My Murder by Katie Williams

I think I got the idea of this book from my newspaper's weekly recommendations a while ago. It seemed interesting: women are cloned after being murdered. This not only gives them the chance to continue their lives, but to also have the rare opportunity to see their murderer brought to justice. However, they still have to deal with the disremembered trauma of their murder.

But the existential question within the book was a fun thought experiment, and I'd love to know others' thoughts on it: If you were a clone, would you feel like a fraud? A "replacement"? You have all your memories, but your body doesn't show your experiences (scars), and you know you're not really you. You're a copy. Would you continue the life you have a memory of, or would you be like one of the other women who completely changed everything about herself in an attempt to create her own identity and new life?

On the other hand, how would you feel if a loved one was cloned? Would they feel like a fake? Or would you feel so grateful to have them back?

Do you think resentment would grow at all?

As for the story, it was a fun read, and the pace was pretty good. I sort of started to guess at the ending, but then that made me a bit irked at how her father was treating her. Even if she was the clone, she still had the memories and feelings of his daughter. It also made me annoyed at the main character in general. She took advantage of tragedies so that she could cowardly escape all her responsibilities.

I'd give it a 4/5.

If you've read this, what did you think of the characters? Did any of the side plots interest you, or did any sort of fall flat?