REVIEW; My Life As A Clone

Title: My Life As A Clone
Author: K.D. Van Brunt
Genre: Young Adult, mystery elements
Type: E-book
Publisher: Kirk Van Brunt
I AM NOT HER
My name is Willa. I don’t remember much beyond my name. My parents are complete strangers. Every day I wake up and pretend I’m their seventeen-year-old daughter, but this is a lie. So who am I?
I AM A CLONE
I am a clone of a dead girl. It’s the only explanation that works. I was birthed in a laboratory and then embedded in this family. But something went wrong. I should have memories, but other than a few tantalizing fragments, I know next to nothing.
I WILL FIND MY PURPOSE
One thing I do know is that I was put here for a reason. Buried in my subconscious is the certainty that I have a mission, I don’t have much time to complete it, and something terrible is going to happen if I fail.
I WILL SAVE A LIFE
For now, my task is clear. Figure out where I came from and why I’m here. I’m not alone in this journey. I have a dog named Rin, who was placed here with me for some strange reason. He is a central part of all this and holds the key to finding my purpose. I also met a boy, Derek, who seems to know more about what’s going on inside me than I do. With their help, I will find my answers and do what I was sent here to do. Because if I don’t, people are going to die and one of them will be me.

Thank you Booktasters and K.D. Van Brunt for the copy of the book!

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to sit down and actually read a book. A while since my brain has let me focus on what I’m reading instead of wandering to what needs to be done, how my kids are doing, etc etc. But new year means – hopefully – getting back to reading and reviewing!

My Life As A Clone is a character-driven YA novel that starts off a little slow. It takes some getting into, as we are dropped – straight away – into our MC’s PoV. Willa is a character who is trying to figure out her past, her reason for existence – a theme I think most readers can relate to – while struggling with confusing flashes of memories and of course, pesky hormones.

Stories written in first person tend to be a hit or miss for me, but Willa’s voice was direct and blunt. She was driven and focused once she fixed on a goal, and despite her confusion and struggle to fit in, she was no wallflower. I liked that about her. Even as I struggled a little to understand the deal with Rin, the chapters that dealt with the nightmares, I liked Willa as a character and found her genuinely compelling. Did I think her assumption about herself was right? No. Did I enjoy reading her rationalise it anyway? Absolutely.

I had my own suspicions about her past, the relationship between Willa and Reese, and the secrets her family seemed to be hiding. While it turned out to be close to the truth, the actual revelation about Reese hit me hard. I found myself actually near tears as I read that part of the novel (no spoilers!) and the emotions it evoked in me pushed this read from a 3 star to a 4 star. The writing of that chapter particularly tugged at my heart, and I am not yet recovered from it.

If there is one weakness to the story, it is that the characters around Willa do not seem as fleshed out as she is. It is my biggest struggle with first character stories – because we are so with one character, the other characters are only seen through their point of view. While they’re not flat characters, most of them aren’t well-rounded either. They serve a purpose for Willa’s story, and that is about it.

Overall however, My Life As A Clone is a great read for someone looking for a character who is not quite what she seems, who is a little bit broken, and who just wants someone to accept her as she is instead of looking for someone long gone. It is a story about acceptance and moving on and healing – and it is messy and painful – and quite very raw. It is definitely something I’ve never read before, and I am grateful to the author for writing something so different and engaging.