Mirror Image

by Trish Moran

It is 2060. Scientific advancements mean that human cloning is much more than a possibility. But what happens when unscrupulous people take that technology into their own hands?

Fifteen-year-old Stella runs away from home the night before she is due to be taken into care. Fending for herself, she runs across a group of teenagers living in a hidden camp. They are the Labs – clones secretly made to replace the body parts or attributes of the rich and famous – who have escaped the sinister ‘Centre’ where they were created. Led by two of the Labs, Abel and Celia, the group assimilates into human culture with Stella’s help.

But the Centre is looking for them – and there are still many more clones inside, facing certain death once they are no longer useful. When Abel leads a rescue attempt, things don’t go as planned, and the fight for the Labs to be recognised as equal to humans seems to be doomed to failure – can Stella and her friends reveal the truth and find a voice for themselves in a mistrustful world?

200 pages, Paperback

Published March 30, 2017

Reviews

[John Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sci-fi story that’s quick off the mark and runs quickly through the pages, introducing characters and concepts in short order so that the pace never flags and the story never sags. Themes on family, acceptance and simply being human abound, and coupled with the breathless pace of events, this should appeal to many young teen readers.

[NIRA]

I have stated of this book super excited- I love how determined she was and how her character was at the start. As a lonely girl who didn't like life as much and her most important people left her life. At the time of her most need there was no one there to look after her her however she found this group of species that she much rather live with. The non labs and how they were produced and tried to escape life like how she did and wanted to. She was not trusted at firs but she really wanted its and now she is part of their family and didn't feel like an outsider. Now she is on the mission to save the non labs life and make then behave like a non labs which was not as hard. She enjoyed the task she was allocated and was very enthusiastic about helping out. Now that I am on page 60 I find it very comforting how she feels like home and very happy in helping them become and feel like an in labs. She seems to feel like an elder sister and happy about it. I just finished the chapter 3, as non labs have finished their manual driving and it was very created the scene as they worked hard in order to do well as a family. I loved hoe Trish Moran created the non labs with wishes the non labs had with their children which created the labs. For example Johnny was active and sporty due to the non labs created him in a way they wanted to be - so he's a sportsperson which is why he c=picked related subjects in the college/school they were going to do. In the next chapter I read they are ready to start to school and I'm already growing on this book.

[Kajsa Hallin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not make myself finish this book due to several reasons:

1) It was extremely badly written, felt like I was reading a bad Wattpad-novel and not an actual book. The use of exclamation marks was extreme and not needed 99% of the time.

2) There were too many characters. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when almost every character has at least one twin that has the same mannerisms and looks and all of the characters have such similar names and personalities, it is. To make matters even more confusing, everyone switched names maybe 50 pages in.

3) The characters weren’t realistic in the least. Stella(Ruby?) decided to avoid getting taken to a home offered by the state and instead packed a backpack and headed into the mountains to find a group of kids, around her own age or a bit older, that were sought after by the police or in a gang or whatever. Who would do that? I get why no one would want to be placed in a home, but it definitely seems like the better alternative considering the two.

Not only did they make weird decisions, but the characters interaction with each other seemed extremely forced and was agonising to read.

4) There was nothing that made me care about the story, like, at all. I love to read and usually get into a book really fast, but this? Nope, didn’t feel a thing for this book and I really tried.

I read 75 agonising pages before I stopped and said to my self that enough is enough. This book is not worth it. Don’t read it, there are so many other books that deserves your attention. Pick up Six of Crows or something instead.

[Yolande Branch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant read. Loved this book from start to finish. The storyline was fantastic and the characters were brave and dutiful. A good recommendation for 2017.

[E.R. Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. The characters in Mirror Image are believable and beautifully crafted, and the storyline is believable in Ms Moran’s talented hands.