WAIT! Did I go years and years not reading books featuring parthenogenesis and then in the past month I've read two novels about it?!? Life is weird sometimes, maybe not as weird as the life of Josephine Morrow, who is the Girl One referred to in the title. Josephine was the first girl born via "virgin birth" from a group of women living on a commune in the 1970's. These women were determined to have children without the involvement of men. Josephine was the first of 9 girls born here. All of the girls are clones of their mothers. When her mother goes missing, Josephine begins trying to figure out what happened to her and in the course of her investigation talks to some of the other girls and mothers. They uncover forces that seem to be looking to eradicate these girls.

This was an adventure! It was twisty, feminist sci-fi that brings to mind The Handmaid's Tale and other similar works. It's about women who want to prove that they don't need men and some men who don't take kindly to that. It is about fame & privacy. There is so much wrapped up in here. This would make a great book club book. But it isn't too heavy handed and is a fun, thrilling ride of a read.

I listened to the audiobook, which I would recommend!

4.5 stars.

The premise for this book was awesome. It was pitched as Orphan Black meets Margaret Atwood, and that is what you get.

In the 70s, Dr. Joseph Bellanger worked with his group of nine isolated women at the Homestead to create babies via parthenogenesis, not requiring a male's genetic contribution. This resulted in nine girls, numbered by their arrivals. Josie, is Girl One. When her mother goes missing, the past begins to surface, and Josie is pulled back into the controversy of her own birth. As she works to find her mother, the past she knew begins to unravel in a dark and intriguing way.

The writing in this story was incredibly fun and the tension was really well-crafted. Things moved at a good clip and the introduction of new characters just kept adding fun layers to the tale. I somewhat knew what was going on, but it did take a few turns along the way and was just a good time to read. There was plenty of creep factor and I was definitely interested in the cult-like feel of the Homestead. I'm a sucker for that kind of atmosphere. There's just so much at play. A good, gripping read.

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

Girl One is Josephine Morrow, born in 1974 without male DNA. She is the first of nine baby girls born to women living in a commune called The Homestead in Vermont and working with Dr Joseph Bellanger. Of course this work is controversial. Some people greet this scientific development with open arms. Men are threatened by the idea. The women of the early feminist movement are delighted. Others, especially religious groups think it is blasphemous. When Josie is 6 two people, including Dr Bellanger, die in a suspicious fire at The Homestead and the girls and their mothers are scattered across the country. Some, like Josie's mother, want nothing to do with the fame or infamy their story has brought. Other profit from it, giving interviews and being on TV. Seventeen years later Josie is in medical school determined to carry on the legacy of her "father" Dr Bellanger when she learns that there has been a fire at her home and her mother, from whom she has recently been estranged, is missing. She leaves medical school to find her and from here follows a trip across the country to see if the other girls have heard from her. The story gets very twisty from here and I was completely drawn in. The characters as we meet them are well developed. Some are likeable, some are not, but all felt real to me. The men we meet are all mostly "bad guys", somewhat stereotypical of what we might expect when their manhood is threatened. The book has lots of twists that I found unpredictable. The ending was very climactic.I enjoyed the science of the book. Could it really happen? An article on December 18, 2013 in Popular Science says it is highly unlikely but still theoretically possible. The cult-like attitude of Dr Bellanger's followers made it seem more possible. The reactions especially of the religious groups make it far more dangerous with today's "religious right". This book left me pondering for days. I wish to thank the publishers for allowing me to receive a copy of the book through NetGalley. This review in no way reflects that. I loved the book. It is a very thought provoking book and a good mystery that will keep you reading long into the night.

What an amazing hidden little gem of a story! This wasn't on my radar until I heard others talking about it. I spotted it on Netgalley and decided to give it a try. I am SO glad I did!

You have the story, at the heart of it, is a young woman coming back home to search for her mother. Her mother has gone missing after a house fire. Only her mom is not a normal mom and she's not your normal young adult. Her mom is known as Mother One, and she as Girl One. They were a part of an experiment by a man who helped 9 women become pregnant without any involvement of male DNA. Virgin births. So when her mother goes missing, she fears the worse. Have the people who have hated them for years finally caught to her.

The journey and adventure to find her mom revisits their past and her childhood. Each person she visits unravels the confusing story just a little more and I was completely captivated by it. I also loved the small, tender side love story that played so well into the plot and adventure. This one was just so good.

<i>A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.</i>

I really enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I couldn’t imagine trying to find your mom that was kidnapped. I would definitely recommend this book.

When I read the synopsis of Girl One, I knew this was something I needed to read. And I wasn’t disappointed.

The premise is so cool. Nine women in a commune, Homestead, all get pregnant and give birth to girls without male sperm. They all have “virgin births”. The story takes place years later when Girl One’s mother disappears. Girl One, Josie, goes on a search for her mother and along the way, contacts each of the surviving Girls Two through Nine.

There was just enough science to make the storyline plausible without being too much and I loved the characters of the Girls.

I stayed up way too late to finish this book but I had to find out what happens. I definitely enjoyed this one.

*Thanks so much to MCD Books and NetGalley for the advance copy!*

I'll admit that I had really high expectations for this story because of the Orphan Black reference. Ultimately, I had to shelve this as DNF at 55%. The characters and plot feel like two separate entities rather than a whole. I can't think of any other way to explain it. The science side of the story was quite compelling, but as soon as the attention focuses to a character or dialogue, I found myself eye rolling more often than not.

4 stars

This new-ish genre of Sci-Fi / Fantasy “Light” is quickly becoming a new favorite of mine; where real life is lightly touched with sci-fi (time travel, science experiments, etc…). This is exactly where Girl One falls in the spectrum, mostly “real”, but based on the premise of a science experiment in which 9 women were able to conceive via parthenogenesis. It is being touted as Orphan Black meets Margaret Atwood, and for once, they got it right.

This book is a little bit slow to start, but once it gets going, it is really engaging and as the story unfolds, it is hard to put down. Every time I would get to the end of a chapter, I would want to read “just 1 more” because I wanted to see where this story was going.

The only downside was the amount of characters – 9 Mothers and 9 Girls plus all of the supporting characters, and keeping track of who was dead, who was alive and who’s who in the zoo was sometimes a bit overwhelming.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a lighter science-y novel.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus & Giroux for my copy of this book via NetGalley

This one is quite hard to review. I liked it, but not a lot.

I felt like I've seen/read/heard this story before. An experiment looking for the "lost family", learning of their own abilities. Learning who the villain is.. I just expected more of a girl power, feminist story this could have been.

Now, the 9 girls and their mothers are truly badass, and have potential for greatness, what killed it for me was the MC herself, Girl One. She was.. boring. Too much go with the flow. Too much stuck in her own head and her obsession with her "father".

What I did like was the kind of a cult that was only apparent in the end.
The romance that developed over time and I kept rooting for.

We didn't get to see much of other mothers, or Mother One for that matter, and I'm kind of sad, because she seemed like an interesting woman. And we never actually find out how that science behind the immaculate conception works (is it still just an idea that blooms into fruit?).

Wasn't bad, would still recommend. Just don't expect much.

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy.

What a wonderful science fiction/mystery that honors women! Beginning with 9 female babies born to moms without the use of male sperm/DNA, this novel explores a bit of the ethics of procreation without the need of men and possible public reaction to such a situation. It goes on to look at parent/child relationships, the search for personal identity and truth, and the bonds between women. A great celebration of feminine empowerment.

Thanks to NetGalley and Farrah, Strauss, and Giroux for the ARC to read and review.

4 1/2 stars actually.
Josephine Morrow returns home from college to find her mother gone and their home a burned shell. Josie was Girl One, the first of nine “Miracle Babies” conceived without male DNA, raised with seven others and their single mothers in an experimental commune known as the Homestead.

She sets off with a reporter to find where her mother went and is tracking down the other girls, hoping to find out who is trying to wipe out their existence. She unlocks some secrets along with abilities she and the other girls never knew they had. She will also learn a devasting secret as to why she was conceived and more.

This felt like a comic book origins story of mutants, except girls made from “virgin” births conceived without male DNA. But this is much more. I can actually see this as a movie.

I was very excited to read "Girl One" but so much of this book did not work for me. I enjoyed the scope of the story and the set up, but once the characters were introduced the author lost me. Frequently at the beginning of the book and against towards the end, important characters acted outside of their established norms in order to move the plot along.

3 stars

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

This was a good SciFi Mystery/Thriller about one of nine girls born without male DNA. The first girl, Josephine, has eschewed all contact and publicity regarding her life at the experimental commune called the "Homestead". When her mother goes missing under mysterious circumstances, Josie finds herself tracking down her "sisters" in an effort to find her mother. As Josie follows the clues left by her mother, she and her sisters uncover dark secrets about their origin and abilities they possess.

This was a mish mash of SciFi and mystery. The author did a pretty good job of character building with Josie. The supporting characters aren't fleshed out as much, but do lend a lot of background and texture to the story. I thought the book dragged quite a bit in the middle, but picked up toward the end.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and MCD. All opinions are my own.

I think I expected more from this book. Josie is Girl 1, a miracle baby along with her 8 “sisters” that were born with only the DNA of the mother. But The Homestead where the girls were born was abandoned after a fire killed Dr. Bellanger (the doc that helped make it happen) and one of the Girls. Josie is trying to follow in he footsteps of her “father” and recreate the work that created the Girls that died with the doctor. But then Josie’s estranged mother goes missing and that leads Josie on a journey that will turn her life upside down and leave her questioning everything she knows about herself and her past. I did enjoy the characters in this, especially some of the secondary ones. But I wanted either more science or more magic. This landed in a weird in between and neither was explored enough for me. I’m down with both, but neither were actually explained. It sort of felt like they were just being used without any reasoning. How were the Girls created? Why do they have abilities? They just were and they just do, which for me, isn’t enough.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc for my honest review.

Girl one is reminiscent of Orphan Black, following one of nine girls, each brought into the world solely by singular female DNA- essentially creating clones of their mothers. As Girl One goes searching for her newly missing mother, she starts unraveling the past of The Homestead, and realizes that there's more to the nine "sisters" and their pasts than she's been told.

This book started off a little slow, but once it got into the meat of the story it really picked up, and I flew through the last 25%. I loved the plot line and how it follows Girl One discovering the secrets and lies that she's been told throughout her life as she searches for the other mothers and daughter involved in The Homestead. I'm not sure why it's not tagged, but there is even some great LGBT rep in the book which was a pleasant surprise. There's a plot twist towards the end of the book that left me SCREAMING, but then after the twist the character basically fizzles out of the book and becomes irrelevant, which was a little frustrating. 

Overall I really enjoyed this sci-fi thriller. Pick this one up if you enjoyed the TV Orphan Black or Stephen King's The Institute.

Science fiction is not my favorite genre, but I've been trying to step outside my box more and give the genre more reads. This one was a good choice. I was able to read an e-copy as well as listen to the audio, thanks to NetGalley and the publishers.

Josephine (Josie) Morrow is Girl One in the novel. She is considered a "Miracle Baby" and she's the first one of nine of them, called so because they were all "virgin births" as their mothers conceived without male DNA...thank science. They were raised on what was called the Homestead, which as I read the story gave me a cult-like feeling. A fire takes place and destroys the Homestead and they all end up scattering to different places across the states, so the sisters (the Miracle Babies were all girls) lost touch with one another.

Josie's mother, Margaret Morrow, goes missing and Josie is bound and determined to find her. In her search for her mother, she also looks for and finds her sisters. And she learns that someone (or more than one) seemingly wants them dead. Josie thinks she knows who and why, but it's quite the journey to discover the answers she is looking for. They also realize that they are all gifted with different abilities. I was really invested in whether Margaret was still alive or had died in a fire that was deemed arson.

Dr. Bellanger was in my opinion like a Dr. Frankenstein which was mentioned late in the book so I guess I was right on. I immediately thought of him as a "mad scientist" but he also had written Josie letters that made her feel loved, so I actually had conflicted feelings about him. By the end of the book all the conflicts I had were resolved.

I thought that the pacing of the plot was pretty good and the narrator of the audio book did a very good job. She did well giving the different people their own voice, which sometimes is difficult for me as a listener to differentiate. The narrator's pacing, tone, and power in her voice helped me to recognize different characters as well.

I like that this sci-fi book was different from anything else I've read and I recommend it to others whether or not you're a sci-fi reader.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Firrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with both an e-copy and audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book started out really strong for me. I was hooked from page 1. The concept is so interesting to me and I won’t lie, I loved the science part of this book. But about half way through I slowly lost interest. The characters started to fall flat for me and I didn’t like the turn the plot was taking. I think it one reason was that the book was just too long and there was just so much going on in the plot to really connect. I never connected with any of the other girls in the story, just girl one. By the end I just didn’t care what happened to any of them.
This book has mostly great reviews, so the book just wasn’t for me.

Girl One is a fast-paced mystery thrill ride. A blend of futuristic science, feminism, murder, and all things to keep you on the edge of your seat wanting more.

5/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story was well paced and kept introducing new facts which kept me engaged. It was well written with good characterization.
Many thanks to Farrah, Straus, and Giroux and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.