Chance by Matthew Fitzsimmons is the second book in the Constance series. In Chance, the story revolves around Chance, a rich boy who was kidnapped along with his brother. Chance and Marley were killed by their kidnappers, forcing them to become clones. Chance tries to come to terms with the kidnapping that he can't remember and he ends up being a suspect in a murder.
The story of Chance is a lot slower than Constance. It takes a lot longer to get to the point of the story because it lays out quite a lot of background information on Chance. It is also simpler than Constance was as Constance had political and social implications to her story, where Chance is just trying to save himself and remember his past. Con was also a more likable character than Chance is because Chance is a spoiled selfish man. However despite the differences, I enjoyed reading the story and trying to find out who the kidnappers were and why they kidnapped them in the first place. It was also interesting trying to piece together that plot line with the murder plot.
Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

Set in the near future, Chance and his brother were kidnapped and murdered as teens. But don’t worry, his family is wealthy, which means they have an insurance policy - clones. Since his first revival, Chance has continued to play chicken with death, knowing a clone is always there if he loses. Life continues this way until one time, he wakes up and is accused of murder.

I was looking forward to reading this book, the second in a series. I read the first book, “Constance,” earlier this year and loved every moment of the book. The main character in “Constance,” Con, was a nuanced and well-developed character, which helped draw me into the world and the story. Unfortunately, this was not the case with Chance. I could not connect with him or the story, and it did not help that I anticipated most of the twists.

While I will continue to recommend “Constance” to all my SciFi-reading friends, “Chance” is one I will recommend with more caveats. It’s an exciting plot, a fast read, and the politics are compelling. However, the character development leaves much to be desired.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC to read and review.

I LOVED Constance and was really looking forward to the continuation of this series, however this was a huge miss for me. The main character is selfish and pretty insufferable, and the plot was really dumb and had little to do with the cloning that was discussed in the first book.

Thank you, Thomas & Mercer, for the advance reading copy.

I guess my expectations were a little too high when I went into this book.

It started out really good. However, the pace slowed down and it never recovered.

However, it’s a me problem.

I appreciate the theme of technology misuse and we get to rethink about where our lives are going. Well would I be okay with clones of myself which have no memory of my other lives lived by my other clones. The shudder!

I expect a better follow up if this series continues. I was rather disappointed with how things ended in this sequel.

After reading Constance, I couldn't wait for this book. I really enjoyed the book. I was racing through this book to the end which did not disappoint.

Calling all sci-fi and murder-mystery fans! I loved the world the author created with an absolutely fascinating take on a society where human cloning is available. This book had me on the edge of my seat all the way through!

When looking this book up on Goodreads I realized Chance is considered book #2 in a series. Having been oblivious to this fact while reading the book, I would argue this works just as well as a standalone! 😂

This was one of those books that I enjoyed so much that I simultaneously didn't want to put down but also didn't to finish it too quickly. Thanks to NetGally for providing me an ARC.

While a sequel to "Constance" it also could completely stand on it's own with it's story which takes place in the same world. We begin by meeting Chance, who's clone journey began quite violently when he and his brother were kidnapped and murdered. As such, he now lives his life doing dangerous stunts because he has not hing to lose. But when he's surprised by a refresh to learn he's being accused of murder, he starts on a quest to learn more about what, and who, caused his kidnapping and murder all those years ago.

And incredible story that makes you think about issues of privilege, scientific progress, and the relationships we form with others. I loved how there were several characters from the first book involved in Chance's story, but it was done so well that it propelled everything forward. I've got my fingers crossed that they'll be a 3rd book in this series!!

** Excerpt from Tea Time With A Good Book, October 2022. Printed and distributed in the Collinwood Chronicle. Cleveland, OH
(begins after previous review)

Next, there is Chance by Matthew FitzSimmons. Here people are able to clone themselves so, if the worst should happen, they can be reborn. And, the hero of our novel as a teen was kidnapped by his father, one of the executives working at the company that cloned individuals. He and his brother were killed during the kidnapping and never knew what occurred as their brain scans weren't updated. Because of this the boys are left with a large mystery to solve. Alive, both now struggle in their own way, to deal with a life that is very much a mystery, and one they should have never survived. Will solve the puzzle, the mystery of their kidnapping, and close the door, finally able to live?

One of my favorite books to read this year, one I liked so much out of all I read this month, I recommended it to all the readers of my monthly column, along with one another

Chance and his brother were kidnapped and murdered 5 years ago. In a world where the rich have clones ready in case of death, their clones technically bring them back but not knowing what happened to them cause both issues. While his brother killed himself, Chance has become famous for videotaping himself doing life-threatening stunts. If he dies, he’ll just be brought back again, so what does it matter? But when he wakes up after yet another death and is accused of committing a murder that he has no memory of. He rushes to figure out what happens as this has caused city-wide riots and he knows it will only be a matter of time before he is arrested. When his digging around starts to point back to his kidnapping, everything gets much more complicated.
I loved Constance when I read it earlier this year, so I’d been eagerly anticipating this sequel. Chance initially seemed like a related novel in the same world, but it all started to come together in the end. I really enjoyed the first half but didn’t have that same propulsion to binge read, but by the second half, I was flipping the pages. There were multiple twists along the way that kept me on my toes. I just think this world that the author built is so unique and even though I’ve looked, I’ve found nothing quite like it.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for my honest review.

Chance is the son of a wealthy, former Palingenesis employee.After his kidnapping ends tragically, Chance becomes a somewhat reckless clone. Several iterations from the original, this clone struggles to find what is missing in his life.

So this is a sequel to Constance, which I have unfortunately not read, but I found no issue reading it on its own.

Slightly predictable, but still a good read and fun. The protagonist is likable and interesting. I do wish I’d read Constance first though for more character development and understanding.

I will likely read again in the future if I read Constance.

This book should be pretty popular. It's a worthy followup, and it has a good story that is engaging, along with interesting characters. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

This is a successful continuation of Fitzsimmon's Constance. It delves further into a future with cloning and the lives of the clones. It also provides a discussion of class differences, because only the wealthy can afford clones in this version of the future. It is best to have read the first book to understand the novel, Chance, most fully.

I might have done better with this one if I hadn't read Constance first. I absolutely loved Constance, and when I was approved for this one, I was expecting a sequel. Or at least more than a nod to the same universe with passing reference to Constance herself. While I enjoyed seeing FitzSimmons's world play out further, at the end of the day these are very heavily character-driven stories, and those are hard to read when you have a character you can't relate to.

I found Chance to be an exceptionally unlikable character who I really struggled with - unlike Constance, who was magnificent. I'm no doubt showing my age here, but I just never found anything about his character that generated enough connection for me to slog through this one and I was unable to generate enough interest to finish.

The writing is excellent and the world- building just as marvelous as in the first book. Fitzsimons captured the ennui and emotional struggles of his characters and he tells a more than compelling story - this just wasn't a story for me...

I read Constance last year when it came out through Kindle First Reads, and I really enjoyed it. Despite it not being a full five star book for me, the premise and Con both stayed with me for a long time & I was excited when I saw there would be a second book set in this not so distant future!

The one difference that really stuck out to me was that in Constance, I really liked Con and was rooting for her. I was looking forward to solving the gaps in her memory alongside her. With Chance, he’s more unlikeable - and not just that, he KNOWS he’s disliked (and perhaps even dislikes himself) and yet does nothing to remedy it. I was definitely interested in finding out the “why” behind everything, but I couldn’t help but think “get this kid some therapy!” throughout the book. I also loved that Con made appearances in this book, as did Abigail!

To me, the best and most thought provoking part was the ending. The debates on laws surrounding clones is incredibly interesting and the author does an excellent job of making you see both sides of the issue. I’m really hoping we’ll continue to get more books set in this universe - I’ll definitely pick them up! Thank you NG for this digital copy!

This is an interesting take on both how climate change may affect parts of the US and the chance to revive yourself in a clone should you pass away, in a car accident or some other misfortune. Chance is a young man who is doing what most young men wanting an adrenalin rush do, he's jumping out of a plane and he's having his jump filmed by another jumper and a number of cameras both on the ground and following him down. He's jumping with a parachute, but he throws the parachute out of the plane then jumps out after it, hoping to catch up to it and put it on before he hits the ground, something that doesn't happen. Lucky for him he's got a clone waiting for him and all he has to do it have his most recent memory downloaded into it and voila he's good to go. Except that this is the fourth time Chance has done this, the most that anyone has been revived and the company wants him to stop. Chance had also give an interview to a journalist, a very in-depth one which leads to some very bad people wanting to talk to him. Chance and his brother Marley had been kidnapped a few years earlier, both had been revived after they were shot during the ransom exchange. Marley struggled with the revival process and eventually drowned and asked not to be brought back again. Chance starts having memory blackout where he can't remember periods of time, one of which includes him killing someone. When video of him leaving the crime scene goes viral he finds himself the prime suspect, though he has no memory of it. A bit of legal finesse gets him off the charge for the moment, but a riot starts as a result. There are a lot of twists and turns and a very believable technology in this story. Very well thought out. I would recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Thomas and Mercer for the ARC.

I did not much like the first book in this series but decided to give this one a try. It did find it somewhat better than the first book. However, it did lack in suspense and at times bogged down.

Thank you to Netgalley and Mathew Fitzsimmons for granting my ARC. Chance is a wonderful follow up to Constance. Fitzsimmons creates a pretty stark view of Chance as a very one dimensional character that is the complete opposite of Constance. But true to form as we delve deeper into the novel complexities begin to show in what it means to be human, class warfare and how greed corrupts a human soul. This is an amazing read and for everyone that is new to Matthew Fitzsimmons’ work I highly suggest you read Constance before delving into Chance.

Chance is the son of a wealthy, former Palingenesis employee. After his kidnapping ends tragically, Chance becomes a daredevil clone. Now several times removed from the original, Chance still struggles to fill in the missing pieces - or lag - in his life.

A sequel to Constance, this novel can easily be read as a stand-alone. All the important information is nicely recapped throughout the story so that you don't lack context. Con D'Arcy also makes a reappearance as a supporting character, providing some continuity between the two stories.

While this one was a little more predictable, I still enjoyed it. I found Chance to be a very likeable character and was grateful for his character development. However, I wish we could have had more from Marley or at least witnessed his reaction to the big news that was revealed at the end.

Overall, while I was slightly underwhelmed by the follow-up to Constance, I would definitely continue this series to its conclusion.

I was excited when I found out that Matthew Fitzsimmons had written a sequel to Constance, which I absolutely loved when it was published in 2021. This book is a sort of sequel, although the original protagonist, Con D'Arcy, is a supporting character in this story, and we are introduced to a new set of characters.

I loved this book as much as I loved the first in the series. This book follows Chance Harker, the son of a wealthy former Palingenesis executive, who was the tragic victim of a kidnapping gone wrong and awakes as a clone for the first time. His way of coping with the fallout from the kidnapping was to stage more and more elaborate stunts that would most likely result in his death- and then revival again as a new a clone. After 5 revivals, Chance awakens to find out that he's the number one suspect in a homicide for a person he doesn't even know. The story races along to a collision course with his past as he struggles to put together the pieces missing from his memory in the 24 hours before his last revival when the murder was committed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Matthew Fitzsimmons, and Thomas & Mercer for providing me an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

Interesting story, but not a super exciting book. That’s the best way I could describe this book. The plot was interesting. The characters were unique and complex, but the story just didn’t capture my attention. I don’t know if it is because I was really into Constance and so I was VERY excited for this book or if it was this story seemed separate then tried to connect with Constance storyline in-organically. Either way, just not the story I expected or really wanted. I wonder if this was a standalone it would be more interesting. I am a big Fitzsimmons fan, so I don’t want to dissuade anyone but felt like I needed to be honest.

Thank you to NetGalley, Matthew Fitzsimmons, and Thomas & Mercer for providing me an advanced reading copy.