Dualed by Elsie Chapman

Title: Dualed
Author: Elsie Chapman
Series: Dualed, #1
Source: Sarah from Book-A-Holic
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: February 26, 2013
Goodreads||The Book Depository

You or your Alt? Only one will survive.

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.  Elsie Chapman's suspenseful YA debut weaves unexpected romance into a novel full of fast-paced action and thought-provoking philosophy. When the story ends, discussions will begin about this future society where every adult is a murderer and every child knows there is another out there who just might be better.

I wasn't impressed with Dualed. Even today, just eight hours after finishing this book, I don't have much to say about it. It was just boring. That pretty much sums up all of my problems.

The main characters, West and Chord were mediocre at best. I didn't feel the little "romance" going on between them, and I just didn't like them as characters. West is supposed to be oh-so-tough and strong, but I didn't get that from her. Most of the time, it just seemed like she was trying to be something she wasn't, and Chord just seemed to be added in so that he could stalkishly try and help her complete. The whole story line was just off the grid.

I have so many questions-- for instance, PK's (peripheral kills) occur fairly often. So what happens if an idle is killed in a PK? Does s/he's alt just automatically complete? Do they die? What on earth happens? Another thing that I'm not so clear on-- the creation of the alt system. It was touched on a little in the beginning of the book, but I never really got it. In theory, the alt system was created when a drug that everyone was given made everyone infertile, so the alts are a genetic creation. But how did the government get everyone to take this drug? It sounds like it was corrupt way before this book began....

On another note, the action was okay. It just couldn't keep me occupied-- I was literally always wandering off and leaving this book face-down. The only time that I could focus was when I was noting all the things that bothered me never.

All in all, this just wasn't for me. The action was too boring, the storyline didn't make sense, and the characters had no depth. It did, however, have a good ending. I feel like everything that could possibly be wrapped up was. That is all.

All for peace. Fighting ourselves in here, so we don't have to fight the world out there. ~ Pg. 19, ARC