Anomaly

Anomaly/Krista McGee I feel like I may have really enjoyed this book if it hadn't been so religious. However, the religious aspect was too simplistic and really ruined this book for me.
 
I love religion in that I love discussing it and how it makes people think. I love reading about people debating their faith and coming to terms with it. I love hearing different perspectives. In Anamoly, Thalli has religion introduced to her and decides to just blindly follow it. While a lot of religion is blindly following, it just felt so insincere and indoctrinating to me. I can see her forming her own version of faith, but going straight into believing specifically in God and Jesus and Christianity? I didn't buy it. Religion is very complex and show more McGee really dumbs it down.
 
The premise of this book was really interesting; however, we didn't see very much of it. I was really fascinated by how someone might act as a regular human being surrounded by people with no emotions. Instead, we just see Thalli being put through various scenarios, basically alone.
 
I loved the idea of how Thalli and Berk formed a connection, but I didn't feel it. She obviously has a desire for an emotional connection as shown by Stone but I don't think that this was particularly for Berk. I feel like Thalli could have been interested in anyone who walked her way.
 
The best chapter was the epilogue. That was an intriguing chapter. But I'm definitely not going to continue this series; I already can tell that the Designer will fix any problems that come.
 
Oh, and spoiler: she has fifteen minutes and twenty-three seconds to live at the END of the book. Which kind of ruined the premise, too.
 
If you're extremely Christian and religious, you might enjoy this; however, I had to skim the second half of the book to get through it. I was very disappointed. show less

There's a thing I think of as religious myopia. It means that a person can only see the world through certain lenses. Call them Bible glasses, if you like. This book was written for people wearing Bible glasses. It's just about possible to enjoy it if you don't suffer from religious myopia and wear Bible glasses, but only just.

And the thing is, it would have worked without the religious distortion and been much more enjoyable for a general audience. The writing was good, the world-building convincing and the story believable and intriguing, but the distortion caused by the Bible glasses made it difficult to take seriously. A pity.

I loved this book. I don't even know where to start because this book reminded me of Divergent and that is one of my all time favorite books right now. The one thing I loved about this book was the fact that is brought god into the storyline. I loved the characters and saw so much of myself in Thallia and I understood her reasons behind the things that she did. Once I started reading the book I knew I wouldn't be able to stop reading until it was finished. I find now that I am done with the book I am still thinking about the characters and I can't wait to see what will happen in the next book. If you love books about dystopian societies then you will love this book!

I, like some other readers, got this as a KDD. The premise was appealing and YA dystopian novels are among my favorites.

The first quarter of the book was ok. It was a bit rigid and the characters a bit lifeless, but nothing that could not be reasonably explained away by the context. I am a completionist though, and held out hope for the book... until it got extraordinarily and (for me) unexpectedly preachy. I am not religious myself, but I am sometimes ok with books with religious undertones or plot lines. This felt more like propaganda, and I found I could not push through it. Perhaps others may find this much more to their liking, but for me, Anomaly will remain on my "did not finish" shelf.

* Cross-posted to Amazon.com.

Sadly, this one is just not for me.

First, the religion is really heavy handed. It was a huge main theme in the story and - like another review by a friend said - I felt a little tricked since I had no idea this was a religious story. And, to me, there's no mistaking it - this is a story about God and his mission/plan for you and what this God believes is right and wrong.

Second, I found the rest - odd and kind of boring. It almost felt like the story wrapped around this religious part of it and not the other way around. To me, the story didn't stand well on it's own without the religious/God's plan piece and, since I don't like a book telling me what to believe, I didn't like the story, the world building, their "science" or the show more characters.

Religion is a very person subject to me. I don't want a book telling me what is right or wrong. I just want a story. I'm glad others liked this. It just wasn't for me. show less

What I loved about this book:
I won it as a First Reads Selection.

Christian fiction in an unusual venue

Concepts of friendship, real or imagined.

What I didn't love about this book:

It falls short of convincing me that in just one life span human emotion could be deprogrammed, as emotion serves a largely biological function.

It borrowed too much from The Giver, without the same level of connection. This story didn't make me feel anything strongly.

It oversimplified the finding of,or conversion to faith.


What I hope might follow:

The rebirth of faith in a blighted world, despite hardship. And to find out that not all the old scientist are monsters. Because, honestly, I'm not buying it.

What I found interesting as I read this book is how 10 scientists have designed a society that relies on each other and ultimately on the 10 scientists. Within 3 generations the words (and knowledge of) God, His Saving Grace & Purpose, Love, Marriage have all been wiped out and each individual is designed to have NO emotions, feelings, illnesses and nothing can go wrong because if it does they will be destroyed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book although it wasn't at all what I expected. The writing is a bit tough to read so I would say it is for TEENS not for Middle Graders unless they have a strong grasp of language and a high reading comprehension. Parents you may want to read it before or with your kids (especially if they are younger) show more so you can answer questions.

Read more of my review @ http://familyliteracy2.blogspot.com/2013/07/enter-to-win-ipad-mini-from.html

Disclaimer: I was offered a copy of the book to read and review on CCB. I was not required to have a positive review and no money exchanged hands. Thanks for reading! show less