Future Release Review: Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

Title: Glitch

Author: Heather Anastasiu site

Format: eARC, 371 pages

Release Date: 8/07/2012

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (Macmillan)

Source: Netgalley

Challenges: Ebook Reading Challenge (hosted by Workaday Reads)

“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.”

-Goodreads

Basic Synopsis:

Zoe is glitching. She has broken free of the Community’s brain-washing Link and has started to feel emotions and see in color. Along with developing telekinetic powers. Zoe has to escape and soon, lest she be discovered as a glitcher and deactivated. But she’s not the only glitcher in the Community. When they reveal themselves, Zoe dreams of escape and rebellion. But not all her fellow glitchers plan on leaving. Can they make it out of the Community alive?

Characters:

Zoe is a person waking up and discovering emotions, not to mention telekinetic powers. She has a strong moral compass and wants to save and help everyone no matter the cost to herself. Zoe is a cry baby. She cries and screams in surprise way too much for my taste. It’s understandable for her situation and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It just annoys the crap out of me. But I could disregard that. I know that I’m picky and I try to put that aside for my reviews. Even if Zoe didn’t cry at the drop of a hat, she like many heroines before is a textbook case of PCD. (Perfect Character Disorder) She’s just too unrealistic and inhuman to be likable for me.  

Plot and Story:

This review took a lot more thought than usual. I knew when I’d finished that I wouldn’t read a sequel, and that I didn’t care for the book. The tricky part of writing this review was figuring out why. I’ve come to the conclusion that there are two reasons. Firstly, Glitch isn’t very original. It feels like bits and pieces of other books and movies slapped together in a hardcover. The book makes sense, and there is a plot. I’m not saying that it was a mindless read, but it’s in no way fresh and new. The second reason is in a way the cause of the first; I found the book utterly forgettable. It just slid right off my brain as though it were coated in oil. I don’t entirely know why, but it just isn’t a memorable read.

Overall:

I love science fiction in YA, but I’m sorry to say that Glitch didn’t wow me. I give it 2 of 5 stars. 

Review: Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

Title: Article 5

Author: Kristen Simmons site

Format: ARC, 362 pages

Published: 1/31/2012

Publisher: Tor Teen

Source: Received from the publisher for review

“New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard for her to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It’s hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow. 

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.”

-Goodreads

Characters:

Ember is one of the most annoying protagonists I’ve ever encountered. She was very, very dense. She had to have even the most obvious things spelled out for her. And when she made obviously bad decisions, there didn’t seem to be any motive behind it. Needless to say, she wasn’t very likable.

I feel like Chase’s character was really see-through, and had been done a million times before. He is the muscled and attractive boy next door with a tortured past, that comes back into the picture after a long absence. He’s supposed to be kind of mysterious with a hidden secret, but it’s a very easy secret to guess.

In short, I didn’t really care for either of the main characters.

Plot and Story:

For the most part the plot was alright. It progressed enough to keep you reading. But it wasn’t as balanced between romance and dystopia as I would have liked. Although the things happening in the dystopian world get in the way on occasion, it’s really about whether or not Chase and Ember will get back together after both of them have changed so much. This set up can be appealing to some, but it definitely isn’t for me.

And I wish that the author had been clearer in her descriptions throughout the book. A lot of times it would seem as though the two main characters were alone having a conversation when out of nowhere there would be another character. Or it would seem like Chase and Ember were either riding or sitting in the car, but they were actually hiking. These seem like small inconveniences, but they all really add up and make reading the book confusing. 

Point of View:

Article 5 is written in first person from the point of view of Ember.

Overall:

Although the premise/synopsis of the book was intriguing, Article 5 left me disappointed. It was a very hard book to finish, especially with such an unlikeable main character. I don’t think I’ll be pursuing a sequel. I give it 2 of 5 stars. 

Review: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Title: The Bell Jar

Author: Sylvia Plath

Format: Paperback, 244 pages

Published: 10/1/2006 (originally published 1/14/1963)

Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics

Source: Library

“Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed and enduring masterwork, Sylvia Plath brilliantly draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rational—as accessible an experience as going to the movies. A deep penetration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche, The Bell Jar is an extraordinary accomplishment and a haunting American classic.”

-Goodreads

I’ll start off by saying that I really didn’t care for this one. I picked up The Bell Jar for a book club I’m in. Had it not been for the book club, I probably wouldn’t have finished it. And I don’t plan on reading anymore Sylvia Plath in the near future. If this is one of your favorites, and you would be offended by rival opinions I would suggest skipping this review. All right, I warned you.

Characters:

One of the reasons I disliked this book so much was there weren’t any characters I found relatable, or even vaguely likable.

Esther for example, came across as rude, ungrateful, self-obsorbed, and manipulative. The way she thinks gives off a feeling of superiority. As though Esther is the smartest one in a roomful of idiots, because she’s the only one who views others so cynically. And she is very negative and manipulative toward men. To her they are just toys meant for sex and not much more. I will say that toward the end of the book, as Esther get better mentally, she becomes much easier to swallow. I totally despised her for the first half of the book, but came to like Esther a bit more during the second half.

Plot:

The story line was very hard to follow. From the beginning of The Bell Jar, readers are thrown into a world that makes little sense. All kinds of things are talked about that readers don’t find out about until much later in the book. Buddy Willard for example, is mentioned through-out the book but it takes forever to find out who he is in Esther’s life. It’s as if you would have to read the book twice to fully understand what the heck’s going on. Throughout the book, the story flits between past and present without any indication of doing so. It’s like Esther’s eating breakfast, and then, all of the sudden, she’s talking about trying to seduce some guy. This makes it so hard to understand the story.

Writing style:

Although Plath makes some profound observations in her writing, they are overshadowed by the immense amount of nonsense that seems to be added just to fill up space. It’s arguable that this was for poetry’s sake, but most of it just seemed unnecessary and made the story even more confusing

Overall:

The Bell Jar is definitely not one of my favorites.  I didn’t find I cared for any of the characters or the writing style. I can understand why it got such notoriety when it was published. It would have been very controversial at the time. But in the twenty-first century, and this book doesn’t make the cut. I’m giving it 2 stars. You know what they say, "It doesn't have to be good to be a classic".