Clare Reviews: Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin

Title: Spare and Found Parts

Author: Sarah Maria Griffin

Format: Paperback

Source: Received from the publisher for review

Pages: 416 

Rating: 4.5/5

Blurb: Nell Crane has always been an outsider. In a city devastated by an epidemic, where survivors are all missing parts—an arm, a leg, an eye—her father is the famed scientist who created the biomechanical limbs everyone now uses. But Nell is the only one whose mechanical piece is on the inside: her heart. Since the childhood operation, she has ticked. Like a clock, like a bomb. As her community rebuilds, everyone is expected to contribute to the society’s good . . . but how can Nell live up to her father’s revolutionary idea when she has none of her own?
Then she finds a mannequin hand while salvaging on the beach—the first boy’s hand she’s ever held—and inspiration strikes. Can Nell build her own companion in a world that fears advanced technology? The deeper she sinks into this plan, the more she learns about her city—and her father, who is hiding secret experiments of his own.

This was just so unique. I know I'll remember this book for a long time because every aspect of it was so well thought out. The first thing that jumped out at me were the perspective shifts. The first chapter is written in second person which is unusual in itself and then the remaining chapters switch between second and third (with a few actually in first). I was worried that this would be off-putting and whilst it might be for some people, personally I found it very effective. It personalised some elements of the story whilst maintaining a narrative effect for the rest.

The main character was that beautiful kind of unlikable that works so well. There were parts of the story where I wanted to shake her for being so cruel to the people around her and then other times where I just wanted to cheer her on. It was sometimes uncomfortable reading her thoughts because she thinks in such a different moral way to me, but then that's a great thing about reading - discovering new perspectives.

A lot of the robot/android chapters went over my head. If I'm honest, I preferred the build up to her creation rather than the creation itself which felt almost anticlimactic to me. Io has potential to be interesting but wasn't in the story long enough for me to really care about them, although some of the events that happened after their creation were dramatic and made me feel all the things. I wish there were an actual word for that, I felt triumphant and disgusted and shocked and angry - it was amazing. I absolutely loved the seamless way Griffin included diversity in the story. It felt so nice to be reading a book where almost every character is diverse. The main character is bi, or seems to be - it's never explicitly stated, which if I'd known going in, I would have been even more excited about reading it because I am always, always looking for bi MC's. 

Whilst the story did have a resolution to it, I feel like there is so much more story to be told in this world and with these characters. Ruby and Oliver especially are so, so interesting and didn't get a chance to get their voice across enough in this book. Whether it's in this world or not though I will be incredibly excited to pick up whatever Griffin may write next!