a bit vain, which did at times annoy me, but she grew up being teased for her surgery scars and being overweight. Of course, she sees the world in from the eyes of someone who thinks being skinny and pretty is better.

While there was some overlap in dialogue, which is to be expected, Lauren Oliver did a great job of keeping the two characters separate. They ran parallel stories that came together in moments of tension and helped propel the story forward. Even the way the two characters were raised ran parallel and created a great contrast to one another. This was another great book from Lauren Oliver, and I can’t wait to read the sequel duology. ( )

I think what Lauren Oliver set out to do here insofar as format is really interesting and original – Replica is a flip book, meaning that instead of having an integrated POV, you can literally flip the book over and start the other POV afterward… or read chapter-by-chapter. Reader’s choice! As an audiobook listener, the choice was made for me (all one, then the other) but I do appreciate the concept and think it was a cool idea.

The audiobook read’s Lyra’s POV first, then flips the book over to Gemma’s POV, so I’m going to address it like that… almost like two different stories that intermingle.

Lyra’s POV is interesting. In Lyra’s perspective, we see a little of Haven. We see a world where people are cloned in order to grow viruses and test medication. An illegal operation of a science-fiction (maybe even dystopian) sort, I thought that the world building in this half (44%, realistically) was promising. Had the story continued with the revelation of Haven and further development of the sci-fi elements, I think I may have enjoyed Replica. I’ve always found cloning to be an interesting dystopian element, but unfortunately, Lauren Oliver did not follow that storyline. In fact, I felt like Lyra’s POV stopped rather abruptly.

Gemma’s POV was such a contrast to Lyra’s. Gemma almost always describes herself in terms of her weight. She talks constantly about her lack of experience and how her weight keeps people from looking at her… generally, there was a lot of focus on this, and there’s a difference between representing a minority and making the whole thing unnecessarily uncomfortable by saying, “hey! look at his! an overweight MC!” over and over again. So immediately, as we’re getting into Gemma’s POV, I found myself a bit repelled by it. The deeper into the book I got, the less believable her situation seemed. She runs away to Florida and ultimately, her parents let it happen, and so does her best friend. She becomes quick friends with two different boys who are both attracted to her and speak to her in an uncomfortably familiar way, and there are no red flags about this? In fact, her first kiss and main romance is with a guy she herself calls “Pervy Pete”.

So, you know, that’s the quality of romance we’re working with here.

If I had started with Gemma’s POV, I absolutely would have DNF’d this book. But Lyra’s POV was interesting, with a lot of potential in world building. I kept waiting for some proper closure for Lyra, and that’s what kept me going through Gemma’s POV. But honestly? I found the ending unsatisfying. There were so many things that could have happened, so much more excitement, but I never felt we got plot closure.

So while the physical concept was cool, and plot had promise, I don’t particularly recommend Replica. It did not deliver. ( )

Replica is a parallel story of two teenage girls: Gemma is something of a misfit who decides over spring break to investigate her father's involvement in Haven, a business located on an island off the Florida coast. Lyra has grown up on Haven with all of the other replicas, but when the only world she has known is destroyed, she capitalizes on the ensuing confusion and makes a break for the unfamiliar mainland.

Overall, I liked the premise and was intrigued from the outset to see where the author was going to go with it. However, the endless references to Gemma being overweight were really quite disappointing -- it's one thing to mention it as a descriptor as one might mention hair or eye color, but the gratuitous comments continued relentlessly throughout, adding no value or significance to the plot. Recommended, with reservations. ( )

DNF after the first hour of the audiobook.
*I'm going to quote part of the author's note because I really like what she says!

"The minor variations in the novel reflect the belief that there is no single objective experience of the world. No one sees or hears the same thing in exactly the same way, as anyone who has ever been in an argument with a loved one can attest. In that way we truly are inventors of our own experience. The truth, it turns out, looks a lot like making fiction."

I really enjoyed Lauren Oliver's Delirium; however, I haven't read any of her other books until now. I was looking forward to losing myself in another uniquely beautiful beautiful world, but I never made it outside of walls of Haven. Honestly, I didn't even make it to Gemma's part of the story.

I read reviews about the concept for this book, and I believe it's two books in one, but I still don't know how it works. I borrowed the audiobook from my library, so I didn't have to figure out the logistics of the pages and chapters. (If you've read this book and can explain it to me, please do!)

I didn't get very far into this one because it starts at a snail's pace. I felt bogged down by details that I didn't completely understand. I know with stories like this, you need a lot of background information, but I didn't care for how it was presented to me. I listened to it for about an hour, but never felt a connection with the characters. I'm not entirely sure I knew what was going on, and I image it would have been explained later, but it just wasn't for me.


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loved this book ( )

I can’t believe I waited so long to read this book! I have been eyeing it up for a while, so when I saw it in a local Waterstones store for half price I couldn’t resist.

There are three ways you can read this book – read Lyra’s story first, Gemma’s story first, or alternate chapters. I chose to read a chapter then flip the book, and I’m so glad I did it in this way! Some of the chapters where Lyra and Gemma were experiencing the same things felt repetitive, so I think I would’ve skimmed or been annoyed by this had I read each story in turn.

There was a lot of mystery included in the book – the truth about the Haven Institute, that of Gemma’s father’s secrets. It made it suspenseful, and I knew I had to keep reading to find out... (here! :) ( )

This is far outside of my usual genres, but I was totally hooked on the audiobook. ( )

This is the perfect example of a book that I loved while reading it, but hasn't passed the test of time. I forgot most of what happened, and would have to reread it (which I won't be doing) to read the sequel. ( )

4.5 Stars

“They were born for the first time in their bodies. They were born together. They came together into the world as everyone should - frightened, uncertain, amazed, grateful.
And for them the world was born, too, in all its complexity and strange glory. They had a place in it, at last, and so at least it became theirs to share.”

This book surprised me in the best way. I’ve been getting into scifi more recently and the sequel is coming out next month, so I figured it was the perfect time to read this. But I was not expecting to become so emotionally invested in the characters and their story. Replica is a beautiful story that tackles what it means to be human and the power of choice and agency.

Things I Liked
I LOVED the parallels between Lyra and Gemma’s journeys. Both girls feel trapped and isolated as the story starts, but they start challenging their situations, desiring freedom and escape and taking control of their lives for first time in their life. Both girls really struggle with what’s “real” and defining what it means to be human. We see their identities redefined in front of their eyes as they uncover more secrets. We really see how Lyra and Gemma’s stories reflect and challenge the nature vs nurture dichotomy about what the “human” experience is in a way that was poignant and gripping.

Replicas were really creepy! The language used was so desensitized and cold and made me really uncomfortable, but in a way that made me sympathize with the Replicas. It was so interesting seeing how the replicas spoke and interacted with others, because they have absolutely no socialization beyond other replicas and unsympathetic doctors and nurses. Seeing Lyra and 72, her fellow escapee, interact with a world they know nothing about, and their uncertainty was such a humanizing moment for two characters who are constantly referred to as “it.” I also really liked seeing the different experiences between Lyra and 72.

I really liked the format of the story. It’s basically an alternating POV format, where we see from Gemma and Lyra’s perspectives - but more interactive. You can read Lyra’s chapters first, Gemma’s first, or alternate between the two. I read in a sort of weird alternating style: I read Lyra ch1, Gemma ch 1-2, Lyra ch2-3, Gemma ch3-4, and so on. Like I said, kind of weird, but it worked for me. And I read on an ebook which made reading alternately super easy, because there were links to the respective girl’s chapter and the end of each chapter. Even though there were 2 stories with their own distinct feelings happening simultaneously, it felt cohesive.

I really liked most of the supporting characters we meet. Pete is so happy-go-lucky and optimistic; he really brought some levity to the heavier mystery scenes. 72 has such a resilience and strength that I really connected to. He’s so determined to be more than a pawn of the Haven Institute and you can feel his struggle.

Things I Didn’t Like
Chloe was your typical teen mean girl bully, and the worst part was she was barely even in the story! It was just unnecessary petty drama and didn’t add anything to the story, except an unnecessary eyeroll or two.

I did end up liking all the romances in the story, but there was some insta-infatuation between a few characters that I didn’t really love. It provided some good flirty banter, but was also a little heavy handed at times.

This book really made me think: about lived experiences, socialization, nature vs nurture, and what it means to be human. I loved seeing Lyra and Gemma fight for themselves and each other, even when they were unsure and scared. Replica is definitely a book that will stay with me, and I cannot wait for Ringer to be released next month!

Trigger warning for mentions of self harm ( )

So, um...yeah. I read this book a lot faster than I thought I would. I figured it’d take me a while to read. Nope. I finished it in 3ish hours. It was so good though!!!
The story was just amazing. I felt the way the characters were seen in the different points of view was pretty interesting. The way the book was written was interesting as well. I’ve never written a book that’s the same story (almost), but from two different points of view. It was cool to see the perspectives of the two girls go from being their own thing, to meshing into one thing.
I really have a thing with stories with multiple points of view, but this was a new take on it and I kinda liked it. The repeated dialogue was not a favorite, but there’s a warning about that before the beginning of both sections.
Overall, great story. Can’t wait to read the second book!! ( )

Loved it! ( )

I really enjoyed this book(s) quite a bit. I remember when the sheep clone Dolly was created and it was always a concern that people would be cloned soon after. I like that you can read Lyra and Gemma's stories separate or alternating. I read them separate. I always wonder what scientists are doing behind closed doors and if someone finds out, what will happen to that person. This is a fascinating read and a good one. If you like this type of storyline, then make sure to read these. I already purchased the next installment as Lyra's story ended so abruptly.

Thanks to Goodreads for my copy of these stories. ( )

I really enjoyed reading this book. I chose to read the Lyra side first and then go back and read the Gemma side. I liked the characters for the most part although Gemma's self-esteem issues really started to get annoying. The storyline was really fascinating and almost eerie. I am looking forward to seeing what happens next with Lyra, Caelum, Gemma, and Pete in book 2. ( )

Interesting if somewhat predictable, especially for anyone who reads a lot of YA. But compelling enough characters that I'm in for book 2. ( )

Really fun idea. ( )

Replica
Replica, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: I’ve always been intrigued by Miss Oliver’s books, this is just the first one I’ve had a chance to pick up.

The Characters:

Lyra: A girl raised in a lab for unknown purposes, taught to believe that she is less than human.
Gemma: A girl raised by her parents as a delicate flower due to childhood and on going illnesses.

The Story:

Gemma and Lyra meet because the lab where Lyra was raised, Haven, is pretty much attacked. The why is kind of sketchy but I feel like as the story unfolds in future books we will learn more about it. So much goes on in this book, told first in Lyra’s POV then in Gemma’s that I can not give a quick summary. It was good and a bit crazy and a little scary. The story ends in a way that makes it leaves it wide open to go anywhere. I’m very ready for the next book.

The Random Thoughts:

Gemma’s obsession with her weight is irksome. Especially because in my mind she is probably a size 10 or 12 and really not as big as she has been lead to believe.

3.5 Stars ( )