this was a very cute read, if a bit of a no-brainer — i guess i outgrew ya long ago, but it was still really nice to bounce back into it for a bit. the main characters were lovely and their romance felt really organic, so i really liked that aspect of the story.

Thanks to Net Galley and Endi Books for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review, had a wonderful time!

What drew me in at first was the whole concept of nepos, basically clones of famous people made specifically to continue that persons ‘legacy’. The prospect of nepos having to hide their ‘alters’ aka their true identity in favour of pretending they’re someone they’re not, having these shoes to fill wether they like it or not was fascinating to me, wildly good allegory for masking if you ask me! From a story point the whole perpetuals thing sounds like the worst thing in the world, as a filmmaker myself having to watch (and god forbid direct) sequel after sequel sounds like my own personal hell.

I found the worldbuilding really cool! The book touches on various really important subjects like racism, censorship and (obviously) neurodivergence in some very easily digestible ways which I like, reading about the systematic oppression the slumborn go through really sold the world to me in a way. I also really liked all of the characters, each of them felt like their own person and not just “same kid different font” type of thing. Got really attached to some of them (looking at you Justis) which doesn’t happen with every book I read.

I’ve got a few gripes with the book which resulted in the 4.5 star rating but they’re mostly personal opinions that don’t really have much to do with the quality of the book. One is that I am no longer the target demographic for YA books so every once in a while it all felt too, teen, which is entirely on me for reading YA in the first place.

The timeline was a bit weird at times, cannot believe the whole thing happened in the span of two weeks, I feel like just the school play thing should’ve taken at least a month maybe.

This is also not really a gripe but a comment, I feel like there’s a lot left unexplored world wise so if the author decides to write a sequel I would be the first to buy and read it! You can find some spoiler-y thoughts about a possible sequel in my StoryGraph review because I can’t spoiler tag stuff here!

That being said the book does work really well as a standalone so if thats it I won’t be mad. A very refreshing read, would definitely read more of this authors books in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Endi Books for approving my request to read an arc of this book

Nepo first drew my attention because of the stunning cover art, but then the plot really sold it to me. It’s such a unique concept.
Nepo is set in dystopian universe where clones of celebrities are made so that the person’s careers can keep growing and growing. Shy is one of the clones, but he’s always felt different.
In the lower class level of the city there is a whole population of neurodivergent people that are never allowed to exist in the rich region where Shy is from. As an autistic person myself, this isn’t a foreign concept. Sadly many people believe our minds are something that needs “fixing” and I liked that this book brought to light how much autistic minds have brought to science and inventions and technology and so much more, and how different the world would be without our minds in it. Not that we have to contribute anything for our lives to be valid.
Shy finds out that he is also neurodivergent and that it was missed on his screening. And when he witnesses a shooting and uncovers a secret with the help of a new friend and fellow neurodivergent person from the lower class level of the city, that is when the story really begins.