Divided by Elsie Chapman
Release Date: May 27, 2014
Publisher: Random House
Genre: Young Adult Sci-fi
ISBN: 978-0-449-81295-2
Source: Netgalley
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The hunter becomes the hunted. . . .

West Grayer is done killing. She defeated her Alternate, a twin raised by another family, and proved she’s worthy of a future. She’s ready to move on with her life.

The Board has other plans. They want her to kill one last time, and offer her a deal worth killing for. But when West recognizes her target as a ghost from her past, she realizes she’s in over her head. The Board is lying, and West will have to uncover the truth of the past to secure her future.

How far will the Board go to keep their secrets safe? And how far will West go to save those she loves? With nonstop action and surprising twists, Elsie Chapman’s intoxicating sequel to Dualed reveals everything.

Divided takes place three months after the events of Dualed as West’s world is turned upside down once again. The questions that I had in Dualed were answered in Divided and have set up so much for a third book that could be an epic conclusion though I don’t know if there is going to be a third book so… I mean, there’s no information that I can find about how many books in this series there are but it would be a pity to end at this point when the story is really just getting started.

At this point, West is no longer a striker, as she’s working for Baer… so clearly it’s much easier to not be a striker anymore than we were led to believe. Anyway, she’s blackmailed by The Board into helping them out with a promise of a better life for her. Of course they don’t tell her why they’re sending her out on these tasks and we must wait until the end of the book for all of the secrets to come out. If you were able to predict what happened in Dualed, I think you’ll predict what will happen in Divided. It’s up to you to determine for yourself whether or not you still enjoy the series aside from the predictable elements. Because there’s more to the story than that. Predicting isn’t a make or break for me and I don’t think it should ever be. It’s more about the journey than the destination and I enjoyed the journey in Dualed which is why I continued and read Divided.

Along with more interaction with The Board, I loved that Chord and Dess were back and West, while still very guarded, did manage to let her guard down more with them especially as time went on. The romance elements were few and far between in Dualed but are strong in Divided so if you like that kind of stuff, this is great. For me, it was a distraction from all of the action and moving the main story along. Which brings us to one of the three people that West is sent to kill in this book that I was so excited to see! Yes! That was awesome. I can’t say who we see because it will be a spoiler but know that it was quite a treat, in a twisted way to see. I also must mention that I loved that West struggled with what it meant to take the lives of idles and completes in Divided. That was something that I didn’t know I wanted to see and am so glad that this came to fruition. What an interesting layer for West.

I’d say that Dualed and Divided are like The Hunger Games meets Orphan Black with a much slower pace. So if you loved Dualed, you’ll love Divided. If you enjoyed Dualed and like me, felt Dualed was solid as is, save for a few things, I’d say it’s up to you to decide whether or not to read Divided. Because when it comes down to it, whether or not there is another book after Divided, I think this story could have been told as one amazing standalone rather than in one solid series. But I still enjoyed the writing and the story enough to keep reading the sequel so it’s obviously intriguing and entertaining enough to keep doing what it’s doing. If you’ve read Dualed and Divided, what did you think?

Divided by Elsie Chapman is available today.