Title: Twinmaker (Twinmaker #1)
Author: Sean Williams
Release Date: November 7th 2013
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: signed ARC from TBD Affiliates
Clair is pretty sure the offer in the ‘Improvement' meme is just another viral spam, though Libby is determined to give it a try.
But what starts as Libby's dream turns into Clair's nightmare when her friend vanishes.
In her search for answers, Clair seeks out Jesse - a boy whose alternative lifestyle might help to uncover the truth.
What they don't anticipate is intervention from the mysterious contact known only as Q, and being caught up in a conspiracy that will change everything.Twinmaker is not a book for the impatient. The reader is expected to catch on to meanings of the jargon used in this futuristic world and someone who's not focused on the book is bound to be confused, maybe even give up entirely, as I was tempted to do more than once. And how could I not feel that way when most of the first few chapters confused me? I was like, are they actually teleporting? What in the world is the Water Wars? An explanation early on would have been nice.
Aside from the history, the "present day" world-building also could have been better. The technology behind teleporting was explained well - although I presume science geeks would have a lot to say about it - but "fabbing", as in duplicating everything from food to clothes, was not. Or maybe it was, but I forgot about it somewhere in the middle of reading these five hundred pages.
But what this book lacks in world-building, it makes up for in its characters. There are a lot of them here, but the story is of course focused on Clair and her race to save her best friend Libby - a race that takes her farther than she ever imagined and makes her rethink everything she believed to be true her whole life. Her love for Libby was really touching albeit quite unrealistic because not even once did she get angry when Libby kept on antagonizing her after she'd gone through Improvement.
Clair's fight to reveal the truth about Improvement to the world gains her many friends and enemies - okay, more enemies than friends, but two people are by her side the whole time. First is Jesse, the outcast who answers her call without question, who helps her even when it's out of his comfort zone. I saw the romance coming more than a mile away, but I love how it's subtle and doesn't distract from the story at all. Clair also finds a friend in Q, the mysterious entity who is able to hack her way into almost anything as long as there's a signal. Without a doubt, Clair would have died a dozen times over if not for Q.
"...but anything was possible in a world where people could be reduced to data - data that could be edited, copied and erased as easily as any other electronic file..."Fast-paced and plain unpredictable, Twinmaker is one book that action fans will enjoy, although I imagine that nitpicky readers will have the same reservations as I did. The story could have progressed faster, indeed, so patience, I say again, because I can definitely say that it is worth it, and the sequel can't come fast enough.
MY FAVORITE PART is the ending. Whoa.
RATING:
Confusion can go either way for me. Sometimes I like the putting things together myself, but other times it can be very frustrating. I like the sound of this book though, even though it's not without flaws. Great review, Kazhy!
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