Friday, February 17, 2017

Linked by Imogen Howson

Linked is a YA science fiction book with a sequel. For the last three years, Elissa has been getting a tremendous amount of pain and bruises appearing out of nowhere, as well as scary visions and hallucinations. A couple days before a surgery, she discovers that her hallucinations are actually real, and that she is seeing the world from somebody else's eyes. That person turns out to be the twin she never knew existed, and they share a mental link. That link should have disappeared many years ago, but instead it got stronger.

Lin is her Spare, born from a rare abnormality where one egg splits into two identical copies. We know of that as twins, but on the planet Sekoia, these are rare and not supposed to happen. One of the siblings will be normal, and the other one would have some special power. Lin is electrokinetic. Parents keep the normal child and give the other to the government to be experimented on. Spares are told that they are not human and their lives do not matter. Lin escaped from the facility where she was held, and Elissa and Lin decide to run away to a different planet where they can be protected. The Sekoian government will do anything to stop the girls from exposing the dangerous secrets that could destroy the planet. While Lin is powerful on her own, together they are so much more.

I wish that there was more of an exposition. The book opened right away with rising action and jumped right to action and the main idea. I wanted to see more with Elissa on her own in her daily life. The book opened up right at the doctors office with the surgery idea and then jumped to meeting her twin. School was something I wish I saw more of. There was one scene in the locker room with her former friend, but daily life was an element that was missing. I just felt like there should have been more of an exposition before getting right to the main idea. Other than the shaky beginning, the book was amazing!

Linked dived deep into human rights and ethical issues. The book shows how even though there are laws and acts in place to prevent discrimination from happening, there are ways to get around them. Lin was a type of character that I have not seen much of. Lin was raised in thinking that lives do not matter, and the only real family she had was her sister, Elissa. Lin was willing to do anything to help her sister, and Elissa had to stop her many times from making harmful choices with her powers. She did not really understand what was wrong with hurting some people to help them escape. Lin's personality showcased certain points of view that we do not see in everyday life.

The relationship between the girls was strong. Not just because of the mental link, but the love they have for each other. Elissa had never met this girl in her life, and she decided to throw her future away and help the sister she never knew. Most of the book took place in space, which I really liked. The book is set in the future, and I loved the advanced tools and space travel that they had. I loved the hint of romance between Caden and Elissa. It helped the plot move along and added something special. 

I recommend that you read this book, and I cannot wait to read the sequel, Unravel.

Title: Linked
Author: Imogen Howson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Pages: 368
Series: Yes, Book 1 of 2
Rating: 4 Stars

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