I received a copy from Netgalley.

The premise of this book sounded really good. And at first it was, I quite liked the idea of an all female futuristic society, and there was some logical explanation as to how the female society is divided and where they came from. The basic purpose of the humans seems to be live a rich and full live, and all the manual works and dull jobs are done by what appear to be genetically engineered slaves called Klons,

Females grow up at an academy and when they are sixteen they are paired with a mentor from the city. The story starts off promising, we meet the main character Ruberic, she's creative and artsy and dying to get a well known artist as her mentor. We also meet her love interest, Salmon Jo (that name drove me nuts) who was more sciency and quite bold and smart.

They uncover a secret about the Klons that shatters Ruberic's world and the rest of the novel is about them trying to deal with it. It...wasn't as good as it could have been. Ruberic got to be a very annoying character, she seemed quite shallow...and got annoyed when people didn't seem to like her way of thinking. And while she and the girlfriend complimented each other well, I didn't get the feeling of closeness between them other than a very close best friends with some major kissing. Ruberic talks about how much she loves SJ, and several occasions does stupid things to choose her over all others...but, meh. I didn't feel it.

Whole I liked that both girls wanted to do something about the secret they discovered, and Ruberic's idealism in dealing with the problem...they seemed to dive into their mission without much thought other than feeling it along as they went. It worked for a while but got quite irritating that a lot of it seemed to be luck.

By the end I wanted to slap Ruberic several times. She wound up grating on my nerves with her decisions.

The writing itself was flawless, and the story was nicely fast paced, I read it in a few days and would very much like to read something from this author again. Unfortunately, with this one, the characters just didn't do it for me. ( )

Originally Reviewed At: Mother/Gamer/Writer
Review Source: NetGalley
Rating: 3 out of 5 Controllers
Reviewer: Ariel

First of all, I love Dystopian literature, so I was really excited to read Swans & Klons by Nora Olsen. The story follows Rubric and her girlfriend, Salmon Jo, through a futuristic society (called Society) where men are extinct and there are 300 genetic types of women, 300 “Jeepie Types”. Young girls are raised in dormitories and when the humans are 16, they get partnered with an adult of their Jeepie Type, their Jeepie Similar, who mentors the young girls on how to be an adult in Society. Women don’t give birth, instead, babies are hatched in tanks at the Hatchery. In addition to the humans, there are Klons, who are also hatched in hatcheries and go to their own dormitories where they are taught to do different labor tasks, because humans do no labor for themselves.

The premise for this novel was really good, and it sounded like an interesting story. Rubric and Salmon Jo discover something about Society that changes their views on life forever, but no one believes them. This sets up an amazing theme for the novel of growing up and questioning what society tells you is acceptable, and forces you to start making your own decisions about things.

Rubric is an ambitious young woman who is extremely artistic and creative. She dreams of building airships and doing great things with her art, so she’s ecstatic when her Jeepie Similar is one of her idols, Stencil Pavlina. However, she is quickly disillusioned when Stencil Pavlina is not exactly who she imagined she would be. To make things worse, Salmon Jo, who was not thrilled with her Jeepie Similar assignment at first, ended up loving her Jeepie Similar assignment.

The two are a cute couple, they seem to compliment each other really well; Rubric is artistic while Salmon Jo is more scientific. The two are well written characters, each with their own quirks and personalities. There’s even strife between Jeepie Similars, which I thought was nice since Jeepie Similars are theoretically supposed to get along because they’re the same genetically.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable and quick read, it could probably be read in an afternoon all in one go. It was different than other dystopian fiction I’ve read (I’ve never read about an all female society before) so that was a nice change.

With all that being said, I kind of disliked how quick of a read it was. I feel like the story could have been developed a lot more, maybe some explanation of how Society came to be, and when it came to be. The only real opposition is a land over a giant wall around Society that is called the Land of the Barbarous Ones, where they still have males and women still get pregnant. I don’t want to say the plot was rushed, because it didn’t necessarily feel rushed, but it was a very quick paced book. Like I said, it could have been developed further and still been a good novel.

All in all, I give the novel 3 out of 5 controllers. It’s definitely worth a read, but I wasn’t blown away by it and the pacing could have been a little slower.



( )

This novel takes place in a dystopic future where children are created from a per-determined set of genes and only females exist. When Rubric and her girlfriend Salmon Jo discover that the Klons are no different from themselves, they embark on a dangerous crusade to free them.

I thought this was a decent book and somewhat interesting world. I personally hate it when authors create nonsensical words. This happened throughout the book, which I found to be highly annoying. Otherwise, the plot moved quickly and the characters seemed genuine. Not a bad read, this is something I see teenage girls falling in love with. ( )

*This is an uncorrected galley I received from NetGalley*
Rubric has lived for sixteen years without questioning her pampered way of life or the way of life for those, called Klons, that serve humans. When the girl she is dating, Salmon Jo, takes her on an adventure to the laboratory where human and Klon fetuses are made, they learn a secret so horrifying that they take drastic measures to change Society. Those who rule, the Doctor’s, will try to stop them and with no help from teachers or friends they have to depend solely on their love for each other as they run for their lives.
The solitary complaint is that I felt that more depth was needed in the explanation of Society. I am not sure if this is going to be part of a series or not, so maybe it will be touched on more thoroughly in future installments.
So far, in my reading experience, this is a unique plot and I always enjoy running into that. This is another novel with a strong female protagonist, even if she doubted herself. Rubric and Salmon Jo both have a lot of personality and complement each other perfectly. The minor characters all fit the story nicely and it doesn’t feel overcrowded. Pacing in this one is quick and easily flows from page to page. (This could easily be read in one sitting.) There’s not a lot of action but it isn’t necessary since the story is interesting enough to hold attention. This is a great novel for teens (and a lot of adults too) since it is a story about self identity and getting to know and appreciate oneself. If there are more books to follow I will pick them up without question and I recommend this one. ( )

Pros: interesting premise, great characters, positive depictions of lesbian relationships, positive depictions of handicapped, thought provoking, doesn't provide easy answers, great use of linguistical shifts

Cons: underdeveloped world-building, less development than the story deserved

For Parents: no sex but there is kissing, swearing done in German, minor violence

After a mysterious disease turned all men into 'Cretinous Males' with degenerative disorders, humanity chose 300 specimens of female perfection on which to build Society. Hatched from tanks, those without modifications are human. Those with modifications are klons, stronger and without the passions and intelligence of their human similars, they serve so the humans can achieve their full potential.

Rubrik and Salmon Jo are sixteen, schatzies (lovers), and leaving the academy for their first mentoring assignments in the city. Rubrik is an artist. Salmon Jo is a scientist working at the hatcheries. When Salmon Jo makes a startling discovery about the klons, their lives are forever changed.

This is a quick, fun read. The characters are a little quirky and their relationship fantastic (no angst, no unwarranted fights or wafflings of affections, no love triangles, just a nice, functional relationship).

I loved that the girls are products of their society, thinking pregnancy and males (at least on Rubrik's side) are disgusting. Similarly, the linguistical shifts, adding in some German words (or, German based words) was neat, and I loved their misunderstanding/misuse of the word 'hacker'.

Later in the book there are some descriptions of handicapped people that are done with great care and respect. Indeed, this is a great book for questioning biases on several accounts, and specifically what makes a person human. I loved that the author provided no answers, just ethical and philosophical questions

The biggest downside to the book was its low word count. The publisher lists the page count at 264, but the epub file on my iPad came up to 108. On numerous occasions the pacing felt rushed as the story jumped from one aspect to another trying to get everything in. I think the world-building especially suffered here. There's enough information to follow the story, but I'd have loved to see it fleshed out better, especially given the complexity of the issues being addressed.

Also, things on the whole go too easily for the girls. With very little planning most of their crazy schemes turn out ok, which seemed a bit far fetched considering what they were doing.

Still, it's an interesting read. ( )