This was truly entertaining.

If you're a Doctor Who fan, imagine if he were a teenager girl and his regenerations actually allowed his older self to coexist with the new one. For Teva, this replication happens every year. And only the oldest one is allowed to use the Teva name and live her life while her "sisters" need to stay at home, hidden from anyone.

As I'm mentioning Doctor Who, while I could never call this a cliché, I can't say this was all too original, either. To be honest the bickering between current Teva and her fifteen-year-old self even reminded me of Ten and Tentoo—and of whenever regenerations meet in special episodes. Still, cloning not a theme I have seen explored in YA fiction, much less to this extent.

Teva has two big dilemmas to deal with: she needs to take over someone else's life she feels is her own but she also acknowledges it really isn't—as with anyone growing older, our personalities also change as we mature. The second dilemma is exactly the next Teva, she can feel her under the skin, gradually forming and getting stronger. She won't really die in a year but she'll be locked inside the house with her other selves, which is almost the same.

And she notices there is a third problem. Because her mother is so afraid of others finding out and taking her daughters to a lab, she hasn't allowed Teva to tell a soul—not even her best friend or her boyfriend. What if her copies aren't real, then? Funnily, whenever such an idea occurs, that's the one we hope against. For this book, I saw this ending as the happy one so hopeless I considered Teva's predicament.

But this YA doesn't run too deep. To be honest, I prefer it this way. I liked the mess that was Teva's relationship with the others I kept picturing how this story would ideal for a TV series. The plot does thicken, don't get me wrong, but it isn't the focus. This is really a lighthearted story about a teenager between her former selves and her future self—in a far-from-ordinary manner. Most of the story could have worked for siblings really close in age, for example. And I would still have liked it.

This is a fun read that will have you turning pages, worrying for poor Teva. There are also many themes here ideal for group discussions, as well as a mystery. It could have been more but it's still really good as is. Definitely, one of my favorite YA's of 2017.

More of Me pulled me in from the summary. A girl who goes home to 11 other clones of herself? A girl who is patiently (or impatiently) waiting for the day she, too, will become a non-aging clone watching the most recent Teva live her life? Sign me the frick up for this roller coaster. Is she mentally ill? Is this some sort of strange coma dream? Or is Teva really some sort of mutant that splits in two each year?

This book is riveting, honestly. There were parts at the beginning that were a little slow, but they work well within the story. All of the slower parts are a result of the main character's personality. Teva -- at least, this Teva -- is obsessed with having some semblance of normalcy in her life. Of course she clings for dear life to her best friend and her boyfriend. They're both normal, non-cloning people. She wants to be with them and forget about the 11 other Tevas she's left at home. She wants to believe she might be crazy because if she's crazy, she won't have to split in two and watch the new Teva inherit her life.

More of Me got me emotionally invested. At times, I thought Teva was crazy. At times, Teva thought she was crazy. Is she, though? No spoilers here. Maybe she ends up finding out the other 11 Tevas were in her head. Maybe she ends up finding a cure to her condition. Maybe it's neither, and she just becomes another clone hiding at home. You'll have to read More of Me to find out. I promise, though, that it's worth it -- I haven't read many truly unique YA books, but this was one of them.

I also want to point out that this book won the Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book Award in 2016. Sure, yeah, another award, right? Actually, this is kind of historic. Kathryn Evans is the first YA author to ever win this award, which is only for debut authors. She was up against 45 other amazing authors, but she won out. Evans said it best in an article published on the Edinburgh International Book Festival website:

"So often children’s fiction is seen as the poor cousin to adult books – yet in it, we tackle some of the hardest subjects in the most innovative of ways. I am so proud to hold the banner up for YA fiction."

I hope Evans keeps holding the YA banner high and proud. She deserves it. More of Me doesn't make teenagers sound shallow or dramatic; Teva is a well-rounded character who surrounds herself with other well-rounded characters. Her personality is obvious from the beginning, and you can tell that Evans really let Teva shine through. None of the decisions Teva made in More of Me seemed uncharacteristic or strange -- the narrative flowed easily around her.

This book easily gets four stars from me. I'm glad I got to read about Teva.

More of Me comes out on June 13 in the US, though it's been out since February of 2016 in the UK.

Teva, version 16, is well aware of her fate. She knows she has one year to be the Teva, who interacts with the outside world. She has one year to live her whole life before she is replaced by Teva version 17, and is then forced to spend her days locked away with her previous versions. But it appears the laster version Tevas are not happy with this arrangement, and they are willing to fight for the right to live their lives, but will Teva survive long enough to accomplish this task?

When I first discovered this book, I thought the concept sounded really interesting. I love science, and genetics is an ever-evolving and growing field. I have to admit, when I started reading this book, it was a little weird, but then I remembers, SciFi books not set in space are a little weird, therefore, I kept reading. I am glad I gave this book a chance, because the story did hit its groove, and I grew to enjoy reading about all the Tevas.

Something I really enjoyed, was trying to figure out if this was legit or if we were dealing with an unreliable narrator. Evans did a great job keeping me in that grey area. I vacillating between the two scenarios, and found myself analyzing past passages to figure out if there were clones or was it all in Teva's head. Well play, Ms. Evans.

I also thought Evans blended these out-of-the-ordinary parts very well with the ordinary parts of every day life. These Tevas never came across as science experiments or less than human. In fact, the two oldest versions, fifteen and Teva, were preoccupied with such average teen girl issues, that this read almost like a contemporary (my favorite genre). That SciFi twist added an extra layer to the story and brought up the intrigue factor.

The story was interesting, and there were some great characters supporting this story. Two of my favorite were Maddy, Teva's best friend, and Tom, Teva's classmate. Maddy was a fun and faithful friend, who challenged and supported Teva. Tom provided most of the comic relief, in my opinion. His character was quite amusing, but we did get to see that he had some depth later on, and I really loved where Evans went with him.

Now, I am going deep. When I was trying to decide if the multiple versions were real or not, I started thinking of them metaphorically. This idea, that each year you shed your younger self, thus emerging with some of your former thoughts and beliefs, but also open to forming new ones. I even saw some symbolism in the physical pains Teva experienced as her new, older self was battling to emerge. Growing up is hard and can be painful, and I thought this was illustrated in an interesting way throughout the book. OR that was totally not the author's intention, and I am reading into it too much. Either way, I love that it made me think so much.

Overall: An interesting portrait of growing up sprinkled with romance, mystery, drama, and humor.

"I have grown in strength inside her. Filled her cells with mine until we must split apart. It's not my choice - that's how it's always been for us."

* *
2 / 5

More of Me is based on a pretty unique concept. Every year, Teva splits in two. The old Teva, the one who keeps the proper memories and consciousness, stays at the same age whilst the new Teva adopts her life, going to school and picking up old Teva's friends and boyfriend. Our Teva is sixteen and she refuses to let go of her life. She doesn't want to lose her life, her boyfriend, her future career to the self growing under her skin, and she'll do anything to stop her breaking out.

The basic idea is really good and I was kept awake quite late by this book, frantically flipping pages to try and find out the truth. Why is this happening to Teva? Why won't her mother let her see a doctor? Why does her boyfriend prefer Fifteen to her, even though they're the same person? Is Teva, after all, just absolutely insane? I really wanted to find out. However, the book was dragged down by a love triangle and too much focus on Teva's school life.

"I burned inside, at the unfairness of our lives"

Teva lives with her mother and her "siblings". There's little four year old Eva, then Six through to Fifteen. Imagine being immortalised at thirteen, forever into anime or being goth or loving Justin Beiber. Awful, right? Now imagine that your thirteen year old self lives with you, in your massive house with an industrial gate around it, and is forbidden to leave. Then there's Six, who constantly picks at the wallpaper, Eleven who's really into mystery novels and wants to be a detective, Eight who stuck in an Enid Blyton fantasy land, and Fifteen who hates your guts because, well, she's fifteen and eternally rebellious.

Alongside all this, Teva tries to act normally to her best friend Mads even though most of her memories are fuzzy. She only inherits the memories her earlier selves thinks are important, so small details of her life slip away from her. Then there's her boyfriend Ollie who is, to be quite honest, a bit of a douchebag; when Teva gets upset at his flirting with another girl, he brashly informs her that she is overreacting, but when she arranges to help a boy in her textiles class out, Tommo, with his English work in exchange for tips on her textiles portfolio, he gets angry and confrontational. I don't believe I have ever been a fan of love triangles, but this one is particularly dull: there's virtually no tension or anything particularly interesting going on, which is unfortunate.

"We all change, don't we? I used to love endless reruns of Top Gear but now ... actually no, I still love endless runs of Top Gear. But seriously, we grow up, don't we?"

I would have enjoyed this book far more if it had dropped the romance aspects entirely. There was quite enough to focus on with the splitting mystery, Teva's identity crisis, her tricky relationship with Fifteen, and her thoughts for the future. I really didn't care about her struggles between two guys or her fashion show. Teva's textile class is embroidering corsets for their current project and their teacher wants them to wear them in the school charity fashion show fundraiser. It's a weird little sideplot that I found distracting and unimportant. Whilst I liked the dilemma that Teva had, why bother working towards a future that won't be yours, why not just have fun if you're going to be sixteen forever, I don't think it was done particularly well.

The ending was also too rushed for my liking. This was, I think, the product of too many story lines that Evans had to wrap up. There's the romances, the problems with Fifteen, Teva's future, the "other" Teva trying to burst out of her skin, the blog she's running, her entire life mystery, her best friend troubles. It's all too much and results in a conclusion that's just a bit unsatisfying.

So whilst I would recommend More of Me because of the really cool idea behind it, to really get into this one you have to enjoy typical "slice of life" type highschool stories.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of More of Me

This is a review of an ARC from NetGalley

Teva may look like a normal teenager, but she's not. Every year, she splits in two, her new self violently wrenching from her body, taking over her memories, her clothes, her friends - her life. The old self is left behind, stuck forever at that age, wasting away at home with multiple younger versions. 16-year-old Teva has finally had enough, and vows to stop Teva #17 from coming - and find out how this whole situation started.

The premise is interesting enough, and unlike some of the other reviewers, I didn't have a problem with Teva16, yes, she's whiny and self-centered, but what 16-year-old isn't? But I feel like the author came up with a cool sci-fi premise and never bothered to come up with an actual <b>story</b>, the book just builds introduces the premise and then keeps marking time. There is an ending with an explanation of sorts, but it really felt like the author hadn't actually thought that far ahead and just wrote something out at the last minute. And since there wasn't enough plot to move things along, I just started wondering about the logistics of the premise, like: how does Teva's mother afford to raise all those children? Where does she get the groceries if she never leaves the house (and no one else is allowed to)? Don't her friends think it's odd that they've <b>never</b> been invited over? If her memories from prior selves are hazy, how does she pass math tests at school? What 16-year-old is on Facebook?

In More of Me, Teva’s life is more than a little complicated and confusing. Born with a unique genetic disease, Teva has exactly one year to be able to live her life, until a new version of her bursts free from her skin to take over. That leaves her single mom with more Tevas at home than she can handle. A completely unique young adult concept, this book handles some tough growing up issues without all the things that parents don’t necessarily want their kids reading about. There is no sex, drug or alcohol use and very little (if any) swearing. A great read with a unique twist.

A brand-new concept with a lot of heart!
More Of Me by Kathryn Evans is a standalone, YA, contemporary romance. It has contains some language that may not be appropriate for all readers.
I am a big fan of X-Men. When I saw this book and it appeared to be about clones, I knew I had to read it. I love the idea of regular people with superhuman talents. This book was not what I expected but I was not disappointed.
Teva has a big problem. Instead of growing up like all of her classmates, every year, a new version of herself is created from her previous body. Her house is full of previous Teva’s who are now referred to by numbers. Only one is allowed to attend school so as not to raise suspicion. Her mother is convinced that if anyone found out about her situation, she would never be able to live a normal life. However, the current version of Teva is troubled by idea that she will not have a life beyond a year. She is going to do whatever it takes to have a future and not end up like the others.
I enjoyed this incredibly unique story. When I picked it up, I expected a light-hearted, possibly even superhero slant to this book. I was very surprised to read a dramatic, endearing version of the life events these girls faced. Although the situation might have been humorous on the outside, Teva’s life was anything but. She was literally fighting for her future and was terrified of what would happen when she was replaced. She contends with this understanding while attempting daily life as a high school student. I appreciated the authors’ ability to bring me into the story in a way that I could relate to Teva’s dilemma. The explanation for the condition was thoroughly explained and did not leave me with questions after the books end.
The book left me with one contention after it concluded. The author of the novel is clearly from the United Kingdom. While I have spent considerable time there and am familiar which slang, customs and life in general, I have to assume the average reader is not. So I am puzzled why this book was targeted to an American audience when the setting was clearly not in the United States. The characters mannerisms and vernacular were not typical of American teenagers. The high school as well was unlike anything that is permitted in the US education system. I would have loved to have seen the location of this book be in the United Kingdom. I realize the market is not as broad, however the story may confuse some readers.
I give this story 3.5 stars because I loved the originality. However, I wish the author would have stuck with the appropriate location or did some further research into the US and its impact on the story.

This book was good. It kept me engaged the entire time I was reading it, and Teva's ultimate struggle with sanity when her mother can't help her broke my heart.

Also, I have serious issues with the mother in this book. If she's going to yell at Teva--who is allowed outside the house and live her life--for going on a walk with written notice, why does she not discipline Fifteen for leaving when it could jeopardize her precious secret? The mother is just inconsistent and lacks credibility with me, sometimes her actions felt like a plot device to make Teva's life seem harder.

Overall though, good book. I'd love to have it on my shelf or share it with friends.

There's a lot to like here for fans of sci-fi and I'm sad that I have to say I didn't love this book purely on the fact that I don't think it's going to work for most teens. The writing can be really clunky and I think it really gets in the way of a lot of the ideas this book has. I love the concept of having fifteen siblings that are all the same as you, just at different ages, and I think it's a really creative way to think about the nature of having siblings and the nature of growing up. That said, I just don't think teens are going to connect with this because it's really, really British and it moves pretty slowly.

Oh this book was WEIRD you guys. But you know? Not in a bad way. So you have a girl with a bunch of sisters, all ages. But they aren't really sisters. They're versions of her. So this girl, Teva, who is about to turn 16 (and face another transformation) is battling like crazy to keep her life. Because she knows the second she gets near her next birthday, she'll split apart again and a new version of her will come out.

While she's balancing out THIS horrific thought, she's also battling her younger self. The one who is 15, who wants her life back. It's a complicated roller coaster although it's also filled with typical things that happen to us as teenagers - from trying to figure out what we want to do with our life, to finding a boyfriend and keeping a boyfriend, maintaining friendships, and learning how to explain around the weirdness of our personal life. Really if you have a teen who struggles feeling like they're weird, or their life is weird, or your inner teen STILL struggles with feeling weird, you need to read this book. Any one of us who ever looked back on our younger selves and wondered what on earth we were thinking needs to read this book. It does have some slow parts that I thought dragged, but overall, it's a really cool and very DIFFERENT kind of read. It's not overly science fiction, not too young adult either, it's a great balance and you're sure to enjoy it.

"I have grown in strength inside her. Filled her cells with mine until we must split apart. It's not my choice - that's how it's always been for us."

This was pitched to me as a 16-yo girl who replicates herself every year, therefore has many living selves locked up in her house while trying to live a normal high school life. Instantly, it piqued my interest and I was deeply intrigued; I thought about the possibility of exploration the psychological and mental aspect that this have to had taken with these girls at home.

First of all, I could describe the execution as a poor slug machine. Instead of showing us the depth of this supposed disorder, we get swept up in petty boy drama (with my hated "bad boy" trope which is eww), and best friend fights. Our MC Teva is sch a selfish brat that I couldn't stand for even one second, if I'm completely honest.

Teva's an immature sixteen year old who never things about anyone else's feelings (esp. her multiple sisters) and acts so self-absorbed in this mission to "save" her current self. Seriously, I thought that she needs to grow up and even at some points I was wishing for her to finally be transformed into her "new self"; to finally stop whining, complaining, and self-loathing.

Problem is, most of this confusion, most of this drama could be cleared up with an honest conversation with the family members. This whole dragged-out drawn-out plot was completely unnecessary addition to this plotline, which I could not enjoy.

****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

"I have grown in strength inside her. Filled her cells with mine until we must split apart. It's not my choice - that's how it's always been for us."


This is the tale of Teva.
A girl who splits into two versions of herself every year.
A girl who lives in a house with all of her previous selves who are never able to age.
A girl who has chosen to fight to try to keep her life as her own.

This book was quite an unexpected gem for me.
I loved the idea of it but had no idea that I would enjoy it quite as much as I did.

The story is written so well that I struggled to put it down.
It kept me hooked the whole way through.
I NEEDED to know what was happening!

The author keeps us guessing about the nature of Teva's condition.
Is it real?
Why does it happen?
Is she crazy?
Can it be stopped?
Who can she trust?
I had so many different theories about what was going on while I read this book. It kept throwing new things at me and making me reevaluate my ideas constantly.

It was tense and mysterious and confusing and I loved it!

The characters were great and well written.
All of the different Tevas were distinctly different and interesting. I really enjoyed reading about how their relationships worked and how they all interacted with each other.
The current Teva was easy to like and sympathise with.
I loved the fierce friendship between Teva and Maddy.
Though I do wish there was less emphasis on boys/relationships being the thing that was holding Teva together and getting her through.

I also enjoyed the interesting moral dilemmas that the current Teva faced once she had split away from 'Fifteen'.
Was she stealing Fifteens life?
Was it her own life anyway?
Was Ollie Teva's boyfriend or Fifteen's?
Was she the same person?
Was it right that her mum locked all the previous Teva's away and didn't let them live their lives?
Should she bother working towards a future she would never be able to experience?

I found this to be a really original and gripping story.
Definitely worth a read!

More of Me is a really, really unique story that is contemporary meets sci-fi. While it is geared toward YA, I see this as having good crossover for fans of sci-fi in general. The premise had me from the start as it seemed like it would use cloning as a metaphor for what all people go through... regardless of the fact that in reality we don't leave a physical version of ourselves behind, we still leave parts of ourselves behind year after year.

So it's sort of a extreme coming of age story.

Teva is determined but also frustrated, whiny but bold... in short, she's a teen. She is very relatable, and the story is very fast paced and easy to keep up with. The horror of her situation builds the tension as her birthday looms closer when her body will split in two again. To build upon that, each version of herself is hidden away to keep the secrets of her past from being exposed.

It sounds complicated, in a way, but the writing is so well done that it is easy to suspend reality and understand the parameters of the cloning and reality. I found it to be a very enjoyable story.

Note: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for a review.

Teva has a shocking secret. Every year, a copy of her separates from her body, leaving the past version of herself stuck forever at the age she was of the split. Thus far, the future version has always resumed Teva's life, leaving the past versions of herself stuck at home and aging normally until the next split. But this Teva, sixteen-year-old Teva, is different, and she is determined to help herself...and her selves. Evans creates a compelling and suspenseful scenario in a world that is our own but with a few science fiction touches. Teva and all the other Tevas are complex characters, and Evans doesn't shy away from showing what the real repercussions of this unusual situation would be. Recommended for science fiction and contemporary fiction fans alike.

This book kept my interest. I spent most of the time trying to figure out if there really were multiple ages of Teva, or if she just suffered from a disorder of some kind. I think the premise and idea behind the book was really original, creative, and interesting! Teens would love this book and identify with Teva's pain. Actually, I think all of us mourn different versions of ourselves. It is a really provocative read!

Teva has a secret , she seems normal , has friends and goes to school . But at home its a different story . There are eleven other Teva's there , hidden away from the world . She lives for a year then she is cloned as the other clone fights its way out of her . She doesn't want to go . She is going to fight for her life before her 17th birthday 
   This book had a lot of promise to it , it started off really well. You get caught up in the story ,  I mean cloning yourself every year on your birthday is such and original idea. But then it kind of goes off into other problems like sister fighting and the trials of a first love and trying to be a teen ager . 
  The main character to me was really kind of whiney and she got on your nerves some times . She is trying to make it in the world . You do see her grow up a bit towards the end .  
 Over all this was a good book and teens will enjoy the book . But sometimes the main character was just a little bit whiney and had an attitude . I guess it comes with growing up and  trying to be your own person . The story has a really good premise  and it is original in so many ways. So if you have a teen that might enjoy MORE OF ME  have them check it out

More of Me by Kathryn Evans is unique in that it tells the reader up front what the big dilemma is, uncontrollable division of oneself. I like for characters to move on, but More of Me takes it to literal levels.
I like the premise, as it is something most everyone can identify with. Teva is a likeable character and Evans does a good job of conveying teen angst without making her a whiny brat. She saves that for Teva’s sister. Fifteen got all the surly symptoms and I can see why Teva couldn’t wait to split from her. The rest of the family are in various states of suspension, perpetually a toddler, young child, pre-teen and teen. Surprisingly there is little outworldly drama, no one questions why this has happened or what the future holds, except for Teva. Her investigation essentially boils down to an internet search that raises more questions than answers, which doesn’t help her personal life. A distracted boyfriend, needy BFF, epic sibling rivalry, and a heavy dose of flirting with the school hottie is too much for any gal to handle, let alone one that is living on borrowed time. I wouldn’t consider this a romance, despite the aforementioned boy drama. There is not enough emotion, connection, or chemistry to pull at the heart strings. It’s a nice nod to to the romance genre, but swoon-worthy, it’s not.
While More of Me has the scattered narcissism of teen brain, the sci-fi aspects are a little weak. The conclusion felt rushed and the lead up is predictable. The epilogue’s easy explanation and tidy ending don’t live up to expectations. More of Me is a cool concept, but the answers are too simplistic to make it a must read. I’d wait for a sale.

This was one of the most original books I have ever read!! It doesn't seem like it should work but it absolutely does! It kept me on the edge of my seat. The ending is kind of sad so be prepared. My regulars are going to love this!!!

As we grow up, we tend to change and essentially become another version of ourselves. In More of Me by Kathryn Evans, Teva has no choice but to change as she grows older.

Teva Webb appears to be a normal teenager: going to school, spending time with her best friend and her boyfriend, and preparing for her future. But that's just appearances; in reality, her life, and the lives of her previous selves, is anything but normal. Every year Teva unwillingly clones herself due to a genetic abnormality that her Mom is reluctant to explain to her. Fighting against losing her life to another version of herself, Teva seeks answers about her past to help her retain her dreams of having a future that she'll be able to experience.

The premise of this narrative was attention catching and its execution was captivating and well-done. I really enjoyed the Beautiful Mind comparison in within the narrative and Teva's questioning of herself and what she knows to be real. When presenting the internal struggles of a teenager, there's plenty of opportunity for it to come off as too whiny, but Teva didn't ever seem to quite reach that point; rather, she was a convincing character who you can easily care about and root for. There was, however, a weird combination of American and British life and language - it made it difficult to place where this was supposed to be taking place when certain English words and phrases were used yet soccer, MIT, and Michigan were mentioned.

Overall, I'd give it a 4 out of 5 stars.