Heather Anastasiu’s Glitch is another case of good potential lost. In a futuristic society, computer chips are inserted into members of the public to limit their thoughts and emotions. In effect, they are one ‘community’, feeling and seeing nothing but grey and working like cogs in a machine – with the exception of ‘glitchers’, individuals who show anomalous activity. This was an interesting idea, one that had the capacity to develop into something quite exciting and gripping, but unfortunately, it was very badly executed. Glitch proved to be an incredibly mediocre novel at best.

The central character, Zoe – or Zoel to the rest of the Community – was the main source of my irritation with this book. She was unexceptional, even with her special telekinetic abilities, and failed to draw any positive response from me. What irked me most was the inconsistency in her character. Understandably, having spent most of her life linked in with the rest of the Community, there were many emotions and thoughts she had little familiarity with. It made very little sense to me for her to be able understand certain new emotions and not others. What’s more, she goes from not even knowing what ‘kissing’ is to using the word freely in her thoughts like she has always recognised its definition and how to do it. Aspects like this, coupled with her completely exasperating reactions to the love interests, made her a difficult protagonist to appreciate.

Yes, I said love interests, as there is of course a love triangle present. The two candidates are fellow glitchers, Max and Adrien. I have done my fair share of complaining about love triangles in previous book reviews, so I’ll save repeating myself here. What became most troublesome for me was Max’s character. Honestly, I was quite intrigued at first when he showed signs of anomalous behaviour. With his ability to take on the form of others, he had the potential to be an interesting character. In the end, however, he turned out to be very disturbing at times, from asking to see Zoe’s genitalia like it was a perfectly acceptable request, to becoming very possessive of Zoe and their ‘togetherness’. Zoe, despite it all, could not help but still feel for him.

Adrien, in comparison, was much easier to like. Like Zoe and Max, he has his own glitcher ability: to see the future. As his feelings for Zoe were partially founded on the visions he had of her, it was slightly more understandable for him to be so drawn to her than it was for Zoe to be so infatuated with Adrien. Although not an outstanding or particularly memorable character (or love interest), I did prefer him to nearly everyone else in the book. He had quite a significant role in the plot, and brought with it some good scenes of tense action.

In the end though, Glitch was not as enjoyable as I would have liked, and I doubt I will be returning to continue this series in the future. Although the concepts were fascinating enough, it was difficult to give this story the interest it needed.

(This review also appears on my blog)