Review by Booklist Review
Burke's third novel after her Semiosis Duology (Semiosis, 2018 and Interference, 2019) is a fast-paced hard-sf thriller set in a near future where power is tilted in favor of large corporations and a fascist government foments intolerance and bigotry among its sheep-like followers. In Wisconsin, three women who are seemingly unrelated are embroiled in a mutiny against a bigoted president who wants to restrict the rights of clones and other genetically enhanced persons under the guise of patriotism. Avril, Berenike, and Irene are living perfectly normal lives until revelations of their origins thrust them into action to protect themselves and fight for their freedom. Amid the chaos of rebellion, a mysterious virus previously thought to be a common cold turns deadly and increases panic and paranoia across the nation. Told through alternating points of view by the three women and a mysterious scientist called Peng, Burke imparts detailed discussions on genetics within a dramatic and thought-provoking story of inequality, humanity and family. For fans of the Orphan Black television series or Chuck Wendig's Wanderers (2019).
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Burke (Semiosis) uses a futuristic world to comment on the present in this politically charged dystopian novel. In a near-future America where human clones are stigmatized as second-class citizens and an authoritarian "Prez" titillates his patriot cult with sloganeering straight out of the Big Brother playbook, a nationwide mutiny is brewing. When the government releases a vaccine against the rampaging Sino cold--purportedly to induce herd immunity nationally, but secretly to sicken the mutineers--the narrative refracts the ensuing chaos through the experiences of four characters: Avril, Irene, and Berenike, young Wisconsin women from various walks of life who discover they are clones of one another; and Peng, the scientist who cloned them and who has a hand in the virus's release. Burke endows her characters with distinct personalities and conjures a frighteningly real sense of national destabilization as events spiral out of their control. Though the ending is somewhat anticlimactic, references to coronaviruses and a nation wracked by social unrest are sure to resonate. This hits close to home. (May.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
In a near-future U.S. ruled by the cult figure "Prez" and his inner circle of opportunists and sycophants, the divisiveness of recent history has created a society where some people are officially second-class citizens, with fewer rights, less food, and zero opportunities. When a would-be rebellion is thwarted by government-sponsored bioweapons, it's up to four people--a drone-worker, a wildlife intern, a student, and a disgraced scientist--to find the cause of multiple pandemics and fight to take back a country that is no longer theirs. Three clone sisters, the scientist who created them, and a woolly mammoth are the only hope for a cure to the pandemics for these people who just want their rights back. VERDICT This dystopian biothriller reads like a 21st-century version of Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain, crossed with George Orwell's 1984. The clone sisters and their creator each provide alternating perspectives of a chaotic world and evince that individuals can make a difference. The story they tell is hopeful, heartbreaking, and compelling at every turn. Highly recommended for readers of dystopian science fiction or political technothrillers.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton
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