Title: Glitch
Author: Heather Anastasiu
Series: Book 1 of the Glitch Trilogy
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publish Date: 8/7/12
Genre: YA Dystopian
Pages: 336
Source: Netgalley
Buy the Book: Glitch
Grade: C+
Summary: 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. 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. (via Amazon)
Brian’s Review: Glitch was the first major novel I was accepted for on Netgalley and I started it with great anticipation and enthusiasm. While Dystopian YA fiction has been quite plentiful over these last four years, I loved The Hunger Games and am always on the look-out for more great science fiction / romance/ dystopian for teens. The opening chapters of Glitch were pretty decent — I loved the parallels to the world of Fahrenheit 451, with a perfect society where nobody feels or emotes much of anything. What would a life in this kind of world be like?
But after awhile I unfortunately found Glitch to be more of the same, and not unique enough to stand on its own.
On the plus side, author Heather Anastasiu, making her debut with this novel–the first of a trilogy (surprise, surprise)–is a gifted writer. She’s able to draw you into each scene effectively. I liked that she introduces you to the main character Zoe as soon as she starts glitching–I imagine other authors would have waited until Chapter 7 to have her experience her first glitch. Anastasiu gets right to the point, and I could admire that. I liked the way the chapters often ended with little cliffhangers–very Hungry Games-y! I liked the telekinesis element to the Zoe character–very Carrie-y!
But overall I think in 2012 you really need to up your game as an author when it comes to dystopian fiction. We’ve seen and read it all by now, and I didn’t feel this novel brought enough new material to the table to warrant a recommendation. I didn’t find the characters — particularly the love interests Max and Adrian, who come off a little stale — well drawn enough, and the romance, which seems to be essential to every YA book that comes out nowadays, was really weak here.
Overall I just wanted a little more originality. Anastasiu (how on Earth do you say that name??) clearly has a great book in her, but I’m not sure this debut novel is it. The book seems to be following a trend, rather than finding an identity of its own. Too bad.
WHAT I LOVED: Anastasiu’s writing is lovely and very rich in detail. She’s able to draw you in to her world very easily. I liked the set-up of the novel, and the similarities to one of my top favorite novels of all time, Fahrenheit 451.
WHAT I DIDN’T LOVE: There wasn’t enough to differentiate Glitch from all the other YA dystopian novels out there. The characters could have been more sharply drawn, and the romance could have been strengthened.
GRADE: C+. Worth a peek only if you’re a diehard YA dystopian buff.
