The narrator and protagonist of this book is a "re-clone". He is the clone with memory prints of a mystery writer. Now he is a "thing" with no legal rights who resides in a library and his continued existence depends on people consulting him or checking him out from time to time.

With this sort of world-building, I would have expected some sort of sweeping tale where the hero starts a revolution so that people like him get legal rights.

But no. He just does the best he can with the situations that come his way in the constraints he has.

His limited worldview reminded me in a good way of Martha Wells Murderbot.