Review--Strange New World by Rachel Vincent

 

Dahlia 16's life is a lie. The city of Lakeview isn't a utopia that raises individuals for the greater good; it is a clone farm that mass-produces servants for the elite. And because Dahlia breaks the rules, her sisters--the 4,999 girls who share her face--are destroyed. She and Trigger 17, the soldier who risked his life for hers, go on the run, escaping into the wild outside the city walls. But it turns out Dahlia has one remaining identical, one who shouldn't even exist.

Waverly Whitmore is teenage royalty, a media sensation with millions of fans who broadcasts her every move--including every detail of her wedding planning, leading up to the day she marries Hennessy Chapman. Waverly lives a perfect life built on the labors of clones like Dahlia. She has no idea that she too is a clone . . . until she comes face to face with Dahlia.

One deadly secret. Two genetic sisters. And a world that isn't big enough for both of them.

Rachel Vincent's Strange New World brings a conclusion to her dystopian YA duology that feels like it could be predicting our own future! It's scary times, my friends!

Everything that Dahlia 16 thought she knew about the world and life has been wrong. Every little thing has been challenged. She discovered that she is in fact not a clone, but an original ordinary human being raised among clones. Where as Waverly Whitmore has had her own life uprooted when she meets Dahlia and learns in a twist of fate that she is in fact a clone and the life Dahlia lived should have been her own.

This is where things get really messy and a little complex. Waverly's parents struggled to get pregnant, her mother broke some rules to have a geneticist create an embryo for her so that she could carry her own child to term. While the geneticist did do this for her, he was also in a bind as he needed to create another 5,000 clones so he altered the DNA a bit and created the clones. But mistakenly gave the Whitmores a clone instead of the original child of their DNA. 

You would think this would cause a bit of drama--which, yes it does--but you'd also think the mother would have been a mess of emotions at meeting her "real" human daughter. But instead, she treats Dahlia like a pest that needs to be exterminated. While you think she's being nicely devoted to the daughter she raised who is not fully of her DNA, she is ready to throw her blood daughter to the wolves. This just gave me all sorts of negative feelings towards this woman. Yes, it's a complicated mess. But you'd think she would show Dahlia some shred of kindness, but that was not the case.

Waverly was the surprise though. I expected her to be all high and mighty towards Dahlia and while we get a little bit of that too, we also see another side to Waverly as this book is told through hers and Dahlia's point of view. Waverly is a pretty complex character as well as she grew up believing she was human. Clones are sort of human, just not fully. There are things to their DNA that make them stand out. For instance, Waverly never really went through puberty and she'll never be able to have kids of her own, despite an upcoming marriage where she wants to have them.

When a case of mistaken identity puts the Whitmores in a bind, Dahlia will have to pretend to be Waverly in front of cameras on a reality show Waverly leads that will will eventually air her upcoming wedding to her fiance, Hennessy.

After some up and down hurdles, the girls begin to form a friendship as they realize just what has been going on in the "clone factory" also known as the city of Lakeview. They are determined to out the Administrator's evil doings with the clones.

This book was quite the ride! I don't want to say it gets politically heavy, but I can say that it does get a little dystopian politics heavy. For the big issues that are being addressed in this world, it gets a bit political. And honestly, with the way things are in our society now, this book could very well be a handbook of sorts for the future! Lol. Put into an entertaining way of course!

The tension in this book was thick! It took me awhile to make up my mind of Waverly, but since I figured we're getting her point of view, her character has to eventually become likable, right? And she does grow on you. Yes, she's a little unlikable in the beginning, but it is truly when reality's secrets start to slap her in the face and that could rattle anyone!

The romantic element was pretty much non-existent in this one. Trigger 17 is still there and just his presence made me like this guy a lot! He cares for Dahlia deeply despite their sort of insta-connection. Theirs is a sweet romance in the moments that are caught on the page.

I really liked how Vincent ended Strange New World. We get a good amount of conclusion. Yes, there are some things that are left open-ended, but I like to always think the best of the best will happen for these characters. Even with short series like duologies, I am hopeless romantic. Even if "they lived happily ever after" aren't the last words on the page, I always like to believe that they do. I like to think that the unmentioned problems that were not ultimately resolved, were eventually resolved because that's just how my mind copes with open-ended endings! Lol. Needless to say that Vincent has written yet another entertaining series that will forever remain with me!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars