DupliKate by Cherry Cheva

DupliKate by Cherry Cheva

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 256
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Kate is your typical stressed senior. She's determined to get into Yale sot hat she and her boyfriend Paul will attend college together. But that doesn't leave much time for Kate, amidst SAT prep, favors for recommendation-writing teachers, and a personal statement that's got Kate blocked. So when she falls asleep in front of her computer which is frozen on a lame simulation game, she's shocked to wake up to a duplicate version of herself named Rina. Could this be the way for Kate to achieve her goals? Or is Rina a wake-up call for Kate?

DupliKate is a novel about an over-scheduled teenager trying to get through high school and into a great college.

The two guys in Kate's life are Paul, her boyfriend, and Jake, the guy she used to be close friends with until Paul convinced her that spending time with him wouldn't get into a good college. When I met Paul, I really enjoyed reading about how sweet he was toward Kate and liked his overall attitude, but when I read that he had pulled her away from Jake, I started to stray away from him and began to find Jake's witty comebacks more entertaining.

Throughout the book, Kate is fully dedicated to Paul, her school work, and getting in Yale, but her thoughts and life change drastically when someone enters her life: a computer-generated copy of herself. At first, she comes to enjoy having a double, because Rina (her double's name; Kate and Rina are both short for Katrina) takes care of several things that Kate doesn't have the energy or time for. I kept thinking while reading about this that it was a bad idea, and soon enough, Kate thought so too, because she wasn't living her life; her boyfriend was going on dates with Rina, her friends were hanging out with her, and her assignments were written by her double, as well. I felt sorry for Kate, and agreed with the decision she made in the end. I supported it all the way and was glad that she got her happy ending.

I really liked the fact that book was about finding yourself. As I was reading about all of things Kate had to put herself through to get into the same college as her boyfriend, Paul, I thought that she was one of those girls that could handle a lot of pressure. But as the story went on, I noticed that she wasn't. And that all of the things that were on her schedule were wearing her out. I immediately felt for her and wanted her to settle things out when she found herself again.

While the novel was brilliantly written and hilariously funny, I was bored at some points toward the end. Kate's thought just seemed to drag on and I wasn't interested in hearing her think about something she had already thought about multiple times. Thankfully, that little boring patch wasn't hard to read through or long enough that it ruined the whole book for me. I got over it in no time.

DupliKate really made me think about my future. It was a great novel to read when you're just entering or already in high school. It was a light read, but one that will make you think.

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