I was drawn to reading Replica by Lauren Oliver because I loved the concept of this book. For those of you who aren’t familiar, it is written in two perspectives and you choose how you read the story. You can read Lyra OR Gemma’s side first followed by the other, OR you can read them simultaneously chapter by chapter. It was this ‘readers choice’ concept that drew me in, but also what kept it on my bookshelf for so long before I picked it up. I couldn’t decide how I wanted to read it. People have said how you choose approach the story completely changes your experience of the book, and after reading it I would agree. It makes for an interesting reader experience and works perfectly with the theme of this book, clones.
I chose to read Gemma’s side first. I made this choice based on the fact that most book reviews I had seen talked about reading Lyra’s side first. I loved how Gemma rose to the challenges she was faced with and grew as a character throughout the book. My biggest issue with Gemma was that her character fell flat in some moments. At times I felt like her entire personality revolved around her feeling overweight. I wish Oliver gave her more to go on than body image, because women are so much more than their physical appearance. Perhaps some of this was to contrast Lyra’s perspective who is underweight, starving, and malnourished.
Of the two perspectives, Gemma’s side was my favourite. It kicked off faster and was easier to get into than Lyra’s.
Lyra’s perspective was interesting because I already had expectations about her going in. She reminded me a lot of of Tris in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Like Gemma, and Tris, she too goes through great growth in overcoming personal and systemic challenges in the book. Lyra has a quiet strength to her which I admired and it shone through when reading her side of the story. I did find Lyra’s perspective less engaging at times because I was waiting for things to happen that I knew were coming from reading Gemma’s side. That being said, Lyra’s perspective gave new twists to scenes I read before and filled in gaps that Gemma's story had left wide opening. I assume if you had read Lyra’s side first Gemma's would have done the same for you.
I enjoyed Replica and engaging in the multiple perspectives, but if i could choose to do it again I would try reading the chapters simultaneously. I am so curious to hear from other readers on how their approach to the book impacted their opinion.
If you've read it, please comment below. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Yours literarily,
Lauren.
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