Replica: Lyra / Gemma

Guys, I loved it. I have to say, it takes great skill to pull of such a novel. The intricacies between both stories is amazing and it adds to the overwhelming feelings you get from reading it. It doesn't matter whether you read it chapter-to-chapter or story-to-story like me. Either way, the way their lives are connected is demonstrated beautifully and the two main characters lives have been woven together beautifully.

Also the plot line was great. Not much to say, you will have to read it yourself to find out...

Joking! SPOILERS AHEAD

All I am going to say is that the way things were revealed was great. There was a real sense of dramatic irony here and it worked amazingly. Also, Liked how the stories were almost mirrored in the sense that both Lyra and Gemma believed they were something, only for it to be revealed as a lie. In fact, it was great how they swapped positions as Lyra was meant to be a replica but Gemma was, and Gemma was meant to be ‘normal' but Lyra was.

I also really enjoyed how they they touched on the impacts of Stockholm syndrome in regards to Lyra and her inital love for Haven.

HOWEVER,

I thing that really let down this book was the amount of fat shaming from Gemma. It was an unnecessary amount that didn't add to the plot line in any way. It seemed far-fetched for the character and unnatural.

Also, I felt that April wasn't fully developed enough as a character and so was unnecessary. She needed a lot more definition to give her the right ‘umph' needed.

Special moments:

1) The little prince story was amazing

2)Naming of Caelum was also amazing

“Lyra and Caelum: the two replicas with names plucked straight from the stars”

“You named me. That means I'm yours, doesn't it? I'm yours and you're mine.”

3) A strange and baffling truth: that the people we're supposed to know best can turn out to be strangers, and that near strangers can feel so much like home pg 275