ARC Review: Divided

Divided by Elsie Chapman
Published by Random House Books for Young Readers
Format Reviewed: eARC
Publication Date: May 27th, 2014
Genre: YA Dystopian
Pages: 320
Reviewed by: Stephanie
My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Buy It

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.

I received a copy of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. No compensation was given, taken, or received to alter this review.
Just as I suspected last year, we got a more in depth look at the world behind the characters. To my delight, the explanations are different from every other dystopian out there! Everything fit together perfectly.

West is just trying to heal from the events of Dualed. The world she lives in has forced her to kill. She never wants to do that again and, at this point, isn't sure she could even if she had to. She's just starting to make some progress when the Board shows up and makes her an offer too hard to resist.

I will be honest, in all it's warped sense, it was this point when she decides to work with the Board that I really got excited. The inner turmoil in West is felt and understandable. She's still trying and learning to trust the people closest to her and the Board is now making that incredibly hard. She doesn't want to keep secrets from Chord but when revealing them could cost him his life, what other choice does she have?

Of course, Chord is Chord and he steps in. (YAY!) But this time we get more than just Chord helping West and that was really cool. Things heat up quickly and just keep going, one punch after another. I'm actually surprised West wasn't more angry by the end of this novel, considering everything she's been through and all the knowledge the Board has kept to itself.

By the way this novel ended, I'm guessing there's a third book. If so, I'm interested to see where Miss Chapman takes West.