Replica is a two-sided thrilling story that dives deep into secrets and is full of unsuspected plot twists.
The novel ‘Replica’, written by author Lauren Oliver, will excite readers with it’s interesting format. A book with one side telling the story from the perspective of protagonist, Gemma, and the other from, second protagonist, Lyra. People who are unfamiliar with the books format may be confused by it’s flipped covers.
Starting with Gemma’s perspective (although it is not specific as to which perspective you must start with) she is introduced as a teenage girl who lives a suffocating life of doctors’ appointments, strict rules put in place by her overprotective parents, and discrimination inflicted by school peers and the school environment as a whole. She has one best friend, April, who shares Gemma’s journey of feeling like an outcast, despite Gemma feeling that April would be better suited to the life of a popular schoolgirl. The story starts with Gemma and April trying desperately to get their parents to agree to a spring break trip. What Gemma doesn’t realise, after going against her parents’ wishes and travelling to Florida with a school peer, Pete, is that she is about to uncover secrets that would change her life and perspective forever. After a mysterious explosion occurs, destroying a research facility named Haven, Gemma decides she needs to find out more about it and it’s connection to her father, Geoffrey, a past investor in Haven. During her search, she is introduced to Jake Witz, the son of a man who spent his life conducting amateur research into the mysterious and suspicious work of Haven. Both Gemma and Jake become allies in their journey to discover… what? While they had theories, they didn’t know what. While travelling through the marshes to inspect the damage done to Haven, Gemma stumbled, literally stumbled, over a dead body with her face.
The girl looked exactly like Gemma save for her unhealthy thinness and shaved scalp. Gemma came to the only conclusion she could, someone had cloned her, and it had something to do with Haven. Shortly after their horrifying discovery, they are also introduced (in a very aggressive manner) to Lyra and 72. Both clones, or as they called themselves, replicas. After calming the situation, Gemma realises that the replicas, specifically Lyra, were sick. The four of them travel back to land and seek refuge at April’s grandparents home in Florida. However, things take a turn for the worst when the replicas disappear and Jake, after returning home, isn’t responding to any form of communication from Gemma. Gemma asks Pete for help once more and with him they travel to Jake’s house, where they are introduced to something far bigger than themselves. The following events include car chases, kidnaps and best of all, the discovery that Lyra is in fact not a replica but a child that was stolen and taken to Haven when they could no longer afford to create replicas. They discover her father as well, who has been looking for Lyra (who’s birth name is Brandy-Nicole) all these years. Gemma and Pete gradually develop a love interest and you see the relationship grow as the story goes on. They were able to locate the replicas and break the news to Lyra about her true identity and father she never thought she had. You can see the relationship between Lyra and 72 (renamed by Lyra as Caelum) change after learning the news that they were not the same anymore. Gemma discovers that she is, in fact, a clone of her mothers dead baby, a replacement.
After reading the story from Lyra’s point of view, you learn more about Haven and the ‘research’ that was taking place there. Haven was a facility where they were creating clones, ‘replicas’, and were, as Lyra and 72 later discover, being used to grow a disease inside their bodies. This explained why they were getting sick and dying. Lyra sees Haven not as a prison as other replicas did, but as a safe place, with order and purpose, not that, at the time of her being there, she knew what that purpose was. After she discovers the replica that broke out, 72, the explosion happens. This scene is full of chaos and death. While trying to escape the wreckage and panicked guards they find Cassiopeia, a replica that was in the same ‘cluster’ as Lyra. She is badly injured and dying but Lyra manages to convince 72, who is trying to hastily avoid staying too long in fear of being caught by the guards again, to take Cassiopeia with them.
They then spend the following nights staying hidden in the filthy marshes until they were nearly discovered and forced to leave Cassiopeia behind. They then later discover that she had died a few hours before they were introduced to Gemma and Jake. Gemma looked like a healthier version of Cassiopeia, this confused Lyra since she didn’t think there were any other Havens, but that was the only explanation she could come up with as to why Gemma existed. When they later made it to April’s grandparent’s house, 72 convinces Lyra that they were not safe with them and that they should leave. They then spend days trying to locate an ex-nurse from Haven but discover that she is dead. They make the decision to return to Gemma and Jake, so travel to Jake’s house. They, however, come across a similar outcome as their search for the Haven nurse. Jake was dead. He had been killed by people from Haven for ‘knowing too much’ and it was staged as a suicide. They make it back to Gemma and Pete and together they try to figure out what to do next. What to do with everything they had learnt, everything that had changed, their lives that they couldn’t go back to.
This book was a roller coaster of plot twists and mysteries. I enjoyed watching the relationship between Gemma and Pete develop as well as the relationship between Lyra and Caelum gradually grow as well. Something I found very interesting was Lyra’s perspective of Haven and how it changes throughout her story. She starts out finding comfort in Haven, despite its many challenges and unfairness towards the replicas. She felt secure and safe. When Haven was destroyed, she felt as if her world was destroyed, Haven was all she had ever known. She wanted the order and walls of Haven back, even though Caelum didn’t share the same views. After she discovers what Haven was using the replicas for, a disease, a weapon for war growing inside of them, she develops a deep hate for the place she had lived her whole life. The world she knew. The story uses a lot of cross overs before the two protagonists meet in both perspectives. This really adds to the reader’s interest, gives them something to pick up on and look for. Overall, this book is captivating, exciting and leaves you wanting more. A story for any mystery hungry reader.
