The Rules by Stacey Kade

The Rules, book one in the Project Paper Dolls series by Stacey Kade, is a science fiction young adult novel told in the alternating perspective of Ariane Tucker and Zane Bradshaw. Ariane has lived the majority of her life following the rules set for her by her "father", the man who rescued her from the lab in which she was created. Posing as his daughter who had lost her battle with cancer shortly before she was rescued from the lab, Ariane has done her best to go unnoticed by the world at large.

Zane Bradshaw on the other hand, is the epitome of noticed. His good looks and lofty social status are hard to miss, but his heart just isn't in the popular scene anymore. After his mother is suddenly out of the picture, he questions the role that he is expected to play, especially when that role involves hurting someone that intrigues him as much as Ariane Tucker.

Past the two main leads, much of the cast is inconsequential. There is of course Ariane's best friend, Jenna; a queen bee wannabee who has aspirations of climbing the social ladder, no matter who she has to step on to get there. And then the actual Queen Bee, Rachel who is sociopathic in her desire to maintain the social order.

The Rules could easily just blend in with all of the other high school dramas that litter the book store shelves, but Stacey Kade's writing is genuinely funny and peppered with enough nerdy references to science fiction greats that it is worth the cliched upper/lower class high school struggle. With the added tension from Ariane's struggle to stay off the radar of the company that is trying to reacquire her and a twist or two tossed in for good measure, The Rules is a worthy addition to any shelf.

Project Paper Doll book 2, The Hunt, was released last week. No word yet on a title for book 3, or when it might be released.

4 Stars
Similar Books: Reboot by Amy Tintera, I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore, Eve & Adam by Michael Grant,  Beta by Rachel Cohn.