Emmaline Cline is beginning her junior year without her best friend, Oliver. After his suicide, she's been in a funk and her absent father is not helping. Changes at school help to distract her, the biggest being that 6 new students are enrolling, and they are exact clones of 6 students already enrolled at the prestigious Darkwood Academy Boarding School. To Emma's surprise, Oliver has a clone, Levi. As she struggles with seeing her dead best friend's face daily, she also has to deal with the anti-clone movement and her involvement with the Similars (the 6 clones), whether she likes it or not.

This book has a bit of an identity crisis. It seems like the author started this is a character-driven look at technology, artificial intelligence, grief, and (insta) love. However, about halfway through, it becomes a look at the darker side of humanity and technology, and more of an action-packed thriller with chases and secrets and adventure around every corner. While I'm all for either genre, I don't think that there's a good mixture of it here.

The idea of cloning is fascinating, but this only scratches the surface of the topic. There were also so many "huh?" moments. Someone would be in the middle of a conversation, and it's like they would completely forget that there were important questions that needed to be asked. Overall, this is a nice change of pace from the fantasy/kingdom realms that are popular right now.

The idea of clones has always been controversial. Why do these clones go to the same school as the originals? Surprised that while that question was answered, two new questions popped up at the end. So a sequel is coming.

The setting is a prestigious high school where our group of characters are the elite of the elite. The main protagonist, Emmaline Chase, is starting her Junior year without much enthusiasm. She lost her BFF to suicide over the summer and she is still reeling from the pain of that loss. The romance is very much a back burner to the plot. There is mystery, suspense, and danger. In fact, the secrets tend to overwhelm the story-line. Some of the reveals were a surprise, but some of them were a bit predictable.

The Similars by Rebecca Hanover is an excellent and scary look at cloning and how clones could fit into a private school setting. An interesting premise with well developed characters, The Similars is an eerie look at what the future could become. My thoughts on this? Be careful what you wish for! I loved this novel, not just for young adults, but for adults in general!

I think that younger teenagers would really enjoy this book. It's written within the known-universe of school, but acts as a bridge to other dystopian literature. I'll be recommending it along with 'The Rule of One' and 'Never Let Me Go' to my Year 9 pupils.

What an intriguing premise.... 6 human clones attending a prestigious boarding school, Darkwood Academy. I was excited to read this YA fantasy themed novel, BUT it failed to capture my attention or "wow" me.

I think my expectations were too high and I was craving more of a Stepford Wives type of scenario (full of suspense with a touch of horror). This one had some of the ingredients, but just fell flat for me.

Darkwood Academy has accepted six clones that are referred to as "the similars" and they are all clones of existing students. Creepy huh? When the original students see their clones, they are quite stunned.

There is a back story to the clones creation and we get the POV from one of the students, Emma who is mourning the death of a friend, Oliver. She learns that he has a clone, Levi and this is devastating news.
I enjoyed some parts and wanted to see how the story would play out, but in the end it felt a bit one dimensional and lacking suspense.

Recommend for fans that are just looking for a fantasy read with a bit of a dystopian flavor.

Thanks to NG for my advanced Arc to read/review. Book is out in January 2019.

Holy cow.

The Similars is about a girl who just lost her best friend and is going through a lot. Only to find out that this year in school, clones are the hot topic and one of them resembles her friend. From there, intrigue and mystery abounds.

I loved it so much. I finished reading it in one night. I can't wait for the next one. It started out very slow but the character growth and the mystery captivated me so thoroughly that I was held in my seat.

The Similars was almost perfect. I had to rate it a perfect score. It was just...yeah. Emmaline was personable and likable and honest. She just wanted to hang out with her friends, get into a good college, and sleep. I relate to that so much, it hurts. Levi was cute and adorable and trying and my kind of boy. He was the perfect "enemy" for Emma as she went through grief and loss. Emma had been abandoned, as she put it, and she needed to grow up emotionally throughout the book. And grow up she did.

The cliques were so reminiscent of the ones that were in my high school, it astounded me. And the twists this book took were unpredictable. There were so many twists but they never got tired or overdone. And they weren't done simply for shock value. They pertained to the story.

I honestly can't wait until the next one. But I have to. Since this book doesn't come out until January 2019. All in all, I one million percent recommend.

This book was everything I hoped for and more. It's one of my most anticipated 2019 releases and I am so happy I got to read the ARC. It was so well written and the characters were easy to connect to.

This book's target reader is a young adult. I left that age group many years ago. BUT, this book was great! In the tradition of Hunger Games and Harry Potter, the author has taken a group of misfits and melded them together to create a story that will be enjoyed by any age group. The book description is enough to pique your interest, but the story itself is so much more. 6 young adults, the Similars, join the junior class at a prestigious boarding school. These young people are clones. Clones of 6 other Darkwood Academy students. The main character is Emma, a returning Darkwood Academy student whose friend committed suicide during summer break. The story begins as she meets Levi, her friend's clone. What happens next has many twists, taking the reader on a journey of discovery where Emma learns her life may not be what she thought it was. The ending leaves the impression that this is the first book in the Similars lives. I will most definitely be reading what comes next.

The concept of this book is what made me want to request this one. Clones. And not just clones, but clones of people walking side by side with the person who they look like. Could you imagine?

Our main character Emmaline goes to an elite boarding school that has just accepted the six Similars into their school. Over the summer Emmaline found her best friend Oliver dead after he committed suicide. Imagine her horror when she finds that one of the Similars named Levi looks just like Oliver.

For the most part, I really liked Emmaline as a character. In the beginning, she was very hard to connect with, but everyone deals with grief very differently. I’ve never had to deal with anything that she went through so I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would feel like to see a clone of the best friend that you just lost so tragically.

My favorite part of this story was the advanced world that we were introduced to. It really gave me the vibes of Warcross in a way. Not with the gaming but with the technology.

There is also a mystery aspect here. You really don’t know who you should trust. The Similars, the school, the parents. Everyone seems to have secrets and it really made it hard to put this book down. I couldn’t wait to see what would get exposed in the end.

While I was shocked by some of the things revealed, most of the book seemed predictable to me. There were some things that I called at the beginning and some that I didn’t. That is what really torn me about my rating for this one. Do I rate three stars because of the predictability? Or do I rate it four since even though it was predictable, it was fast paced and kept me reading?

Overall, I give this book four stars. I loved the advanced world that we get here and also I’m very curious to see where book 2 leads!

**Review will be on blog closer to release date!

The Similars is a Sci-Fi novel set in the future of Earth. The story follows Emmaline who attends the prestigious Darkwood Academy. It is a boarding school for the elite of the elite. Each student is special in some way in that they have some talent that helped them get admitted past just being extra smart. Emma is returning to Darkwood for her senior year but there are two things she is going to have to cope with: the suicide of her best friend, Oliver, and the fact that six clones (the similars) will be attending Darkwood with her. This was fine until it turned out that one of the clones is Oliver’s. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the clones and initially Emma couldn’t be bothered about it. However, she quickly gets sucked into the conspiracy surrounding them and the school.
The Similars was a fascinating story. I gave it four out of five stars on Goodreads because I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story took me a little bit to get into but once I got into it, I could not put it down. I was caught up in the conspiracy and I needed to know what was going on. Why were the similars so weird? Why were they the clones of only those specific students at the school? I had a lot of questions, and fortunately a good chunk of them got answered, which is always satisfying. The story kept me guessing and then the ending had me eagerly anticipating the sequel and considering the book doesn’t come out until January 2019, I am going to be waiting a long time.
I really liked the set up of the world Emma lived in. The story was futuristic, but it was realistically futuristic. What I mean is that it felt like the technological advancements that the characters used and interacted with, seemed completely likely that we would have them. The AI technology seems to be something that we will achieve eventually (whether that’s good or bad) and all of it just seemed like the path that we will follow technologically speaking. I also appreciated the way that things weren’t overly explained. The science was there, it seemed to make sense, but the story didn’t talk down to us. I enjoyed the characters and it was really interesting to explore Emma’s grief over her friend Oliver, but also her friendship with her only other friend. I liked the aspect of cloning, because I haven’t read too many novels where that features heavily into the plot. It felt fresh and original. I also enjoyed how realistic the world felt. It made sense to me that people would be prejudiced against something they were unfamiliar with and that happened in the story with the clones and certain parts of the school turning against them.
So why four stars you might ask? Well, the slow start. It took me a little while to feel hooked by the novel despite the premise being really intriguing. I find for a five star read I need to be gripped all the way through and really blown away. I definitely had a great time reading The Similars but the book didn’t completely blow me away. I just wanted something a little bit more gripping at the start of it. That being said, I do think the story started appropriately, it just didn’t fully pull me in like I had hoped. It made up for it in the end.
I definitely think that this book will do well when it comes out, and I recommend that you pick it up and read it when it comes out next January. I think I will be grabbing my own physical copy when it comes out so I can have it and re-read it as a physical copy. So please join me and read it when it comes out because it deserves a lot of hype and love.

'The Similars' is set in the near-future with believable advancements in technology, including cloning. The characters were easy to relate to and their emotions and reactions felt real. All in all, an enjoyable YA series starter about rich prep school kids and how wealth and politics affect their lives. Highly recommended.

This book had me confused at the beginning and I was all in by the last page. This story is your typical dystopian with a whole new twist! If you can overlook the personal plot on politics, the story was amazing and deserves a slot in my four star corner! Amazing job!

I wasn't prepared for the end - and the sequel isn't out until 2020?! I have so many questions!
Raised some really interesting questions, and some fascinating thought experiments, as well as tying in intrigue, science, and politics. While sometimes the teen romance was a little distracting, I thought this was really interesting.

I enjoyed this but felt the main character lacked her own personality. I would have liked more reflection by her. I enjoy the premise and I figured out 1/2 of the main twists pretty early.

Clones, clones, clones....I am not sure what is going on with me this year but i love clone books.
This one also did not disappoint. This book had heartbreak, friendship, love and a soap opera feel with quiet a bit of politics thrown in.
While i get that it may not be everyone's cup of tea and the end of the day this book for me lived up to my expectations and i can not wait to read more.
PRO'S
Clones, exceptional writing and complex characters
CON'S
I have to wait to read more !!!!

The Similars is a perfect way to start off 2019! Set in the near future The Similars is a perfect example of scientific advantages that the human race has made so far and how it could go so wrong. From start to finish The Similars had me captivated with its uniqueness and twists and turns. The Similars is perfect for fans of science fiction and psychological thrill rides. This book messed with my head in the most perfect of ways.

Emma's best friend Oliver had committed suicide during summer break, devastating Emma. Returning to Darkwood Academy, an elite boarding school for brilliant teens is torture for her. This year is different though, not only does Emma have to face the year with out her best friend by her side but it is also the first year that the Headmaster is allowing clones to be admitted as students. In a lab mistake sixteen years ago after the cloning process was created six teens from Darkwood Academy where cloned from their cord blood and now those clones are attending Darkwood. The sixth teen though? Emma's best friend Oliver. Levi, Oliver's clone someone that Emma wants to hate desperately but must work with to figure out the grand scheme behind the Similar's suddenly being allowed at Darkwood, the mystery behind their upbringing and who is not who they claim to be.

I loved the world building in this. Essentially there really isn't much world building considering it doesn't take place too far into the future. Some sci-fi books are pretty heavy on world building that it takes away from the plot. I am glad The Similars didn't fall into that. I really enjoyed reading about the scientific advantages that have been made and the technological advances. It gave The Similars a scary real vibe. Scientist can already clone animals so this book isn't a far reach into the future in the slightest!

I really enjoyed Emma's character. She was really easy to relate to. Her actions towards Levi int he beginning of the novel are understandable as time goes on and we see how she mourns Oliver and that Levi is a constant reminder of what she lost. I was a little standoffish initially about Emma falling for Levi for the fact that he is Oliver's exact DNA code. Though they are different people it is still Oliver if in the end. (If that made any sense at all.) But Emma was able to distinguish the difference between her best friend and the boy she is falling for. The romance also didn't take up the whole plot of The Similars, it was there but I didn't slow or make the plot halt.

In the end I am super excited to see what the sequel of The Similars is going to have install considering how it ended. Hanover's debut was simply amazing and will be a book that I will be pushing on everyone.

As seen in some of the other reviews, I can certainly a film adaptation of this story. I was absolutely reeled in by the synopsis: and while I do wish there was a little bit more expansion on the world building, the ideas and concepts in the plot were innovative and impressive nonetheless. The twists certainly kept me going, and before I knew it I was at the end. I’m definitely looking forward to a next installment.

I had been anxiously awaiting this title for months! Thank you to NetGalley and SourceFire for this advanced copy. This story was fantastic. The authors world building was unparalleled. I certainly hope this becomes a full series because I could get down with that.

This book started off as a 4.5 stars for me but as it went on, I felt there was just something MISSING. Our epic climax felt like an undramatic surprise and our love interest/main character/everyone? are equally bland. Perhaps I read too much but I wasn't very surprised by the twists, and was in fact more irritated by the sudden ending that is surely a lead up to a sequel/future Netflix bait.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.