jbronderbookreviews

Your One and Only by Adrianne Finlay

Jack is a walking fossil. The only human among a sea of clones. It’s been hundreds of years since humanity died off in the slow plague, leaving the clones behind to carry on human existence. Over time they’ve perfected their genes, moving further away from the imperfections of humanity. But if they really are perfect, why did they create Jack?

While Jack longs for acceptance, Althea-310 struggles with the feeling that she’s different from her sisters. Her fascination with Jack doesn’t help. As Althea and Jack’s connection grows stronger, so does the threat to their lives. What will happen if they do the unthinkable and fall in love?

Amazon     Barnes and Noble     Goodreads

Author’s Bio

Originally from Ithaca, New York, Adrianne Finlay now lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa with her husband, the poet J. D. Schraffenberger, and their two young daughters. She received her PhD in literature and creative writing from Binghamton University, and is an associate professor of English at Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa.
She is also an avid soap maker, and sells handmade soap locally to raise money for type 1 diabetes research.

Website     Twitter

My Review

5 stars

Three hundred years ago, humans were suffering from the Slow Plague. Just before they went extinct nine scientists created clones of themselves, Homo Factus. Every ten years these same clones create ten clones in each scientist’s image perfecting anything that was a defect. But for some strange reason they decide to create a human from old, original DNA, Jack. Jack has been raised with art and music just like a regular human was before the plague. But now that he is a teenager and being introduced to the rest of the clones it is clear that they hold him in contempt.

Althea-310 was born with a defect and has tried to hide it to keep from being disposed of. When she meets Jake she becomes curious about him. But can they start caring about each other in this world with a hive mined people and an indifference to art? How far will they be able to go when defects are usually disposed of?

This story does start out a little slow but there is so much to this world. I fell into it and had a hard time putting the book down. By trying to fight extinction, humans created clones and those clones have continued to perfect themselves. They have become a hive mind and don’t have any originality or love of the arts. These are considered a weakness that needs to be cleansed. Although this is a romance between Jake and Althea-310, there was so much more to the story.

I loved this book. It has a great story that could be a stand-alone yet could possibly become more. I can’t wait to check out other books by Adrianne Finlay.

I received Your One and Only from the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.