Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

Secrets were strictly forbidden in the Community. Of course, it had never been a problem before, because we weren’t supposed to be capable of secrets. It was secrets that started the wars and almost destroyed the planet. Secrets and lies and destructive passions. But we were saved from all that. We were logical. Orderly.

Secrets were wrong. Keeping one was wrong. But I had more than that now, dangerous secrets, piling up like the lies I had to tell to keep them hidden.

                  Welcome to the Community, home of Humanity Sublime and perfect peace! Here, we’re all connected to the Link, which gets rid of our emotions. Emotions are what caused the Earth’s destruction, after all. Here we have no sadness, no happiness, no emotion whatsoever! However, there are those who glitch and their Links give out. They feel. They are anomalous and deadly dangerous. They upset our premier goal: Order first, Order always. They must be fixed immediately. If they cannot be fixed, they are to be deactivated, as soon as possible. Please report any anomalous behavior you witness.

                Zoe lives in the Community. She never knew how it was to feel, to truly live. But all of a sudden, she feels everything: panic, loneliness, love, fear. She’s not too sure she likes it at first because she is only feeling the bad emotions. Until she meets Adrien. His blue-green eyes seem more alert than the others. He seems more alive, but then again, she is desperate to have someone. To not be so alone in holding this nearly-impossible-to-hide secret. But Zoe has another secret, too. She’s Telekinetic. She can move things with nothing but a thought, but her power is erratic, at best. Glitch follows Zoe as she struggles to keep these secrets with the risk of them fixing her glitches, or worse: deactivation.

              First of all, I want to talk about Zoe’s power: Telekinesis. I loved the idea of Telekinesis because it’s a really cool thing that hasn’t been used much in recent literature. As a matter of fact, I was thinking how cool it would be to have Telekinesis just the other day. After all, it is my go-to answer when I’m asked, “If you had a superpower, what would it be?” Telekinesis, my friends. There is nothing more awesome than Telekinesis. It has the power to do pretty much anything, it’s something that isn’t usually used, and, you have to admit, it’s the best superpower. Ever.

               Another really tremendous aspect of this book was it’s story line. Ms. Anastasiu did an incredible job to keep this book surprising. And, boy, was I surprised. I wouldn’t have been more surprised if a ninja dropped down from the ceiling and slapped me in the face before climbing out the window and escaping into the night.  Okay, well, maybe a little more surprised, but it was still the least predictable book I have read in a long time, maybe ever. It was a wonderful story.

              Glitch is a story about discovering emotions, color, and one’s true self. When Zoe is free for the first time, it made me think about the beauty of the world around us and how we take both our freedom and beauty for granted.  Anastasiu explains each emotion so well that it felt like I was just learning them all for the first time, along with Zoe. It also made me rethink about love a little bit. The love between Zoe and Adrien is so precious and I just adored it to pieces.  I could really feel all of Zoe’s emotions. I cried when she cried, I loved when she did, and I felt loss so big I thought my chest was hollow. This book was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

I loved this book! 5 Smileys!