Title: Override
Author: Heather Anastasiu
Series: Glitch book 2
Genre: Dystopian, Romance, Adventure
Length: 320 pages
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Date of Publication: 12th of February 2013
Synopsis
Author: Heather Anastasiu
Series: Glitch book 2
Genre: Dystopian, Romance, Adventure
Length: 320 pages
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Date of Publication: 12th of February 2013
*** WARNING THIS POST MAY CONTAIN UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS ***
Synopsis
Zoe is free. She has escaped the enslavement of the Community, disconnected from the hardware that had controlled her every thought and emotion, and evaded capture by the Chancellor intent on killing her. She is finally free, but she is far from safe.
Zoe and Adrien hide themselves from detection at the Foundation, an academy that trains teen glitchers to fight in the Resistance movement. Together, Zoe and her new team of superhuman fighters must risk their lives to rescue other glitchers and humans from the Chancellor's control. Challenges abound at every turn, and Adrien, who has become silent, distant, and tormented by his visions of the future, only adds to the growing certainty of defeat. But worst of all, as Zoe's team fights against impossible odds, distrust and betrayal leads to the terrible discovery that their greatest threat could already be lurking behind the safe walls of the Foundation.
Review
Override is the much anticipated sequel to Glitch. I was introduced to Glitch when I signed up for the blog tour back in August 2012, and it revealed itself to be one of those books that was far far better than I had ever expected. So when I picked up Override there were some serious expectations that needed to be met. I will also confess that I was a bit apprehensive when starting it. As always when following a strong and engaging debut, there is always a hint of fear that the sequel will be great but perhaps not quite as much as the first.
But rest assured fellow readers, because Heather Anastasiu well and truly delivered!
In Glitch Heather Anastasiu introduced us to a world where emotions are all but forgotten and kept under strict control by micro-chips. And those who by some miracle glitch out of the carefully controlled system are quickly fixed or disposed of as malfunctioning individuals.
Having explored through Zoe the feeling of regaining emotions and truly appreciating them and what life would be without them in Glitch, Heather Anastasiu redirected her aim in Override. Whilst continuing to encounter new emotions and thus reminding and maintaing the concept of the novelty and fragility of human emotions, Heather Anastasiu gently but firmly moves her focus onto the next step for the Resistance, Zoe and Adrien: fighting for the right to keep those emotions and their love.
Heather Anastasiu's pace was relentless and gripping. Regardless of the type of scene, be it action or leisure, I felt myself speedily and easily reading through Override, eager to find out what happened next.
The story and the plot were very well built, and although I could foresee some of the twists coming I will admit (rather sheepishly) that this was probably due to the fact that when I wasn't reading I spent most of my time pondering every possible course of action for our characters. That said, there were still a handful of moments where my hand flew to my mouth as the unthinkable happened.
But what I would really like to draw merit to, is Heather Anastasiu's wonderful style of narration and writing. It is fluid and seemless, and carries you through a complex story with a lot of factors without missing a beat in a simple but wonderful manner. It is difficult to describe and I think I may be doing a poor job of it too, but thus far the Glitch series has not only been a pleasure to read with regards to the storyline itself but also with respect to the means of narration. One that doesn't speed up and then stagnate depending on the scene, but one that fluidly carries you through to the end. An end that came almost too swiftly and now I am chomping at the bit for the sequel because I simply must know how it ends!
A big thank you to St Martin' press for providing me with a copy of this great book to read and review.
If you liked this: and would like to remain in the realm of the dystopian genre then I recommend taking a look at The Selection by Kiera Cass, Defiance by C.J. Redwine and definitely Mystic City by Theo Lawrence.