Fantastic!! A [happy] clone novel.
354895
Just finished in two sittings and could not put it down. What a great idea for a book, and the science end of it is fascinating. At times funny others sad it comes to a wonderful conclusion. And you know no one has to die. What a refreshing novel. I would recommend anything by this author.
4565793
I think I got this as a free Kindle download, and I'm so glad I did! The plot is refreshingly original, the characters are vibrant, and the story is fast-paced with an excellent climax. I couldn't put it down. It's been awhile since I felt really rejuvenated after reading a story. This is one of those! Excuse me, onto the next one!
3710657
Firstly, I'm with everyone else who are shaking their heads over reviewers who are stating that they had no idea this was not a "true variation."  Either these reviewers didn't read other reviews first or haven't the slightest idea what the slash in "Pride/Prejudice" stands for.
That said, I found this novel highly imaginative as good fanfic should be.  The idea that Darcy could feel true Platonic love for Bingley while at the same time be so self-centered and dominant made me see Darcy as more human, albeit one that could be almost cruel at times.  The other major characters were also given a refreshing makeover and that to me is one of the appeals of fan fiction-if I wanted the original characters I would read the original novel.  In all, this book is a good read for those who are looking for something different, well-written and entertaining.
4815136
This was a fun read. The first of its kind that I recall reading (steampunk). The dialogue was active, flowed smoothly, and never bored.  There is a fair share of troubles, and varied characters to boot. Although I am several decades into adulthood, this novel spoke to the youth in me, while still satisfying my adult side. I'm comfortable recommending it to family and friends, including youths. It's got humor, laughter, seriousness, and loss. I had so much fun with this story, I even read it out loud to further enhance my enjoyment of it. My audience loved what they were hearing and wanted more. Give us more Lucretia, Liebniz, and Orion,  pretty please Katy.
4568475
Oh, I like the other positive reviews. I liked this book too.  I found myself engaged and actually relating to the characters.  It is very personal if you let it be.  The premise is intriguing and really makes you think a little bit more than the other tomes out there today.

I agree with other reviews in that the characters are believable and well constructed.  Way too believable.  In fact, I feel like I know the characters.  That made the read far more enjoyable, and far more personal for me.

One of my favorite quotes in the book was "that scared the cappuccino out of him"!  I don't know why but that really made me laugh out loud.

This book has really caused me to sit back and think.  Or, stand and think.  The story is fun, but the deep things, those are the soul of the book.  I so really connected with the book I am excited and afraid.  Maybe I should never have gone down this road.

Funny thing folks, I went out and got a computer program update for my Toyota hybrid.  The release was called 'J'.  Just kidding. I don't know what the update was called.

I DO NOT normally read fiction but this was one of the most engaging pieces of work I have read in 30 to 40 years.

Oh, I did a little snooping around on the web (like Jay does) and I think there may be more to come...

Going for pizza now, " Sausage, garlic,  garlic, sausage. Black olive."

JUST NOW FOUND OUT THAT THIS WILL BE A TRILOGY!!  CHECK BACK ON AMAZON.
4858496
I wasn't sure if I was ready for another "young girl admires wild girl" novel, which was what Like Mandarin promised to be. I'm very happy I decided that I didn't care, because Kirsten Hubbard's novel was really enjoyable.

Protagonist Grace is an awkward, bony fourteen. She is too smart for her Wyoming town full of cowboys, beauty pageants, and dead-end futures. When Grace is paired up for a project with rebellious, beautiful Mandarin Ramey, she is swept up by the prospect of getting attention and finally living. When Grace discovers the roots of Mandarin's behavior, she has to decide if this is someone she wants to follow.

Hubbard's triumph is in her characterization of Grace. Every adolescent has an older girl who she wishes to emulate. I remember an older girl at camp who wore a Colby sweatshirt. For some reason, I thought that was her name (I wasn't brilliant), and thought it was the coolest name in the world. Grace's feelings for Mandarin are similar: she knows her class schedule, she practices sauntering like her, and she keeps tabs on the many men with whom Mandarin is rumored to have affairs. This kind of infatuation is difficult to describe, but Hubbard does it beautifully, making the reader cringe while understanding that this is a part of growing up. I particularly love that Grace's younger sister has the same feelings for her...we are all the cool older girl for someone else.

There are many affecting scenes in the novel, but the one that sticks with me is when Grace is invited into Mandarin's bedroom for the first time. It is described as having scuff marks all over the bottom third of the walls. As if I was a gossipy native of their small town, I immediately assumed it was something sex-related, as Mandarin doesn't deny being promiscuous. When she angrily kicks the wall, leaving another scuff mark, I realized that the truth was so much sadder: this lonely girl is so caged by her identity and the lack of possibilities in her town that she has to lash out. Mandarin's scuff marks on the wall are the residue that remains with me after finishing this novel.

One minor nitpick: While the cover of the novel is gorgeous, it doesn't seem to be a picture of either of the two girls. Mandarin is famous for her black hair, angular cheekbones, and tea-colored eyes. Grace is too young, awkward, and plain to be the girl on the cover.
2382040
I really enjoyed reading this novel. It parallels P&P without damaging the main story. I loved that it is mostly plausible. After so many bad fanfic spinoff books I appreciated that this one really respected the original world Austen created. Very appealing read!
1272051
I loved Six Wakes, enought that I'm still thinking about it now several months after I last reread it. Mur Lafferty sets up a brilliantly plausible near(ish) future in which cloning has become an accepted technology, one that's especially useful to anyone who wants to transit the stupifyingly long distances involved in space travel.

Normally stories involving cloning or resurrection of any kind lack good narrative tension, but right away we find out that there are more than a few problems with the cloning system aboard the spaceship the Six Crew members are on.

Oh yeah, and there's been a murder.

What follows is a locked room (ship) mystery in which the six characters have to figure who's doing the killing and why. On the face of it this would have been a great light novel to read over a few days, but there's a lot more happening in Six Wakes than first appears. It helps that the author has a knack for great dialogue and building character relationships that seem organic.

So, if you're up for a really cool sci fi/adventure/mystery with hidden depths...or if you've ever wanted to clone bacon in space, then I can't recommend Six Wakes enough.
1937920
This novel is a gem that will be beloved immediately at least by the great many people who adore the HBO TV show, "Girls."  That is not meant to imply that "Iris has Free Time" is in any way an imitation of the TV show.  On the contrary, the reader will be immediately convinced that "Iris," and, I daresay, Iris, are decidedly unique.  It's also not to merely say that the milieux is the same, that of recent college graduates in New York City with artistic tempraments, a curious mixture of delusion and self-awareness and considerable sloth.  Rather, I'm proposing that the context is the same, but more importantly, that in both cases, there is tremendous wry humor and brilliant execution.  And, just like the TV series has left everyone wanting more, after finishing "Iris has Free Time," I desperately want to read more of Ms. Smyles' work.  Not having "Iris has Free Time" to enjoy anew in the evening is like missing a highly entertaining friend.

Now I've compared "Iris" to girls, and another reviewer to Sex and the City.  So allow me to add a comparison that conveys the literary merit better.  In the 80s, I happened across "Money."  I'd not read Martin Amis before.  And though I had English as a minor in college, nothing prepared me for that experience.  It was like reading a gut punch.  And you can only wish to be able to go back and experience that thrill for the first time.  "Kennedy for the Defense," my first Higgins novel had a smidgen of that effect of going somewhere entirely new in a novel.  "iris" has all of the same effect on me that "Money" did.  The writing is gorgeous.  Each phrase has a perfect rhythm and there is no small perfection in the irony of the perfection of the the writing juxtaposed with the imperfection of the life it depicts.

Another reader objects to the absence of a narrative.  Ms. Smyles makes narrative look like something that other writers use as a crutch.
1690681
I really, really liked This is What Happy Looks Like when I read it a couple years ago--it was such a nice and sweet little contemporary, and I really enjoyed it. But I do recall the ending being a little open-ended, so I was pleasantly surprised when Jennifer E. Smith announced Happy Again, a sequel novella to This is What Happy Looks Like that would follow up on what happened to Ellie and Graham. Sometimes novellas seem pointless--though I don't think I've ever read one that's a sequel like this--but this one, while maybe not necessary, certainly wasn't pointless. Happy Again--ah, it was nice. (Insert heart here.)

One of my favorite things about this novella was the writing--I don't remember the writing in its predecessor being so good. I've only read two--well, three--of Smith's novels, but after reading Happy Again and very much liking its writing, I need to read them all. And I can't really tell you what this novella is about because it would spoil both Happy books, but it was such a nice little thing. Usually books--especially contemporary novels--end and that's it; we don't get anything else. So to get Happy Again, and have it be so good, is like a surprising, refreshing, nice gift--and I love it.

See, now I want to go and reread This is What Happy Looks Like and then reread Happy Again. A nice (I know I'm saying that word a lot) little story that lets us revisit characters we never thought we'd see again--well, that makes for a happy and satisfied reader. Thanks, Jennifer E. Smith, for Happy Again. If you want to write Happy Once Again (and maybe make it more like a full-length novel), I certainly won't be complaining. (And give us more of the pig, please.)
1535848
I haven't had the time to find Replica books, so I've missed about five before this. I was a little shocked to find that Amy and Eric were no longer a couple, but after reading how annoying he was before, I was just fine with this. But now, onto the book.
I didn't give this a perfect five stars, but that doesn't mean it wasn't good. I LOVE Replica books, but I don't think, compared to other authors, that any Replica books deserves a five. Just to set the record straight. For me to rait this four stars is pretty good.
Amy goes off without telling her mom where. She doesn't know the boat that her new boyfriend supposedly rented, or bought (or whatever) is taking her to an island, and that it will be a while before she returns.
After drinking a bottle of juice, Amy falls asleep under the deck. When she awakes, she finds the boat has gone on by itself. It steers itself to a little island where Amy discovers the eleven other "Perfect Girls". Only one of the perfect girls died, right? Well, #13 tagged along too apparently.
It isn't long until Amy discovers there are twelve other clones on the island. ANDY clones, in fact. While the old feelings for her Andy come rushing back, the Amys and Andys are forced to undergo certain tests of strength of mind, body, and various other things. Each time a team loses, a girl/guy is voted of. Kind of like Survivor, you know? But Amy doesn't think they're going home. She doesn't know what to think.
On this island, Amy is playing a dangerous game, and she doesn't know who to trust. Enemies turn out to be friends, and friends just might be enemies. With the discovery of even more clones (although they are "imperfect") this book turns out to be an excellent read...
3899245
In a book where clones were the norm and humans were the minority, a utopia sprang up 300 years after the remnants of human civilization died from the Slow Plague. The utopia is not everything it seems to be when a field of a much needed crop is suddenly destroyed and things start to disappear from their labs which will make cloning future generations next to impossible. Jack, is the lone human in Vispera, the first civilization begun by the clones or Homo factus. Althea 310 is one of the only clones other than Sam 299 and Inga 296 to show Jack any kindness whatsoever but soon it is apparent that their utopia is crumbling and Jack has a much larger role to play in whether it survives or it is destroyed forever.

The description of this book and even as far as the middle of the book, I had no idea what was going to happen. The beginning a little slow but once I reached the halfway point, I could not stop till I finished it. I haven't read anything quite like this and I really enjoyed the characters especially Sam, Althea, Jack, Nyla and even Jonah. This book was everything I needed after many books books recently that I read out of obligation. I received this book from BookishFirst with points rendered and I am very pleased with the purchase! I highly recommend this title to fans of sci-fi, dystopia, and young adult all wrapped in one!
2969887
I loved this book. No, it was not meant to be realistic but all the same, I LOVED IT!!
You'll know why if you go on and get yourself a copy *winks*
3269164
I thought this novel was fantastic!  We picked it for our book club and I was wondering what I would think of it since we don't read a lot of sci fi.  But I thoroughly enjoyed it and I don't even know if I'd call it sci fi.  It was just a story...a very well written story...about a rescue attempt and the better virtues of mankind...just happened to take place in space.  I fell in love with the characters; they were very well developed.  Andy Weir was very knowledgeable about the technical parts in this novel (there were many) and that made the novel believable.  Can't say enough good things about it.  I read this on my kindle but I'm buying the hard copy to keep in my "favorites" library.  It's hard to make my "favorites" library..I'm very picky.  Only warning is there is some language in the novel that may be offensive if you are bothered by that sort of thing (use of the four letter word).  I however, am not offended by language and felt that it added to the personality of the main character..who made me laugh.  Great novel!
3893120
Kathy H., a 31-year-old professional carer of eleven years' standing, has recently seen off two patients in her care, who also happened to be her best friends from school: Ruth and Tommy. Now, she looks back over their years together at Halisham - a privileged country estate for what turn out to be very special children indeed - and the years since as they struggled to form relationships in the face of a grim and astonishing fate...

Ishiguro's latest novel takes its place in a wonderful sub-genre: literary science fiction, which sets aside monsters and aliens and instead deals intelligently with the probable nightmare consequences of near-future science. In this case, it's cloning - specifically, the cloning of humans for body parts. As such, it's an important work. I just wish it had been a little more engaging. Readers with any imagination at all will have long since figured out precisely what's going on at Halisham by the time it's revealed. Our narrator, rather than being outraged at her plight, focuses obsessively on the minutiae of her personal interactions with others, endlessly recounting the social fractures and slight misunderstandings that plague any adolescent's life. It feels like an extremely detailed articulation of the teenage memories of a neurotic woman with too much time on her hands. That may well be what it is, and precisely what Ishiguro intends, but it doesn't exactly make for good reading.

Nor are the clones themselves particularly convincing. They are so accepting of their monstrous fate that, rather than wanting to overthrow the entire system, their most fervent wish is to gain only a "deferral" - a temporary stay of execution, on the grounds of having found romantic love. Again, such political apathy is probably part of Ishiguro's point. Governmental, religious, and academic officialdom can and do transform basically decent human beings into unconscious automatons bereft of free will. They do this successfully because a majority of humans are terrified to assume personal responsibility. I can understand the recipients of the donated organs thoughtlessly accepting such diabolical "progress". But is it credible that the clones would, too? Their will to live, their sense of justice and human dignity all seem to have been sapped completely, despite being nothing more (or less) than unaltered genetic copies of regular people - basically, an identical twin - and having been granted a strong traditional education. They know other people have regular lives outside the walls of the program. So where is their outrage? Why don't they resist? This is not the famous "banality of evil". It's something new - the banality of victimhood - and it's insufficiently justified. Fortunately, Ishiguro cranks things up considerably in the third section and brings the novel to a satisfying and moving climax. The final image, in particular, is powerfully affecting.

The title comes from a fictitious song played during a pivotal scene that becomes subject, in memory, to two very different interpretations as revealed late in the novel. What Ishiguro is calling us never to let go, never to relinquish, is the kind of world that is threatened when science is not subject to decency: a world less efficient, but more humane; less healthy, but more sustaining. In that sense, this novel is an important one. But it's a hard slog, without much in the way of convincing story or literary fireworks to compensate. If you're interested in exploring another, arguably better, tilt at the same theme, try Caryl Churchill's play, "A Number".
1434488
Credit must be given for originality in the creation and development of characters.  This is where this novel shines.  Millions of mystery novels have been penned over the years; a small town sheriff investigating a grizzly murder in his village certainly is a common plot device.  Has there ever been a middle age Dead Head living a legit life as the central character?  I can't recall that.  Fantastic idea to base a novel on; very memorable character that has been created.

What engaged me most in this book was not the central story so much as the various themes and issues revolving around Sheriff Gavin Pruitt: coming to terms with the conflict between ones middle age and youthful uninhibited days, single parenthood of a child transitioning into adulthood, unresolved conflicts with parents, dating a younger woman with a ticking biological clock, holding on to our inner essential passions, and lust, to name a few.  The author did a fine job of layering this on top of a nice solid mystery plot.  There is enough unexplored story for more novels on this guy.

One need not be a Dead Head, or have even heard of the Dead to enjoy this book.  That is important to add. Merely having heard about hippies and not possessing distain towards that culture will suffice.  Although popping in CD's of live Dead shows while reading this novel certainly was an enhancement for me.

The book is a reminder of a simpler time, when Jerry Garcia was alive, the band always on tour and we were all alot younger, more free, and probably cooler.
4356520
This is a feel good, funny, can't put it down novel.  Did I mention it's funny?  Being from the South, I recognized many of the characters and reactions.  I loved the eccentric names and situations.  It shows a caring, funny, meddling family.  And it shows a strong, independent elderly lady (she's not sure how elderly)who treasures her independence.  I loved the impact she had on friends and family.  And I loved the hope that none of us, no matter our age or circumstances leaves this earth without affecting those around us, and even further away.  I highly, highly recommend this book.
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