Title: Linked
Author: Imogen Howson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: June 11, 2013
Pages: 368From the Publisher: Elissa used to have it all: looks, popularity, and a bright future. But for the last three years, she’s been struggling with terrifying visions, phantom pains, and mysterious bruises that appear out of nowhere.
Finally, she’s promised a cure: minor surgery to burn out the overactive area of her brain. But on the eve of the procedure, she discovers the shocking truth behind her hallucinations: she’s been seeing the world through another girl’s eyes.
Elissa follows her visions, and finds a battered, broken girl on the run. A girl—Lin—who looks exactly like Elissa, down to the matching bruises. The twin sister she never knew existed.
Now, Elissa and Lin are on the run from a government who will stop at nothing to reclaim Lin and protect the dangerous secrets she could expose—secrets that would shake the very foundation of their world.
Riveting, thought-provoking and utterly compelling, Linked will make you question what it really means to be human.
An ARC was received from Simon and Schuster
but that did not influence the review**
First Thoughts: WOA!! That was crazy and I loved it!! Much of the setting was in outer space, but please, please, please don’t let that deter you. It was outstanding!
The Story: Elissa has been having hallucinations for years as well as bruises that mysteriously appear. No treatment has been successful so far so she finally consents to brain surgery. However, Elissa finds out the real reason she has been having the visions….she has been seeing them through another girl’s eyes. She has a twin that she never knew existed. However, it’s not as simple as that, and once the government finds out that Elissa knows of her twin’s existence all hell breaks loose. This is the story of the girls’ escape. And boy oh boy, what a story it is.
Elissa: She goes from a passenger in her life to the driver and I loved it! She went from depression (due to her mental issues) to a leader. She stepped up to the challenge in so many ways.
Other characters: Lin and Caden were the other major players in this novel. I loved the progression of Lin and the fierce loyalty she had towards Elissa. Caden, oh le sigh. I liked him from the beginning even though he was a little full of himself. He was a total rule follower, except when he knew it was wrong. On top of that Caden was so cool under pressure, which is so very, VERY attractive. The other two characters that really stand out to me are Elissa’s parents. I hated her mother and respected her father. I don’t know if she could really ever forgive her mother.
The romance: Slow, slow, slow burn. There wasn’t really time for a romance, but what we did get was great. When love was professed at the end, I was kind of like, woa, too fast, but then again they thought they would die. I would really love to see more of the romance play out without the serious threat of the government hanging over them.
Twists and Turns: None really, but the entire story was intense. I do enjoy a good double-crossing but that was not the case here. However, there were loads and loads of dirty secrets that were uncovered as the story moved along.
Gripes: Sometimes I felt like some emotions only scratched the surface. I know there was so much to fit in, but a teensy bit longer for the romantic scene would have been great. (What can I say, I am a massive sucker for romance.) Also, the angriest Caden ever got was to swear under his breath. Honestly, in the situation they were in it would have been ok for a few f-bombs to drop. However, I can respect that the book was clean…I would have just liked to see it all rather than just know he was saying some expletives. Basically, I’m nit picking here.
The Cover: Gorgeous!!
The ending: Genius. I could slightly sense what might happen but it was better than I imagined it to turn out. I could not turn the pages fast enough. Not a cliff hanger and I assumed this was actually a stand alone novel. However, on Ms. Howson’s website she is already working on a sequel, Shattered. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us!
Rec it? Absolutely.
