Copied

Copied by SM Anderson - 3 STARS

Synopsis- Adopted off the black market, Alexander Mitchell, has no idea his DNA is copyrighted and property of military weapons giant Texacom Defense. Nor that his DNA is being used to develop an army of clones. When the company discovers he was not properly disposed of 17 years ago, they send an assassin copy, BETA23, to terminate Xan and cover it up.
After he narrowly escapes BETA23’s first attempt, Xan teams up with Lacey, a genetically engineered genius he’s surprised to find common ground with— only they’re awkward together. Half of the time she stares at Xan like the science project he is and the other half…let’s just say Xan can’t keep his eyes off her lips.
When they manage to capture a company copy by luck and sheer stupidity on Xan’s part, Lacey is determined to see the good in their prisoner to the point she believes BETA23 can be persuade to give them the intelligence they need to keep the company forever off Xan’s back. Xan’s not sure if he can trust the darker version of himself, not when it means gambling with the lives of his family and the possibility of losing Lacey.
*I received an ARC from net galley in exchange for an honest review

Lacey- Jamie Chung

Overall- Cloning. An interesting concept that is becoming more and more popular in the young adult science fiction area. Its certainly an ethical and scientific dilemma that our society currently faces, and is a bit unnerving, considering all the possibilities. I REALLY wanted to like this book. The idea seemed so intriguing. But unfortunately, I felt like the book fell a little flat for me. While the over all theme of the book felt original for me, it was the first of these specifically that I'd read (cloning) (though genetically engineered stories are a dime a dozen), I struggled to really connect with the characters. In addition, the idea that Lacey is so brilliant she could run DNA tests in her home lab and understand what she is doing seems extremely unbelievable, and thats just one of the completely ridiculous moments in the book. I was frustrated with Lacey and Xan's relationship and felt that the book was probably made for the pre-teen category rather than the young adult science fiction category. I feel that in the pre-teen science fiction area, this book would really succeed, its well written, yet remains simple, but for me, the lack of romance, and connection to any of the characters (and the unfortunate stereo typing) made it difficult to read.

Xan & Beta

The storyline really caught my attention. It sounds so interesting, intriguing and that in between all the science there might be a love story of sorts. if you haven't figured it out by now, thats my kind of story. I need a little romance. (what girl doesn't!) But this book lacked romance, and the characters themselves were underdeveloped. The plot line her drove the story, and the author did a great job of flushing it out on this end (Xan's end) but the plot point seemed to take a turn. Unlike in other science fiction books, where the point is to take down the corrupt government, this book doesn't go that far. In fact, not much at all is learned about this secret government funded scientific group. This book would have been better with more information of this government type agency that runs these experiments. Not to mention, don't they think its odd that Beta came back after so long?! Keeping Beta captive for so long I think was a major downfall for this book. It is where I lost quite a bit of interest, which was already waning. I understand that the authors point was to highlight the different struggles between Xan and Beta during this time period, and to see their changes, but this also could have been done in different ways, allowing a more robust plot line.

I think this storyline could really have been better if it were if tri-perspectives, Beta, Xan and Lacey. Perhaps that is where there is a lack of connection, we see Beta change, developing emotions like compassion and sympathy, and we see Xan struggle with the darkness that exists, his protectiveness and jealous but also the love he has for his friends and families. Whats missing is Lacey. As such a pivotal role in this storyline, she feels disconnected from the story, we never glimpse what her emotions are, though by the end, we assume.

Overall this is a good science fiction based novel, recommended for the 12-16 age range with an appetite for a focus on the science fiction with a little mystery and action. Its well written, but just didnt click with me.