Snakeskins

April 8, 2019
Government conspiracy and magic of the unknown intertwine in an uncanny tale. Caitlin Hext is unprepared for her 17th birthday, marking the time of her first shedding ceremony as a Charmer—people with the power to produce a clone every seven years. These clones, called Snakeskins, usually turn to dust, but Caitlin’s does not. Shocked, she must wrestle with questions of identity as well as the idea that the Hext family is crucial to the lineage of all Charmers. These events are interwoven with politics as Caitlin learns that the Great British Prosperity Party has sinister plans for her and the people of Britain. Each chapter shows a bit more of the different narrators’ various perspectives on events, gradually creating a delightfully tense parallel story that begs the reader to guess what will happen next. This novel earns its verbosity using tact, mystery, and a strong voice, and readers who stick with it will feel well rewarded.

May 1, 2019
Mysterious objects from space fell on a small British village in the nineteenth century, transforming the inhabitants into Charmers. Charmers have an extended lifespan due to "shedding": every seven years, the Charmer creates a duplicate called a Snakeskin, who then dissolves into ash. When Caitlin Hext has her first shedding, her Snakeskin doesn't turn into ash and begins to develop an identity of her own. As the two try to unravel what's happening to them, a recently fired journalist and a mid-level bureaucrat in the Charmer-dominated Great British Prosperity Party search for the truth about Snakeskins. This taut and fast-paced sf thriller ably plays around with its central device, exploring the ramifications being duplicated has on society and the self.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)