Linked

"Why, Captain?" he said, so much suppressed anger in his voice that it felt as if it would shatter something. "I would have thought the the real question was why NOT?"

2 STARS Hmm, where to start with this book. I think that it had so much potential, so much ground to traverse and expand upon, but it just sort of fell off of one the plateaus of Sekoia. Elissa and Lin are twins, a genetic anomaly that is so unheard of it doesn't exist in their current society, not even in memory. The two are on the run from an unknown organization, possibly the Sekoian government itself, that kept Lin and experimented on her for years in a way that the twins felt one another's pain, in some sort of twin psychic link. With the help of Elissa's brother's friend Cadan, the girls escape into interplanetary space, but they aren't safe there, or anywhere. The Writing I would say it was fair, if not a bit cheesy at times. I could easily tell that the narrator was a teenage girl thrown into a world she didn't understand, but she was also the kind of girl who seemed arrogant even if she didn't know it, someone who you would expect to blend into shopping malls and smoothie bars. I'm not saying this as a bad thing, just simply as something different than my usual taste in protagonists. I think one thing I would have loved is to have Lin's perspective, maybe with bouncing alternate chapters between the two girls that would lead to a more intriguing read with both sides of the story, not just Elissa's biased one against Lin's naïve one. The Characters And thus begins the major flaws of the book. Many of these characters were flat, processed ones that didn't really make me feel anything but uncomfortable. I wouldn't say they were cookie-cutter, but they were pretty damn close. Elissa was stupid, the cliché damsel in distress that I hate, always needing Cadan by her side. I think my main issue with her was that she didn't really do anything. I mean, she found Lin and ran away from home and got them on a ship, but other than transportation she didn't really add anything to the plot line other than dragging her twin along everywhere. Lin was far more interesting. She was raised in a lab, taught until fourteen that she was real and then ripped away from that comfort to force her into torture and experiments. She was hollow, angry, and scared in such a vulnerable way it made me stop and think about her situation several times. I think one thing that bothered me so much was not Lin's disregard for human life, because that's to be expected, but Elissa's complete rejection of her. She went hot and cold with her twin, seemingly only liking her when she needed her, not as a person but as a resource, much like the SFI used her as. She couldn't accept what had been done to her, but also couldn't accept Lin's side of the story for so long I wanted to beat her upside the head. Cadan was flat and another case of instalove developed in yet another YA book. He served as a hero we didn't really know and one I didn't particularly care about. He flipped from arrogant asshole to loving partner so quickly my head spun and I just can't deal with a lot of stories like that. Minor characters were left by the wayside, more background noise than actual characters. The Story Alright, I'll admit that the world was cool. The planets and terrabuilding and the corrupt star system were very interesting and caught my eye right away. But, I can't disregard the absolutely flawed world building that Howson used. I was confused from the very beginning because when I picked this book up, I didn't even realize it wasn't on Earth. Now, that's perfectly fine, I just wish it was established clearly and not through small inferences that became larger and larger to only confuse the reader more. I also wish that we had more scientific explanations for Lin and Elissa's connection, and for Lin's electrokinesis. Many of the reasons given felt weak and most could be chalked up to magic if nothing else. Even the finale seemed skewed, especially when viewing the logistics of using (view spoiler). The main problem with this book is the lack of explanation and the insistence on shallow, clichéd plot points and characters. Maybe there will be more in the sequel, but I don't think I'll be picking it up. Share your thoughts!