Finished Glitch by Heather Anastasiyu. I received a copy from the publisher.
Summary (from Goodreads):
“In the Community, there is no more pain or war. Implanted computer chips have wiped humanity clean of destructive emotions, and thoughts are replaced by a feed from the Link network.
When Zoe starts to malfunction (or “glitch”), she suddenly begins having her own thoughts, feelings, and identity. Any anomalies must be immediately reported and repaired, but Zoe has a secret so dark it will mean certain deactivation if she is caught: her glitches have given her uncontrollable telekinetic powers.
As Zoe struggles to control her abilities and stay hidden, she meets other glitchers including Max, who can disguise his appearance, and Adrien, who has visions of the future. Both boys introduce Zoe to feelings that are entirely new. Together, this growing band of glitchers must find a way to free themselves from the controlling hands of the Community before they’re caught and deactivated, or worse.
In this action-packed debut, Glitch begins an exciting new young adult trilogy.”
Glitch reminded me a lot of both Matched (Ally Condie) and Delirium (Lauren Oliver), both of which I loved. This is an incredibly dystopian society, one where emotion is frowned upon, to the point where it doesn’t even exist. This may not seem too awful—I mean, nobody would miss feeling angry or heartbroken or frustrated, right? But you’d obviously also never feel happy or joyful or fall in love.
I love the premise behind this book, and I immediately liked Zoel (who goes by Zoe). I didn’t fall in love with the story, much as I wanted to, but I definitely want to see where it goes from here.
My biggest problem with this was that Zoe immediately falls in love with Adrien, which I didn’t think was that realistic. But then I thought about it some more and realized that she’s (a) a teenage girl and thus probably prone to hardcore love feelings pretty quickly and (b) remembered a part earlier in the story where she mentioned that she was confused by all the feelings she had. And that is so brilliant, really. Because if you’ve never felt anything, ever, how would you know what fear was? Or the difference between legitimate fear and fear caused by anger? And then how would you know the difference between real love and friendship love and “I owe you something” love?
Definitely an interesting premise and I am excited to read the second book.
