“The descriptions of everything are incredibly vivid and make you feel as if you are running for your life… This story was completely compelling.”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
In a future America the population has become unsustainable. The government have implemented a law, the rule of one, meaning each family can have only one child. As a result of this the government are very controlling. Each citizen has a microchip implanted with all their details and the population are constantly watched and arrested for the slightest deviance.
We follow Ava and Mira, identical twins, whose father has kept them a secret by making them impersonate each other exactly. Each sister takes it in turns to go out into the world on alternative days.
It doesn’t take long into the book before the family is caught in this lie and the twins go on the run.
This is a YA novel but it’s suitable for adults who are a fan of dystopian novels.
The pace only really gets going more than halfway through the book. As the sisters are trying to hide, and the story is from their first person perspective, it unfortunately means that a lot of what is going on is hidden from the reader too. This means that it’s hard to get a real insight into this environment and we don’t know what is happening in the rest of the world or what they think is happening anywhere else.
The sister’s for most of the book are doing as they’ve been told so it’s not until much later on that we see them really make their own decisions and fight for their survival instead of everyone else helping them. And as the narrative goes between one sister then the other I found if hard to differentiate their voices until late on into the book.
I enjoyed this book and love the idea but I found the pacing could be improved and the world could be better developed. However, the writing was good and I will be looking forward to see the sister’s continue their journey in the next book in the series in May 2019.
Reviewed by:
Rebecca Boyle
Added 1st March 2019
