For me, the fact that this is a teen sci fi book is completely irrelevant. The real value of this book is in the thought experiment / lessons learned from a choice made by a main character, and how they follow through on that choice.
** SPOILERS **
I read this when I was myself a teenager and the only part about this book that I remembered, but remembered extremely, extremely well, was the part where one of the twins makes a very strong choice to lock himself up alone in a 1 room windowless space for an entire year. He has all the food he needs, he has the books to entertain himself, and he is an introvert so he thinks he won't mind the absence of people. Everything that happens from there: how he structures his days, what motivates him to stay, the value he takes from it, all of this was profoundly influential on me in my youth and I therefore came back to this book during the coronavirus quarantine because it is so incredibly relevant at this moment.
As a story, well, I don't care. A good chunk of the book is really just establishing context to both justify the self isolation and also show how the character changes from before to during to after his time alone. Don't read it for the cover. Read it to be confronted with the question: what would it be like to be completely alone for an entire year, and how would you respond? What would you do? Would you find it valuable?
I love this book for how directly it gets to these questions and gives me the chance to think about them and imagine a potential answer.
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Disappointed that my 'New' copy was used :(
Unfortunately, the copy I received was obviously used even though I paid for a new one... :/Aside from that, I remember really enjoying the book as a kid and am hoping mine will enjoy it now.
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Aside from that, I remember really enjoying the book as a kid and am hoping mine will enjoy it now.
Disappointed that my 'New' copy was used :(
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2018
Unfortunately, the copy I received was obviously used even though I paid for a new one... :/Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2018
Aside from that, I remember really enjoying the book as a kid and am hoping mine will enjoy it now.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2019
