3.5.


I need to sit with my feelings on this. I think I expected something a bit different than what I got. But I will say I was gripped the entire time, it was fast paced and enjoyable. It really made me think about what Cloning could mean on a society.


However there were things about the third act I think I would’ve changed

I'm putting the rest of my thoughts behind the spoiler tag because i dont want to think about what is and isnt a spoiler and just kind of word vomit my thoughts after sitting on it

Spoiler

Things I loved about this book were watching Martine navigate her life and figure out what her humanity meant to her and WAS she human at all? She was an illegal person who had no real authority over herself and even when she started gaining autonomy she was always overwhelmed by people making decisions for her. I think that conversation was an interesting one and I think this book might have been even more interesting from Martine's perspective - she had SO much going on inside that we only got through Evelyn's inference.

I liked that Evelyn was an unlikeable narrator because she's the kind of unlikeable that I DO enjoy. Shes intentionally rough around the edges, she has a real back story that defines her adult personality and it makes sense. Still dont LIKE her but she makes sense. However she was also continually talking to the audience in a way that I felt like there was more to come with this story that never happened. there was a lot of "i know now that this thing meant this" or "i should've noticed that" that never really paid off to me. It felt like laying the ground work for a twist that never came.

To the point that I question - why is Evelyn even tell me this story? it sounds like she is just thinking about her life while driving Violet back and forth and the ending was just kind of underwhelming for me. Nothing really happened. Once they make the Nathan clone, and you discover the additional dead clones you kind of expect a bigger explosion in the third act but there really wasn't any. they clean up the bodies, sneak Martine out and live happily ever after?? i guess?

I did enjoy the nod to Evelyn starting to turn into her father, which makes me think Martine may eventually kill and bury her and take over her life and truly i wish that was how it ended.