Author: Imogen Howson
Release Date: June 11, 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Elissa used to have it all. Looks, popularity, a bright future. For the last three years, she’s been struggling with terrifying visions, phantom pains, and mysterious bruises that appear out of nowhere. Finally, she’s promised a cure, an operation that will burn out the overactive area of her brain. But on the eve of the procedure she discovers the shocking truth behind her hallucinations: she’s been seeing the world through another girl’s eyes. Elissa follows her visions, only to find a battered, broken girl on the run. A girl, Lin, who looks exactly like Elissa, down to the matching bruises. The twin sister she never knew existed. Now, Elissa and Lin are on the run from a government who will stop at nothing to reclaim Lin and protect the dangerous secrets she could expose, secrets that would shake the foundation of their world.
Linked is a curious science fiction thriller, filled with suspicion right at the start. Elissa is on an unexpected mission of sorts to discover the truth behind her visions, the truth behind Lin, and the truth behind the reason they were separated. As the book goes on it becomes darker and darker, the two girls running as fast as they can. This journey, combined with a sinister secret revealed close to the end, make this a compelling story.
Elissa is tired, tired of the visions, the bruises, and the looks from former friends and fellow students. She's never been normal, never seen herself as normal. How could she when she has strange visions and phantom bruises appearing all over her body? But she's wary of the doctor who suggests a medical procedure to stop everything from happening, she's wary of everything around her, and she wants to know the truth because she's not sure who to trust. Then she finds a girl who looks exactly like her. Then she learns the truth.
The connection between twins has been long explored, but what if the connection went deeper than we imagined? What if what happened to one also happened to the other? Elissa's torn between taking care of her twin and treating her with caution. Could you trust someone you didn't know, someone you never knew existed, someone who shares your face? Someone who's been through countless painful experiments? Someone who's dangerous, potentially lethal?
In Elissa's world, on her planet, the government was formed from a dark past mired in debt and a wasting away of natural resources. The planet is thriving now, producing jobs in space flight, connecting other planets. But why is the government after Elissa and her twin? What do they have to do with it? Will the girls be able to outrun those who are chasing them?
This is about discovering the truth behind who you really are, the truth about the piece that you feel has been missing in your life. It's about connections and joining together. It's about the value of a human life, the price we could very well pay in the future in terms of medical experimentation. It's about how far we will go to reveal the truth, no matter how painful it could be or how sinister the secret is.
(I received an advance copy to review from Simon & Schuster Canada.)
I've been hearing so many good things about this book. And honestly, until this past week I had no idea it was sci-fi - I would have never guessed based on the cover. Definitely want to check this out.
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