Wow. I didn't really know what to expect from this book but I got surprised with how fast-paced and awesome this book was. The concept was brilliant and was immediately what got me excited and intrigued about the novel.
Linked is about Elissa and how she finds out that she has a Spare (aka Twin) who was taken by the government for experiments at birth. Her parents were made to forget/lie but it becomes obvious to her Dad when she hits puberty and starts experiencing "hallucinations" which are really just flashes, through a telepathic link, to the inhumane experiments that are happening to her twin sister. These hallucinations are destroying Elissa's life because she is consistently in pain because of them. It is not till after she's been signed up for a brain surgery appointment that she realises that they aren't hallucinations and that the person she sees through is real and needs her help. After meeting each other for the first time, Elissa's life gets turned upside as the attempt to get "Lin" away from the government and find safety.
It is a wild ride from the get-go because Lin is a bit of wild-card because she immediately lacks empathy for anyone other than Elissa. Elissa has to try and teach Lin that not everyone deserves her wrath. I found this transition for Lin to go through was particularly interesting because she has spent her whole life being told that she isn't human and to try and change her viewpoint on the world and other people is incredibly realistic and a central point of stress for Elissa throughout the book.
The relationship between Cadan and Elissa is incredibly interesting because there is a lot of background there. I'm glad of the direction it took and that it wasn't some pointless YA romance that was slotted into the book for the sake of it.
As a twin myself, it was weird and interesting to try and imagine myself or my sister being viewed as non-human or a clone just because we were born at the same time and look alike. I don't share any telepathic link with my sister but it sure is interesting to read about those kind of connections. I find that a lot of other stories I read about twins are quite pathetic because they cast twins as being fully compatible and as a twin, this is so false. I'm glad that the relationship between Elissa and Lin was as complicated as any sister's relationship. It definitely helped to relate more to the situation (not that I can really relate to fleeing from a government that is trying to kill me and my sister.)
Overall, I don't have anything bad to say about this book except that it was released in June this year and I'm going to have to wait awhile to complete the series. This book is also Imogen Howson's debut novel and since it was so excellent, I'm quite excited to see more from her.
RATING - 5 out of 5 stars
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