An overachiever enrolls in an experimental clone study to prove that two (of her own) heads are better than one in this fast-paced, near-future adventure that's Black Mirror meets Becky Albertalli.
There aren't enough hours in the day for Lucille--perfectionist, overachiever--to do everything she has to do, and there certainly aren't enough hours to hang out with friends, fall in love, get in trouble--all the teenage things she knows she should want to be doing instead of preparing for a flawless future. So when she sees an ad for Life2: Do more. Be more, she's intrigued.
The company is looking for beta testers to enroll in an experimental clone program, and in the aftermath of a series of disappointments, Lucille is feeling reckless enough to jump in. At first, it's perfect: her clone, Lucy, is exactly what she needed to make her life manageable and have time for a social life. But it doesn't take long for Lucy to become more Lucy and less Lucille, and Lucille is forced to stop looking at Lucy as a reflection and start seeing her as a window--a glimpse at someone else living her own life, but better. Lucy does what she really wants to, not what she thinks she should want to, and Lucille is left wondering how much she was even a part of the perfect life she'd constructed for herself. Lucille wanted Lucy to help her relationships with everyone else, but how can she do that without first rectifying her relationship with herself?
"Like a PG-13 mash-up of Booksmart and Black Mirror, Clark’s sophomore novel delivers both twisty sci-fi suspense and a highly relatable account of the search for self-determination and self-worth."--Booklist
"Clark makes this territory fresh, and teens questioning their own self-worth will be drawn to this novel. A novel that is near-future enough to appeal to sci-fi fans as well as general audiences who like to ask, 'What if?'"--SLJ
This was quite the entertaining book! At first, I was a wee bit iffy, I must admit. It seemed fairly contemporary, and I wasn't a huge fan of Lucille when the book opens. But I think that is deliberate, so keep with it! Because Lucille is about to go through all kinds of stuff that will absolutely force her to look at who she is and who she wants to be.
When Lucille accepts the cryptic offer from the company who ultimately makes her clone, things are going downhill, and fast. Which makes sense, because Lucille, usually prideful of her rationality, wouldn't do such a thing unless she felt desperate. But desperate she feels, so when Life2 starts to feel more and more unsettling, she keeps getting in more over her head with each passing day. The author painted this realistically, because I was never thinking "why would anyone be this gullible?" because the reader was made to understand exactly why Lucille was feeling so despondent. Her parents are divorcing, her dreams are being extinguished left and right, and she's having a big falling out with her friend. And for Lucille, who is quite the perfectionist, this is especially harrowing.
Enter Lucy, the clone, and things get even more exciting! And, very thought provoking. Because it asks all the big questions, and even better, not just of the reader, but the characters themselves. And without giving away too much, the characters are all going to have to do a lot of soul searching. I have to say that I could not stop reading, especially after Lucy comes into the mix. There's even a mystery element to the story, which adds to the excitement! And I promise, it all wraps up in a very satisfying way.
Bottom Line:So thought-provoking and engaging, I couldn't help but root for our two main characters- no matter that one was a clone!
