A dystopia that recalls the 70s heyday of Scifiction pulp, entertaining and socially significant

Finlay does a brilliant job of world building in her debut novel set in a 25th century Earth where humans have long become extinct thanks to a devastating plague. A group of scientists had the foresight to create nine different teams of clones, who were able to continue to reproduce themselves in laboratories, and have built a utopia where all live happily. The clones work hard to eliminate humanity's pesky, messier qualities such as individualism, emotion and creativity, and living disease free and without conflict is peaceful and desirable. Or is it? There are cracks emerging in the clones' tightly controlled world, and not least of them is the presence of Jack, a human boy created by the clones' themselves for reasons they themselves don't entirely understand. When one of the Althea clones makes an unexpected connection with Jack, and the two teenagers begin to ask questions about the very nature of their community's existence, a fascinating series of events begin to occur. Finlay's prose is tight and descriptive, and she tackles the scientific explanations and philosophical questions raised with aplomb. The romance between Jack and Althea-310 does not take center stage as many other fascinating issues enter the narrative, but its magnetic pull is felt throughout. The inevitable outsider status felt by all adolescents is beautifully depicted in Jack's isolation, while Althea-310's rebellion against the conformist pull of her peer driven society makes her a protagonist to root for. I reluctantly made the loss of a star due to the botched redesign of the original cover, which deftly captured the themes of the book. The new cover pitches the romance, but doesn't put through the gestalt of the relationship. But neither does the title! Also, the ending was more than a bit rushed. Still, kudos to Finlay, and here's hoping for a sequel.