The Similars by Rebecca Hanover

A New York Times Bestseller! Don't miss the series debut that readers are calling Gossip Girl meets The Umbrella Academy, set in an elite boarding school, where secret societies rule, nothing is as it seems, and the genetic copies of attending students have just joined the Junior class... This fall, six new students are joining the junior class at the elite Darkwood Academy. But they aren't your regular over-achieving teens. They're DNA duplicates, and these "similars" are joining the class alongside their originals. The Similars are all anyone can talk about. Who are they? What are the odds that all of them would be Darkwood students? And who is the madman who broke the law to create them? Emmaline Chance could care less. Her best friend, Oliver, died over the summer and it's all she can do to get through each day without him. Then she comes face-to-heartbreaking-face with Levi, Oliver's exact DNA copy and one of the Similars. Emma wants nothing to do with the Similars, but she keeps getting pulled deeper into their world. She can't escape the dark truths about them or her prestigious school. No one can be trusted, not even the boy she is falling for with Oliver's face. This exhilarating and riveting debut by Rebecca Hanover is the next obsession for readers who devoured Two Can Keep a Secret, One of Us Is Lying, Scythe, and Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful.

The story offers an interesting premise but never becomes an interesting story. Characterization is very weak and the pacing is inconsistent.

After SEVERAL plot twists and what ultimately felt like a long but satisfying book, I'm finally finished!

RATING: 3.62 stars

Based off of what I knew about this book's plot, I knew that several things could have happened along the way which I may not have liked. Cloning research is a touchy subject, but since I had recently done a research paper about similar experiments, I figured I knew what I was getting into.

And yet, I still ended up surprised.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of twists I did not see coming. Usually, I'm the kind of reader who figures out the plot twist way before it happens, so I am glad this book offered multiple twists which kept me guessing.

However, not all of these surprises were good. There were a few additions to the plot (which would be spoilers if I mentioned them now) that I didn't enjoy very much, mainly having to so with the clones. There were a few details about the main characters which seemed a bit off throughout the book, but once I got through half of it, most of these problematic details were solved.

That being said, there were also a few plot points which seemed to be a bit of a stretch, mainly having to do with the characters' actions.

I will also point out that the novel itself seemed to last a long time, despite being an average length book. I'm not sure if this was just my fault, but they probably fixed this issue for the official release.

Overall, I liked The Similars more than I expected! It wasn't mind-blowing or anything, but it was good. I will most likely be reading the next book when it hits shelves!

I recieved an eARC from Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.

Warning: spoiler-ish

I really don't know how to feel about this one. I wanted to like it and the plot is really intriguing, but it was just not written particularly well.

Good bits:
- Exciting plot!
- Great plot twist at the end, I saw one coming but definitely not the other.
- Despite its flaws, it was gripping and I stuck around to see what happened.

Bad bits:
- Oh good god the CHARACTERS. I feel like none of them had any real personality, even Emma. They act ridiculously - there are moments where characters are in danger and the other characters just start talking about something else or MAKE OUT.
- More to the point, Emma is an IDIOT. She knows the clones are up to no good and potentially dangerous and yet she hangs out with them anyway.
- The main romance was contrived and unbelievable.
- The dialogue isn't well written. A lot of it reads like the characters are just there to dump information on the reader.

Despite this, this book was actually quite an enjoyable read. I don't know if I'll read the next book because I don't know if I'll care enough by its release, but I certainly don't regret reading this one.