ARC Review: Glitch

Title: Glitch
Author: Heather Anastasiu
Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Expected Release: August 7th

See it at 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.


Please someone, for the love of all things Star Trek and Neil Gaiman, teach me to love science fiction again. I just can’t seem to enjoy it as much as I used to with the exception of rare gems--and most particularly in the YA department where it seems the YA Sci-Fi is usually flat to me. It either focuses too much on the romance and not enough on the world-building, or too heavily on the world-building and then the characters get lost and I can’t figure them out.


In Glitch, there were some good points. I’ll give it that much. I went into it with some really high expectations too, so maybe it was partially my fault. But who wouldn’t when you see such a gorgeous cover and read that awesome premise? Am I right? That’s what pulled me in: the premise. I really liked the idea of reading about a future world where people no longer understood emotion whatsoever. They couldn’t comprehend anger, joy, confusion…love. I wanted to see how it would play out. To be entirely honest, it’s not a very original idea, but a good writer can shape and mold various ideas and still make them good. It’s all in the execution. I’d never put down a book just because an idea didn’t seem original enough.


In the beginning, it really held my attention. I loved the way it started right from the moment Zoe was malfunctioning. I loved the descriptions and attention to detail. And I loved the interesting cyborg-type elements that made me want to learn more about these people. So where did it fall for me? When she met boys. That’s right. I said it. Okay, I get it. The whole experience-with-love for the first time had to be in it somewhere because she was experiencing emotions. That wasn’t my problem. I was hoping to see that development really. I was excited to see how it would affect her. My problem was the insta-love. It was perhaps the worst case of insta-love I’d ever seen, and I was surprised I’d held on throughout the entire book. To top it off, some kind of warped “love triangle” that nearly made me want to slap myself in the face when the guy asked after two seconds of being around her if he could see her lady parts. Seriously? Seriously?! Once again: I get it that they’re experiencing all these emotions and stuff for the first time, but some things were just ridiculous. The dialogue was the worst. There was lingo in this book in which I could tell the author wanted to use swearing in places, but perhaps afraid that it being YA, it wouldn’t be appropriate. So, it was replaced with a new kind of cursing language…and Adrien uses it A LOT. It was too much. I can appreciate strange lingo in some books where future worlds are involved, but I didn’t here. It got annoying.


I can see the appeal here. I think fans of Across the Universe and Matched might like it.


I really wish I could have liked this. I did in the beginning but unfortunately as the story progressed, it lost the appeal. Maybe one day I’ll find a new YA Sci-Fi to love. Not today.