This book was not what I expected it to be. For a while I was reading realistic fiction, romance, and I was exited to get into something a little more dystopian. Everything about Haven and the Replicas was dystopian, but there was so much about this book I found disappointing. It was a real turn off and I am surprised that there is a second book.
Gemma’s story was unrealistic. At the beginning of the book it talks about how strict her parents are and how they always keep her under a close radar. However, during the rest of the book the parents kind of disappeared until the very end. Which was strange, seeing how in the beginning she said she could never get anything past them. If her parents were really that over-protective then they would have been brought up a lot more in the story.
It was not written to be a second book either. Towards the end the author was speeding up, meaning she was trying to fit everything she needed into one book without it being too many pages. That is not the best strategy. It became evident that while she was writing this, she was not thinking about a second book. And if she was she was thinking of it in a Harry Potter sense (every book is like a different episode or new adventure). It just didn’t fit with the way she wrote this book. The conclusion is too concluding for there to be a second book, yet there is one. She wrapped it up so nicely that the second book almost has nowhere to pick up on. There is no cliffhanger to imply the readers to pick up the second book. You could almost finish the series with the first book if you really wanted to.
The characters were great, especially Lyra. I didn’t really like Gemma’s cliche odd-one-out/bullied story to start off with. The plot line was great, and so was the not too evident love triangle. There was one if you look really hard. I would have loved some more drama and suspense. I think the book tried, but really lacked in that area. It was a good book, just very disappointing and not what I was expecting. If you do read this book, make sure you have an open mind before you open it. I was looking for something within this book, and I didn’t find it. So if you enter the book the same way, don’t be disappointed if you can’t find what you are looking for, or like in this book.