Not really a fan of Jenna Black but this blurb is...intriguing.

I have a secret weakness for young adult dystopian novels; although the worldbuilding is often much too simplistic and the lead characters tend to be a grating mix of far too powerful and really angsty. They make great fun reads when I'm not in the mood for a serious book, though, like on really long planes where I'm half dead by the end of it. So REPLICA was one of the first books I packed for my 19 hour flight to India. My hopes for a quick, dumb read were squashed, though, because REPLICA is actually pretty good.

The worldbuilding is still somewhat hokey - the United States has become the Corporate States. Each state is a corporation ruled by Executives, and power is hereditary. (It really gets me when authors capitalise common words and make that a pivotal thing in their world, but I digress.) This didn't really make sense to me because to me, capitalism implies a meritocracy, even if people who are already rich have a headstart - the idea of high level employees of a company grooming their "heirs" to take over their jobs is confusing. I mean, maybe it would work if every Executive owned their own company, but each state is its own corporation. (Also the idea of named classes of people is hilarious, although this is certainly not unique to this book.)

I know, I said the book was good and immediately started nitpicking, but trust me, this is a good sign. I wouldn't be so interested in how the book's world worked unless I cared enough to keep thinking about it.

So, what is the book about? Nadia, a high ranking Executive is engaged to Nate, the Chairman Heir of the state formerly known as New York. Although she hates all the pressures on her as a female Executive, she's pretty happy with her life. But then, Nate ends up murdered and although a Replica of him is created from his last memory backup, his family wants answers... and she was the last person to see him alive.

The main characters were pretty good - Nadia is definitely flawed and is confused and out of her depth through most of the book, but once she gets decisive, she's great. Nate is very exasperating, he is very reactionary and self-centered and continues to be so even when other characters point this out to him. He has good intentions though, so he ends up being pretty likeable. The other characters are not as well fleshed out as I'd like, but there's a nice set of them.

I loved that the usual romance is subverted; instead of Nate and Nadia barely knowing each other but being infatuated with each other, they're best friends but very much not in love. Although, the book ends up more towards familiar romance-y territory by the end.

The thing that got me most about this book was the characters' reactions to things. People communicate to each other way too much - there isn't enough interpersonal conflict. I never thought I'd complain about this (I often get very frustrated with characters who don't just talk to each other - Wheel of Time, I'm looking at you). And although there's a lot of outrage going around, the characters get over it pretty quickly.

The plot was well paced and pretty well resolved, although I wish the "evil secret" had been fleshed out a little more. There's definitely going to be a sequel, but the book should stand pretty well on its own.

I wasn't expecting much from this one, but it surprised me. I'll be keeping an eye out for sequels. ( )

Thank you to Tor Teen for providing me with an ARC copy.

I'm not one who reads a lot of sci-fi or dystopia novels. I'm very particular with these genres and I tend to dislike a lot of the sci-fi books I read. For me, Dystopian novels can be really good as long as they aren't too bleak. I need some positivity with my world-crumbles. Like a positivity napkin to wipe all the world-crumb(les) aside and leave me feeling like... yes there's hope for humanity!

Replica was an interesting read. We have a futuristic New York which has basically been overrun by a corporation call Paxco. Nadia Lake is the daughter of the president of Paxco and engaged to her best friend (their parents made the match when they were young). Now Nadia is almost 18 and officially engaged to her best friend Nathaniel (Nate). He's the heir to the company that made this awesome human replica technology.

Nate is mysteriously murdered -- and Nadia was the last to see him. He isn't really "dead and gone" though because he has a Replica. Only the most prestigious and wealthy citizens have replica technology. Knowing Nate would have a replica replace him; who would murder him? Nadia is determined to find out who killed Nate and together they search for Bishop. Bishop is Nate's chauffeur (but also his secret lover). He was with Nate when he was murdered, but then disappeared.

The story honestly felt like a dystopian mystery. It was pretty cool trying to keep up with the clues. I really felt for Nadia because she was forced to do things to protect her family and she really showed a lot of strength in what she went through. I had a major crush on Dante, Nadia's father hired him as a personal assistant. He seems like a good love interest for Nadia.

Overall I enjoyed the story and the world-building. It was easy to visualize this new world. I really cared about Nadia and Nate too. The thing that troubled me was the ending. (Don't worry, no spoilers!) like I said earlier, I like to have positivity in dystopian novels. It's easy to get depressed with all the themes in Replica. Although I didn't feel like it was a heavy book, I think the ending could've had a little more positivity. A kiss between Nadia and Dante would've been nice. Something to show that these kids have tough times ahead, but that they also have good times too and will persevere in their bleak world. Other than the ending though, I enjoyed this book a lot and can't wait to read the sequel! ( )

Nate, Nadia's best friend and fiance, gets murdered at a party one night. Luckily, Nate's father can afford to create a replica of him, a replica that has all of Nate's memories up until his last backup two weeks ago. The police suspect Nate's boyfriend Kurt of being the murderer since he was seen running away from the crime scene and he hasn't been heard of since. Nate refuses to believe his boyfriend murdered him and enlists Nadia's help in solving his murder and finding Kurt.

However, Nadia's entire family has been threatened with arrest and imprisonment if she doesn't report on Nate's every move, plant a tracker on him, and help the police find Kurt before Nate does. Nadia has to choose between her family or her best friend.

I love this book. Nadia and Nate are both flawed but interesting characters. Nadia is smart and she thinks things through before she acts. She is also a doormat, but by the end of the book, she starts to grow a spine. Nate is rich and spoiled, but by the end of the book, he starts to realize that maybe the entire world doesn't revolve around him.

I can't wait to read the sequel since solving Nate's murder leads them to a secret that could bring down the entire government and destroy their state. ( )

Back when I requested Replica, months ago, I was still fully enthralled by the dystopian fiction trend. Sadly, by the time it arrived, I'd already hit a wall, a point where every single one I read reminds me of others, and I just haven't been wowed by any for some time, even The Fifth Wave, which has been highly praised. With that in mind, my expectations for Replica were pretty low, and, happily, Replica turned out to be much better than anticipated. Though the world building is shaky, the unique make up of the cast made Replica an interesting variant from the usual formula.

Black uses third person limited narration, switching between Nate and Nadia. Nate is the Chairman Heir, destined to inherit Paxco, the insanely powerful corporation based in New York City that runs pretty much everything. Nadia has been betrothed to Nate since they were both children, and she's always loved him, despite his increasingly drastic antics.

With his latest stunt, though, Nadia has had just about enough. That Nate is gay and the romantic part of their relationship will only ever be for show Nadia has made her peace with. She still loves Nate and she does not begrudge him other lovers, even though she wouldn't mind if his heart had turned to her. Though she supports him, she still does not want to be an accomplice to his sneaking out of a party to have sex with his boyfriend and valet, Kurt Bishop. She storms off, and the next thing she hears Nate has died. And been replicated.

There are two solid points in Replica's favor for me. First, the inclusion of an LGBT main character. While it's sad that this society still hasn't evolved to be a hundred percent okay with homosexuality, the attitude still seems more open than now and I certainly feel like Jenna Black is promoting that romance. Plus, it spoke volumes to me that the only romance of any sort in Replica is that between Kurt and Nate. Though there's an obvious impending relationship for Nadia, she has no romantic arc in this one.

Second, rather than focusing on romance, friendship is to the fore. Nadia and Nate do not have the perfect friendship, but they are there for each other when it counts. Nadia disapproves of a lot of Nate's choices and Nate's a bit too self-involved, but their affection for each other is evident in spite of all of that. There's a dearth of real friendships in YA, and even less with a male/female friendship, so that was nice to see.

Some of the minor plot elements did surprise me, but, for the most part, the plot covered pretty familiar territory. Corrupt corporation managed by untrustworthy parents. Human regeneration. Questions of whether a replica is actually human, and what that means about human nature. A plot to overthrow the evil corporation. I've been through all of that before, and it even comes with the villainous monologue because of assured victory. And, much as I appreciated the out of the box main characters, characterization was still tepid all around. Much of this is decently well done, like the replication element, but it's been done so often and didn't do anything to stand out from the crowd.

Replica entertains well enough and includes LGBT themes, putting a unique spin on otherwise familiar territory. Also, romance doesn't dominate the story, though the book still does read a bit like a CW show, with spoiled rich kids rebelling against their parents and going to party with hot poor people in the process. That doesn't sound like I enjoyed Replica, I suppose, but I did for the most part. Still, I'm not sure that I'll read the sequel, just because I feel like this one wrapped up well enough for me to be satisfied with ending there. ( )