Glitch

Originally reviewed on A Reader of Fictions.

Going into this, I had already seen the negative reviews rolling in from trusted sources. I am really grateful for that, because, had I not known, I'm pretty sure this would have been an even worse reading experience for me. Since I knew not to expect anything at all, I was better able to appreciate the few things that entertained me.

The society set up in Glitch is, at least, dystopian, not just marketed as such, so that is good. It is not, however, particularly original, feeling from before the first page like so many others. In a little section before you begin the book itself, it says that secrets "started the wars and almost destroyed the planet. Secrets and lies and destructive passions. show more But we were saved from all that. We were logical. Orderly." This pretty much sets the tone for Glitch. I feel like a quarter at least of the dystopias I read are built around this basic premise: X causes terrible wars, so we have eliminated X with this drug/technology/whatever.

The very first issue I encountered as I began to read Glitch was the awkwardness of the first person storytelling for this kind of tale. Zoel is glitching, meaning that her connection to the Link intermittently crashes. During these times, she can think for herself and feel emotions and see colors. Ordinarily, she is completely logical, which apparently also means zoned out and zombiefied. Anyway, moving past that, I could not deal with narration that would tell me the Link had just reasserted control and she was no longer capable of thinking, followed by numerous emotion-fraught thoughts. Anastasiu never successfully made the Link sound like it was working on Zoe.

The next problem I noticed was Zoe. She is one of those heroines that is eternally surprised by everything. She has no survival skills. Like none. She does whatever people tell her to do, except when her telekinesis kicks in and does things FOR her. She spots Adrien following her everywhere and is all like, hey, that's vaguely creepy. Then, she gets taken by some official to a room where he generally is horrifying. Adrien breaks in and takes out the official and drags her up above ground, even though she doesn't know him and he won't answer any damn questions. Girl, don't even.

Heather Anastasiu decided to create new swear words for this future: "shuntin'," "crackin'" and "godlam'd." Certainly, swear words do often change with time (as some words used in my parents' day, for example, have lost impact or ceased use), so I totally get why she did this. However, they didn't come off as authentically belonging to these characters or this world: they read like obvious substitutions for the words we use now and made me immediately dislike Adrien, the one who said them all the time. Most irritating to me was godlam'd, which seems to exist solely to make it clear that it means goddamned. I mean, what would the longer word be if you reinserted the part now replaced by the apostrophe? Godlambed? Godlaminated? Godlamaaed? I can't think of anything that would make any sort of sense. Also, would a logical, emotionless society really still cling to religion enough to use an epithet built around God? These words might have worked better had there been any other changes between our modern terms and theirs, because they would not have stood out as much. The only other original word I noticed: "gnangy."

Yet again, I was disappointed to be reading a dystopia where the good guys and the bad guys are precisely who you think they are from the outset. Seriously, why is this the case with so many dystopias? Haven't you heard of twists? Or shades of grey? (Note: not 50 Shades of Grey)

At this juncture, the review is going to be entering spoiler territory, so continue at your own discretion.

Now, I have to talk about the 'romance' in this book. We have both instalove and a creepy stalker/rapist. Awesome, right? The instalove bothered me, but really pales in comparison to the other issue. Still, let's start there. Adrien has been crushing on Zoe ever since he saw her in his visions of the future. He takes her to his mom's house after breaking her out of school, where they make out and declare undying devotion to one another. Then they have to wipe her memory so she can return safely to school.

Up to this point, I wasn't in love with the book, but it was steaming along at a fairly respectable 2.5. The book had issues, boring and uninspired, but meh. Then things happen. It gets so much worse.

Back at school, with no memory of Adrien, Max, who Zoe tutors, requests additional study sessions at his house. Conveniently, parents work until ten PM, giving them lots of alone time in his bedroom. Max promptly confesses that he glitches too, can look like any other person, and that he wants to see her genitals (no joke...this scene was mad awkward). Teen boy new emotions seeing porn by accident = ATTEMPTED RAPIST. He proceeds to force many make out sessions on Zoe, and she lets him even though she's not enjoying them, because, obviously, it's nice to let boys do things with you, unless you're COMPLETELY sure you like some other boy better. Only then should you stop them. (Note: FALSE)

When Adrien comes back into the picture, Max begins to get insanely jealous, which means more forced kisses, some grabbing and lots of yelling. Finally, Zoe figures out that she's in OMG TRU LURV with Adrien. Note that all of this takes place with lots of sneaking into bedrooms, despite this being against the rules, surveillance and Regulators everywhere. Max sees them kissing and reacts in precisely the way you would expect: shoving her up against the wall, forcing a kiss on her again, and saying she WILL BE WITH HIM SOMEDAY.

All of this happens, plus Zoe finds out that Max was spying for the enemy. Still, SHE DOESN'T HATE MAX AND WANTS TO BE FRIENDS. Even Pinkie Pie would not want to be friends at this juncture. Honestly, I feel like I have a better understanding for Max's character than I do Zoe's. I mean, he at least has a reason for behaving the way he does. Her actions make no sense. She has no motivations. AAAAAGHHHH.

Summing up, Glitch is as filled with glitches as the heroine. I suspect some people will like it, but most will be disgusted by the lack of personality in the heroine as well as the lackluster plotting and writing. show less

This review appears on my blog, Starting the Next Chapter.

I'm not even sure where to start with this review. Glitch left me a confused, frustrated mess as I did my best to finish the entire book. I did so, but upon finishing I realized that very few things struck me as enjoyable. Some of the quirks and occurrences gave me much pause and I debated whether or not I wanted to continue. So much was uncomfortable to read and I couldn't help but wonder why such a thing would be included, especially since the main character never really realized the severity of the situation. She didn't seem to learn from it, so why? I still don't know the answer to that question, but perhaps someone with different insight than me can share their opinion with show more me.

I was not at all impressed with the main character, Zoe. She just rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning. If she's not freaking out about the spores found above ground, she's allowing herself to be treated like a possession by her wannabe boyfriend, Max. He practically marked his "territory" and acted like a huge horse's behind. I know Zoe is inexperienced in real human emotion, but you would think such behavior would frighten even the most naive girl. As if that wasn't enough, she didn't seem to take anything away from the experience. What was the point of including a verbally abusive, possessive ahole if she isn't going to realize the situation and impart a warning. She just goes along with Max's constant bursts of anger. It all left me with a sour taste in my mouth. Adrien was the only character with even a shred of common sense, but one character just isn't enough to carry the whole plot, especially when that character is a supporting one.

I had several more questions in regard to the logistics of the plot. For instance, the citizens of the Community are supposed to be continually wired in to an internet-like network that keeps them complacent. This whole thing starts because Zoe is becoming more and more prone to disconnecting and acting "anomalous." What I wonder is just how does she manage to fly under the radar when she gives herself away in many ways throughout the story? It just didn't seem very consistent with the idea behind the plot. The only piece that truly evoked interest in me were the powers that began to manifest when Zoe glitched more and more. That part was actually kind of fun and lead to the one moment that I actually liked her.

Overall, I just wasn't a fan of Glitch. It just didn't manage to suspend disbelief, which is a fatal flaw in any book. If you don't often get hung up on small details, you may enjoy this book provided you don't mind the character's personality and behaviors. As for myself, I wasn't very enthusiastic about it and don't yet know if I will continue with the series. If the second book continues in the same vein as the last 2 or 3 chapters, I would consider it, but I just can't deal with a repeat experience. show less

Glitch tells the story of Zoe. Zoe lives in the Community, a place that consists of people living with the VChip. The VChip takes away all emotions and connects the person into a Community Network called the "Link." Everyone is connected and is programmed to report anything out of the ordinary (anomalous), which could be as little as someone that knocks something over and reacts. Being "linked in" is normal. Glitching, or being unlinked, is anomalous. According to the code of the Community, anomalies may result in deactivation. Yep. Death!

Now, Zoe is a glitcher in a crowd of drones, trying to appear like she isn't full on freaking out. And, on top of glitching in and out of the Link, Zoe discovers she has the power of telekinesis. The show more journey of Zoe learning how to control her telekinesis was probably the coolest part of the book. It was really powerful and I thought the author, Heather Anastasiu, did a wonderful job capturing all the emotions that are raging through Zoe. Going through the process of learning what emotions are and what words correspond to different feelings is something Zoe struggles with constantly. Being human and having a free mind and so many conflicting emotions causes a lot of turmoil for her. It is an amazing arc.

The character development throughout this novel was stellar. I was always on my toes trying to figure out the different characters, their motivations, if they were lying, etc... All signs of a perfect read!

5 stars to Glitch!! show less

Zoe lives underground in The Community, where everyone is controlled by a computer chip embedded in their spine which prevents anyone from feeling any type of emotion. There are no colors, no feelings and everyone just kind of exists without really experiencing anything. Lately, Zoe has started to glitch. For moments at a time her chip malfunctions and she's filled with strange emotions she's never felt before and begins seeing things in color. She knows she is malfunctioning and she should turn herself in to be fixed, but she fears if she turns herself in she may be terminated.

When Zoe happens upon a group of other "glitchers" she learns that she's not alone. Not only that, but each of them possess another type of special ability which show more may have something to do with why they all glitched in the first place. Together they must figure out a way to escape the confines of the community before they're discovered and deactivated.

The premise of this book sounded very interesting and I was excited to read it. While I didn't hate the book, it didn't grab me the way I hoped it would.I know a lot of it had to do with me being extremely over analytical , and my aversion to the dreaded love triangle. My biggest problem is that I didn't get how Zoe, a person who had never felt these emotions, or seen these colors, could so adequately describe them to the reader. Sometimes she goes from confusion to a full description in the same sentence. My analytical self kept asking, "Wait, how does she know that is fear, or anxiety?" etc. etc. I think if the book were written in the third person instead of the first, it wouldn't have bothered me.

My other problem was the concentration on the love triangle. The book started out really strong and definitely compelled me, but once Zoe meets Max and Adrien, the focus seemed to shift to the relationship between Zoe and the two boys instead of the world around them. I think the story would have grabbed me more if this had taken more of a backseat, or maybe had it been hinted at in this book and then uncovered more in future installments. I just felt like there was a bigger problem at hand than which boy she wanted. Not to mention Max is a little psycho. I wasn't sure how Zoe could even be attracted to him.

What I did like about the book is the world, and the blending of sci-fi and the paranormal. I really wanted to explore this a bit more, and I'm hoping that maybe future installments will focus more on those elements.

All in all I thought it was just okay. Despite the minor annoyances, I feel Ms. Anastasiu is a talented writer with a great voice, and this series has a lot of potential. If you like your dystopian's to focus on romance, you'll probably like this one. For me, I wanted a little more action and world building. show less

The story idea of this series is interesting and fun. There's even a huge plot twist I definitely wasn't expecting, but that plot twist is why I give this series 3 stars instead of 4. It's well written, and interesting, with a lot of romance if that's what you like. Both healthy and unhealthy relationships.

The plot twist aggravated me more than anything, as I thought it too dramatic.

The main character is obsessively sacrificial, mush like Katniss in the Hunger Games. I do not like characters like her, but some readers do.

The summary for Glitch immediately drew me in, as I am a big fan of dystopian-esque novels. The book started well, but then a love triangle was formed and things started going downhill from there...

First, the characters weren't well developed. Zoe IS NOT a strong protagonist. She's actually quite 2D and very dependent on others. Pretty much all the characters in Glitch were not very well developed.

Additionally, the whole "love-triangle" took away my whole interest in the book as well. I didn't like either Max or Adrian; they were both unrealistic (and Max was kinda really creepy!) I think that Glitch could have been MUCH more successful if the love triangle was taken out.

Ugh...and the backstory! It doesn't make sense! Well, to give show more Mrs. Anastasiu credit, at least she tried to write a backstory...
        The backstory revolves around a nuclear bomb. Because of the destruction the bomb caused, the government lead people to live underground. The government also believed that human emotion caused them to drop the bomb, so they made a device (the "V-Chip") to stop human emotions. Make sense? It does to me...except one tiny BIG detail: How exactly could people live underground?

All in all, I wouldn't recommend Glitch. I was really hoping for another solid dystopian novel, but I didn't find one. I doubt I will be returning to the series in the future (yes...the publishers think they're going to be successful enough to have a series...good luck with that!) show less

Everyone is plugged into the Community. Their senses are dulled and emotions simply don't exist anymore. Everything is done for the greater good with no thought to selfish desires. Zoe has started to glitch. She is periodically free from the Community ad experiences raw emotions, sensations, and a sense of self. She knows she should turn herself in for the good of all, but ultimately decides to hide it out of curiosity. The risk is great and rapidly escalates as her emotions are hard to hide and she develops telekinesis. If anyone discovers her secret, the authorities will deactivate her. There are others like her and a Resistance exists outside of the community which occasionally infiltrates, but their efforts may be useless if anyone show more finds out about them.

I love reading about dystopian worlds where even emotion is outlawed, like Glitch or Equilibrium. It's just something so fundamental to humans that it seems an impossibility to ban it. I was definitely drawn into Heather Anastasiu's unique world where technology is used to sedate and dampen the masses into little automatons that don't protest or care about anything. The government is free to do whatever they want with people: kill them, enslave them, or make them do anything. When Zoe glitches, she starts to question her whole society and sees value in these emotions instead of destructive as she has always been taught. The world building was one of my favorite parts because it just fascinates me. The writing was fluid, engaging, and succeeded in sucking me into the world. It made me gloss over some of the flaws while I was reading the book because I was so interested in the world and the conflict.

There are some very glaring flaws. It was interesting to see Zoe dealing with new colors, emotions, and situations, but it was very uneven. For someone who has never experienced a lot, she had names and definitions for many things she shouldn't have. I liked Zoe for the most part and I understood her emotions throughout the novel, although others may find her annoying. The things that really annoyed me were made up curse words and one of the love interests. Come on. If you're going to use curse words, please use the normal ones in our parlance. If you think they will really offend, just don't use any at all. I cringed every time one of them came up. It sounded very juvenile and grated on my nerves. On to my next grievance: Max is another glitcher that she goes to school with. He is very selfish and is fascinated with sexuality to the point where he was pushy and demanding. He truly disgusted me and the fact that Zoe continually forgave his horrible behavior and basically thought to herself how nice he really is underneath it all. No, Zoe. It's not ok and he's not nice. Ugh. I just wanted to shake her and get her to see how much of a jerk he was.

Glitch is a fun new dystopian novel with some unique elements and also some big flaws. I will definitely stick with it for the next installment to see what is in store for these characters and hope that some of these flaws are corrected. show less