(GIVEAWAY) Clan: Realm Lovejoy

(GIVEAWAY) Clan: Realm Lovejoy

Rating: 7 out of 10. 4 stars.

Series: Standalone

Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult

Publication Date: November 12. 2013

Publisher: Self-Published Page Count: 350 

Format: Kindle Book

Realm Lovejoy is an American writer and an artist. She grew up in both Washington State and the Japanese Alps of Nagano, Japan. Currently, she lives in Seattle and works as an artist in the video game industry. CLAN is her first book. You can find out more about her and her book at www.realmlovejoy.com

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"By saying I'm a clone I immediately become the unimportant copy. The faceless guy with the same haircut as my Brethren. A borrower-not my own being. I walk in someone else's shoes"

"No, boys-that Clan-is not Chip. He is number 1408. And he is not Chad. He is 1348. No background, no nothing. No nothing. We're Clan. History"

Goodreads Synopsis:

Clans are Unity.

No variation. No deviation.

On Clades, to be a Clan is to be an exact copy.
A perfect society cloning themselves to survive,
even as the zombielike Frags threaten to overrun them
on an unforgiving planet. 

Clan 1672 (privately known as Twain)
was never supposed to survive the Incubation Tank.
But he did. Illegally.
He is different from the other Clans

Guess What? There's a GIVEAWAY that includes both paperback and digital editions of the book plus some awesome SWAG. Unfortunately, the HTML is not liking me right now, so I can only give you the Rafflecopter link. I know you would love to enter, so click this link

Book Trailer: May I just say, clones by themselves are creepy enough (although oddly I do like reading about them), and I loved the book, but this trailer makes it seem even more...crazy.

*I signed up for a review opportunity, and was sent a digital copy for review which does not by any means affect my honest review of my own individual opinion in any shape or form*  

*Because I will be cross-posting this review on sites like Barnes & Nobles and Amazon which have character limits on my usually lengthy reviews so this will only have a few of my usual categories, and be shortened on the ones that show up on B&N so this doesn't comply to a specific review format*

Review: 

"When rules are followed all the time, people forget the purpose that was behind them. Just like when we hear the same history over and over again, we stop questioning it."

In my opinion, this book must have been very hard to write because of how easily it could have been a cliche dystopian/totalitarianism/virus-plagued (get it?)  novel. There was no chance of romance obviously because all the characters in the book were essentially the same person-clones of Father Krume-which would have been awkward if they were kissing. It would be imagined that there wasn't much room for an original plot.

This is how the totalitarianistic plot could have been cliche

1. 1672 either has an epiphany where he realizes that everyone being the same is wrong, or someone close to him tells him.

2. He runs away to or discovers there's an underground of defiant people.

3. As a mutant, he plays a big part as a role model/example for the rebellion and is a key point in helping them overthrow the government

4. The rebels win

5. Everyone lives happily ever after.

Now we have to remember that another seemingly cliche factor was thrown into the plot: the Frag virus.

1. There is the rapidly spreading virus that will kill everyone and destroy humanity (can I say that with clones) if a cure isn't found

2. Someone close to the main character gets infected.

3. 1672 has to find/create the cure before time runs out

4. In the process, he finds out that the evil government is behind it all

5. Then he either confronts and exposes the government OR steps three through five of that totalitarian government happen. 

Without spoiling the plot, I am very happy to say that these cliche, cookie-cutter events do not happen. I do have one small complaint that from about 70-80% one cliche plot thread is being followed that extremely annoyed me, but does not affect the overall story. 

My favorite part about about Clan is that the characters are linked individuals. They are supposed to basically be a Utopian society, the fact that they're all the same having nothing to do with it. There are over six THOUSAND clans on their so called "home planet". Each and every one, except for Father Krume and a few other superiors, is the same. They look the same, they act the same, they are the same. Their biggest point in society is unity, being the same, working as a cohesive unit. Basically, they're the most OCD people in the universe.   

"An exact clone is impossible-both in terms of personality and physical appearance. DNA and neuron-wiring change with experience, and there's not a thing we can do to control it....The line between a cloned being and a non-cloned being is becoming increasingly nonexistent."

The three main clans are 1672, 1249, and 1348, otherwise known as Twain, Buster, and Chad.

At a first glance, Buster is a cliche, defiant, rebel bad boy that chews gum in class, has several lip piercings, spikes his hair, and if this story took place on our earth you would probably throw in some tattoos. He is actually a very compassionate and wise person, that will fight tooth and nail for his loved ones. He also served as a bit of comedic relief show here:

"What are you staring at?" someone yelled out, "I'm a clone and proud of it, you sperm-and-egg children!"

Twain is different, he is mutant, he isn't uniform, he was the wink link. Because of being a mutant, his sponsor Twig, has kept him away from the others. When Twain joins the Builder Class 5B, he's an ostracized outcast. I actually had a strong dislike for him that was basically by default because he was weak, and he wanted to conform to the standards, normality. I gradually liked him more, and this one quote near the end of the book is what got me to finally like him.

"But he's paralyzed with spine damage, if I move him he might-"

"I know that-"

"He could die with just the wrong-"

"Carry him!" Twain snapped. Tears streamed down his cheeks.

I have to admit that I don't really like Chad. Not to say he wasn't important, just not as much as Buster or Twain. He was the fire without the heat, bark without the bite. He didn't like showing emotion unless it was anger, but he does develop a lot.

"You just have to life the life you believe in, no matter the outcome. When you're dead, nothing matters except for the lives you affected. It's...love." Then the outcome of having that being said to him was, "Chad realized something before the darkness came. That he loved."

As obviously expected, individuality is a huge aspect in this book, and although they look the same, they can never be the same. Even in their society, there are superiors, the guys that call all the shots. There's discrimination with people that are slightly different.

"It doesn't matter if we're all different or clones of the same person. We will always find a reason to fight one another, to draw a lone what we like and don't like, a reason to be original, special, a self, to own something someone else doesn't, to be a somebody."

"Is experience enough to shape us into individuals?"

 And even though they were created from the same person, Clans had a strong bond and connection with Father Krume. Lots of people live out their lives in search for God, their one truth, the divine creator. In this world, Father Krume is God. He created them, he knows what's best, he controls them.

"Now Chad was a mirage of something that didn't exist. A reflection without an observer."

Overall, even though the book was written in third person, and it took me a while to get into the story, I would highly recommend it as a thrilling, insightful, and thought-provoking read.