Your One & Only: Adrianne Finlay
January 30, 2018
Book: Your One & Only
Author: Adrianne Finlay
Pages: 320
Age Range: 13 and up
Your One & Only is a new post-apocalyptic dystopian novel for young adults by Adrianne Finlay. It's set in a future Costa Rican village populated by Homo Factus, the followup generation that was created after humans died off from the Slow Plague. Vispera is one of three villages, each populated by 10 generations of 10 clones each from nine models (900 citizens total).
Althea-310 is one of the 10 Althea models in her teen age group, nearly identical to her nine sisters save a scar on her wrist. She knows what she'll look like as she ages, due to the presence of eight older generations of Altheas. Representatives of each of the nine genetic models also take on similar attributes and jobs as one another. The citizens communicate orally, but also via a genetically enhanced system of bonding that causes them to feel one another's emotions. Althea-310's peaceful life changes, however, when she becomes emotionally involved with an "experiment", a boy named Jack who was cloned from 300 year old unmodified human DNA.
I wasn't sure about this book at first - the premise felt like a particularly contrived dystopia. Why keep everyone identical? Why only reproduce by cloning instead of naturally? But Finlay won me over as she revealed (slowly) the answers to these and other questions.
I think that teens will particularly like Your One & Only. Cloning strikes at fundamental questions of identity, particularly when the clones are emotionally bonded to one another to the point of having scarcely any independence. This tension is set against a dramatic plot focused on survival, and one with a couple of unexpected twists. Your One & Only also has my favorite feature of dystopias, bread crumbs about the humans who came before (mostly in the form of books that Jack is given to read).
The strongest feature of this book, though, is the characterization. Which is pretty impressive when you consider the similarities of many of the characters. It would be impossible not to empathize with Althea-310 and Jack. Other characters are a bit tougher to appreciate, but this keeps them interesting.
One note about content. There are many references to the young clones "Pairing" with one another (having ritualized sex). Although there are no graphic details, I would still categorize Your One & Only more for high school than middle school because of this. The Pairing is a significant plot point, not just something mentioned in passing. There's also a note that the Pairings are always with "one female and one male." Sexual diversity is no more allowed in Vispera than genetic diversity.
Your One & Only appears to be a standalone novel, although a certain ambiguity of the ending leaves open the possibility for a sequel. I would certainly read a sequel, interested to see where Finlay takes her intriguing characters and strong world-building next. Highly recommended, and well worth a look for libraries serving young adults (and adults, too).
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers (@HMHKids)
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher
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