Book Review: Batchmate

Solving her clone’s murder was only the beginning.
Jane’s investigation into the origins of her clone batch stall when her best source, the enigmatic Dean, disappears. Unable to continue her search, she heads to college and tries to settle into a normal life.

But on her first day at Harbortown University, Jane meets a girl who looks just like her.

Janette is Jane’s clone. There’s no doubt about it. But she shows no interest in getting to know her long-lost batchmate. Jane figures Janette is on a mission and resolves to follow her to the people who made them both. The only trouble is those people will kill to protect their secrets.

When Dean resurfaces with dangerous information, Jane must decide how many enemies she’s willing to make to learn the truth.

-Goodreads

Book Information

• Title: Batchmate
• Series: The Lost Clone #2
• Author: Jordan Rivet
• Page Count: 344
• Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
• Rating: 4.25/5.0
• Date Read: June 27th, 2024

Opening Thoughts

Let me first mention again that I had only recently had my introduction to Jordan Rivet when reading Replacement for the SPSFC-3 competition. Even though it didn’t end up a finalist and ultimate winner, I enjoyed it enough to be interested in continuing the series. Here we are literally the month the competition came to a close and I noticed there were audios available for the rest of the series. I decided to dive right into book two Batchmate.

Book one was a bit more Young Adult than my usual reads but that didn’t detract from enjoying it. I looked at this series as a potential YA Sci-Fi Mysterious which seemed like a good break from my usual reads. Batchmate stuck to that vibe and I was not disappointed at all.

Pacing

The pacing was quick and smooth in my opinion. As I mentioned a moment ago, I opted to listen to this on in audio format even though I do have an electric copy already on my Kindle. I felt that Talon David did an excellent job with the narration of this story. It fit what I was envisioning in my mind perfectly. Whenever I click with a narrator I can’t help but think how difficult is has to be portraying both male and female voices. She really did an excellent job with Batchmate.

The story itself seems to flow very well. I didn’t have any trouble keeping up with characters or locations. There continues to be a good amount of action sprinkled throughout these stories to keep things exciting on top of the mystery unfolding for us.

World Building

The worldbuilding was solid as things continue to expand. We continue to learn more and more about the people in this world and how they view it’s technology. We have factions both for and against the clones. I suppose there are even those that are just indifferent going about their lives feeling if it doesn’t have any direct effect on them, they don’t mind one way or the other. Jordan continues to give us more and more information regarding the mystery of Jane’s past in book two.

Character Development

The character development was probably the strongest aspect of Batchmate. There are a good number of characters that can fall anywhere within the spectrum of protagonist and antagonist really. There are some really good characters in the Lost Clone series already. We see some growth with our main characters, and some possible clarification between their relationship (or do we?). I also have to mention we get some really good new characters introduced in book two as well. Plenty of interesting additions now that our young characters are heading off to Harbortown University.

Roundup & Recommendation

I continue to have a lot of fun with the series and have my eye on book three Insider is available on Audible so I will more than likely pick that up by the end of the year and be caught up with the series. I’m not sure if this is designed to end with the trilogy or not.

As usual I would recommend this to anyone who has read Replacement and enjoyed it even mildly. If you haven’t, definitely give book one a shot first. If you like or don’t mind a Young Adult feel to your sci-fi mysteries, you should have a good time with this series.

Scoring

World Building 4/5
Pacing 4/5
Character Development 4.5/5