This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

I finished reading The Similars by wanting more. Thankfully, Rebecca Hanover finished the story with The Pretenders.

Did you read The Similars? No? Well, what are you doing here? Go buy or borrow it now and don’t come back until you’ve read it.

OK, read it? Good. FYI: I didn’t re-read The Similars and didn’t feel I had forgotten anything, so it’s up to you for any re-read decisions.

The Pretenders starts with action from the start—the moment they arrive back at Darkwood Academy. Some of the incoming class, aided by a former student, organised a protest against the Similars. Then later that night Ollie and the Similars are kidnapped and saved by Emma, who in the process jumped from a speeding car and her injuries recovered a little too fast for a human. Then there are Similars and their DNA originals who seem to be in too many places at once. Oh, and then there’s Levi, still trapped on Gravelle’s island, and Emma’s confused feelings between her captured boyfriend and his DNA original, who happens to be her best friend.

I loved the fast pacing in The Pretenders. It wasn’t too fast, even with EVERYTHING going on. And, there’s a LOT going on. I suppose that’s why some of the deeper ethical and societal questions from The Similars aren’t explored as much here. Emma still has Dash plum device as her rather sentient artificial assistant, and I still want a plum; sorry Alexa. The story accepts clones are to stay, even though some still disagree, thus the protest. It’s more an aside than anything. However, identity comes up later in the book and if it feels like I’m writing around a spoiler, I am. There are some unexpected twists and I’d hate to ruin it for you. The end is wow.

My copy of The Pretenders was from the library via the Libby app. There was a wait for it to be available (even library ebooks have limits and due dates), but it was worth waiting.

Photo by redcharlie on Unsplash