If I die, you can always make another me.
When I saw the premise for this book, I knew it was going on my TBR posthaste. It sounds so interesting and unlike anything else I've come across before.
Mickey has the most unusual job: he is expected to risk life and limb to do dangerous work on the space colony. Dying is really no big deal since they can just pump out a new clone of him imprinted with his memories and personality. When a job goes sideways and the colony thinks Mickey7 is dead, they immediately create Mickey8. But the problem is that Mickey7 is still very much alive. Now the two Mickey's are in real trouble. They can't tell anyone that there are two of him running around, for to be a multiple is considered the ultimate abomination, one from which there is no coming back.
When I started this book, I had high hopes. Not only is the premise fabulous, but the writing at first glance feels fast-paced and conversational, making this an extremely easy book to get into. I was breezing through the pages, on the edge of my seat, waiting for the story to take a turn into something brilliant.
I kept waiting and waiting. And then I reached the end. Welp.
The problem is that the story never really goes much past the premise. In fact, most of the conflict comes down to the two Mickey's being hungry. The rest of the time is spent on flashbacks to Mickey's earlier reincarnations and digression on how other space colonies have done on different worlds. It's not that those aren't interesting, but they're just not what I was expecting.
The writing style also veers a bit towards the flippant side for my taste. It's lots of slang and jargon, thrown around to make the whole thing feel both casual and authentic. But it didn't quite ring true for me. I've seen comparisons of the narrator's style to Andy Weir, but this isn't The Martian. Mark Watney solves actual problems, while Mickey mostly sounds off.
Maybe my expectations were just too high. I thought this would be an insightful and thrilling story, taking me somewhere I've never been before. Instead, the whole story is pretty much the premise. It was a fast and decent read, but I can't help feel it fell short of its lofty potential.
Readaroo Rating: 3 stars
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