I've read other books by this author and enjoyed them. Picked this up at a bookstore in the Gdansk airport in Poland.

This is the sequel to Replica, and they really do need to be read in order to get the best comprehension. As with Replica, this is a dual story told from the perspective of both Gemma and Lyra. You can choose to read each story independently, but I chose to read every other chapter and I think that gives the best reading experience (although, it's admittedly annoying to have to keep flipping the book over).

I was hoping that throughout the book, I would get an understanding of why the book is titled "Ringer", and at the end I'm still no wiser. I assume Ringer is supposed to be used in the "she's a dead ringer for XYZ", with the definition being "a person or thing that looks exactly like another". In Replica, the story centered around those who were exactly the same (genetically), whereas in Ringer, the idea of things appearing the same, but not being the same at all, is explored. So in that sense, I suppose the title Ringer is very fitting.

For the most part, the story picks up where the first one left off, but we're left to wonder what the real aftermath was from Gemma's 'adventures' from the first book. By that I mean, we don't really know how Gemma's parents explained the existence of Haven and her genetic origins (I mean, that's kind of a big deal), and we don't know what the world at large knows about it and/or is doing about it. But as we follow the trials and tribulations that Lyra, Caelum, Gemma and Pete endure, we learn more about the evil behind Haven and the replicas. More importantly, we explore what it means to be human, and to be a friend. There are again a lot of reckless teenage decisions and emotions involved, but it seems the main characters have grown a bit - not necessarily matured, but have a greater sense of themselves and their place in the world than they did in the first book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, although it wasn't quite as thrilling to me as Replica was, and I felt that Gemma's side of the story wasn't perhaps as introspective as it could've been. At the end, there were some appropriately unanswered questions, like what the fate of Haven and those involved in the project ultimately would be -as we know an investigation would take a long time and would be deterred often by those with power and money. This book isn't perfect, but I still closed the book feeling satisfied, and that's all that really matters.

I'm going to send this book to Colorado with my sister, Moody-Blue, to put in her LFL in front of her house. I'm bundling this book together with 'Replica', which is the first in this two-book series. They really should be read together, and in order.

Heading to Colorful Colorado - happy travels, little book!