Hello everyone!
I am back with another review, today it is Your One & Only by Adrianne Finlay. Thanks so much to Raincoast Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book for an honest review, as always, all opinions are my own.
This story follows Jack, the only human in a world full of clones. After the Slow Plague ravaged the planet, all Homo sapiens went extinct. Some of their genetic material was saved, but a new species, Homo factus, was created and genetically manipulated to avoid manifestations of the Slow Plague. Now, three hundred years after the Plague, Jack's clone 'mother' claims in her dying breath that he is the answer to the problems they will soon face. For now, Jack is treated as a social outcast - feared by the clones - and scapegoated for problems he didn't cause.
First of all, I think a large explanation for the few problems I have with this book is that there isn't really an answering of the "So what?" question. Throughout the book, and especially at the end, we are left wondering so many things, why Jack? Why now? Why Althea? I think this book might be missing a reason or purpose.
I will say that this book is very original - I don't think I've ever read one like it before. I found it had some very vague reminiscences of The Giver, but in the sense that there was one guy in a futuristic world who stood out from everyone else and could save the day. The rest, the clones, the reasoning for the Plague, all very unique to this story. I also thought that Finlay did a good job of explaining the world and how things had come to be this way, even if it was all fully explained a little bit later in the text.
The romance was a bit lacking for me, unfortunately. I felt like there was very little connection between Jack and Althea, at the most, I would say a good basis for a friendship. I didn't really feel any chemistry between them and don't really think the romance saved the day like the synopsis suggests it does. Their relationship definitely impacted things, but a platonic relationship would have worked just as well.
I actually didn't mind the alternating third-person POVs - I thought that they worked well for the story. Usually, I have a hard time getting on board, but Finlay makes it work well. The characters had very different lives in general, so there wasn't a lot of room for sounding too similar, but even when they were together, they had distinct voices.
My biggest issue is the ending. I felt like this was really where the "so what?" question really fell apart. I don't know if I just missed it or what but I kinda felt like there was a semi-dramatic scene, and then nothing. Just walking around, living a new life. Part of me feels like this leaves it open to a sequel, but the other part of me just feels like there'd be nothing really left to write about because there could have been a couple more chapters or even an epilogue and we would have called it a night.
Overall, I'm feeling a bit conflicted but based on originality alone, I would recommend this one!
First of all, I think a large explanation for the few problems I have with this book is that there isn't really an answering of the "So what?" question. Throughout the book, and especially at the end, we are left wondering so many things, why Jack? Why now? Why Althea? I think this book might be missing a reason or purpose.
I will say that this book is very original - I don't think I've ever read one like it before. I found it had some very vague reminiscences of The Giver, but in the sense that there was one guy in a futuristic world who stood out from everyone else and could save the day. The rest, the clones, the reasoning for the Plague, all very unique to this story. I also thought that Finlay did a good job of explaining the world and how things had come to be this way, even if it was all fully explained a little bit later in the text.
The romance was a bit lacking for me, unfortunately. I felt like there was very little connection between Jack and Althea, at the most, I would say a good basis for a friendship. I didn't really feel any chemistry between them and don't really think the romance saved the day like the synopsis suggests it does. Their relationship definitely impacted things, but a platonic relationship would have worked just as well.
I actually didn't mind the alternating third-person POVs - I thought that they worked well for the story. Usually, I have a hard time getting on board, but Finlay makes it work well. The characters had very different lives in general, so there wasn't a lot of room for sounding too similar, but even when they were together, they had distinct voices.
My biggest issue is the ending. I felt like this was really where the "so what?" question really fell apart. I don't know if I just missed it or what but I kinda felt like there was a semi-dramatic scene, and then nothing. Just walking around, living a new life. Part of me feels like this leaves it open to a sequel, but the other part of me just feels like there'd be nothing really left to write about because there could have been a couple more chapters or even an epilogue and we would have called it a night.
Overall, I'm feeling a bit conflicted but based on originality alone, I would recommend this one!