Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories

Book Info
Kindle Edition, 304 pages
Expected publication: May 27th 2014 by Random House Books for Young Readers
ASIN B00H12A0PA
edition language English
series Dualed #2
other editions (6)
Source:Netgalley EARC

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BOOK SYNOPSIS

Three started it all. One will end it.

Full of surprising twists, the much-anticipated sequel to Dualed delivers a fierce punch as West's decisions kindle rebellion.
"We need you to kill again . . . ."

West Grayer should be safe. But the Board isn't through with her. Somehow they know her past as an assassin, and they offer her a deal that's almost too good to be true: safety for her future children and a clean slate if she kills one more time. It should be an easy job. Except West recognizes her target: It's her dead brother's Alt—hauntingly familiar and yet a stranger. Someone is lying. Now West must uncover a secret that the Board would kill to keep quiet.

Goodreads Blurb

The hunter becomes the hunted. . . .

West Grayer is done killing. She defeated her Alternate, a twin raised by another family, and proved she’s worthy of a future. She’s ready to move on with her life.

The Board has other plans. They want her to kill one last time, and offer her a deal worth killing for. But when West recognizes her target as a ghost from her past, she realizes she’s in over her head. The Board is lying, and West will have to uncover the truth of the past to secure her future.

How far will the Board go to keep their secrets safe? And how far will West go to save those she loves? With nonstop action and surprising twists, Elsie Chapman’s intoxicating sequel to Dualed reveals everything.

My Thoughts

Having only read the beginning excerpt from book 1 Dualed there is a lot of world building, character development and back story that I missed prior to reading Divided. A lot of this is covered quite well with intermittent flash backs, reminiscing by the characters and other avenues used to bring the reader up to speed as much as possible. You still miss quite a lot but I think that in the long run you get the gist of West Grayer’s background and can fill in some blanks without reading the first book.

Fifteen-year-old West is trying to leave behind her violent past and create a new future for herself with her boyfriend Chord. All of her plans come to a screeching halt the day she is contacted by a member of the Board and offered a deal that is too good to turn down.

This is a dark tale at times, it reminds one of author Suzanne Collins Hunger Games as just like Katniss West is given very little choice and also like Katniss she manages to overcome obstacles put in her way without losing her soul in the process.

Despite times of bleakness or perhaps because of it one becomes very invested in each development that leads West closer to the truth and also allows her to find a peaceful resolution to finally dealing with all the angst caused by actions in her past.

Though this seems to be the end of the story line the book leaves one with the feeling that it could continue at some point, personally it would work either way for me as satisfied with the ways things turned out for West.

[EArc from Netgalley in exchange for honest review]