Please note that I received this via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review. 

 

Ugh nope. I thought the premise of this one sounded so good! I loved the idea of a woman (Shelley Stone) meeting a younger version of her self. Maybe she would have a chance to change things up in her life. But nope, this book just floundered a lot for me. Probably because I don't know what this book was trying to be. It didn't make me laugh. There was some weirdness with Shelley and the nanny (like I think Shelley was attracted to her or something, so confused). And Shelley and her husband were odd, and I didn't really get their deal. This whole book made me feel like I had accidentally taking some mind altering drug. I kept saying, so would this be what it's like to read a book while high as hell? 

 

"The Glitch" starts off with Shelley and her family (husband and two kids) on vacation in France. When their young daughter Nova (do not get me started on her full name, that was also weird) goes missing. Shelley is of course freaked, but when a random dude calls her up and says he has her kid, the whole book tips into weirdness central. I still don't get what that whole thing was about. I would have called a cop or whatever the name for a cop is in France. It just seemed like an odd way to hear about Shelley and her client who invented something called the Conch. No, I refuse to explain that to you. I want it out of my head.

 

The whole book just pings back and forth between Shelley and her hectic life and her meeting the younger version that she denies. I thought this would be more Freaky Friday or like that movie with Michael Keaton, Multiplicity, but nope.

 

 

I also didn't really care for Shelley. I don't know what was her deal, but she acted so unaffected by things I started to wonder if Cohen meant her to come across as possibly on the spectrum or what. I just felt baffled. Shelley has note cards on people, she talks to her children like they are peers at times which is odd.

 

I think that the book leaned too heavily into the sci-fi aspect of things. I just didn't care. Too many things kept happening for me to even figure out what the deal was. 

 

There is zero development with other characters in this book so I wouldn't even bother with hoping there is something here besides Shelley that can intrigue you. 

The ending had a forced resolution to me since I didn't believe it at all. 

So far I am waiting for it to get funny.....Right now all I see are two self-absorbed adults (Shelley and Rafael) with children. 

Unless y'all are seeing something I'm not.

 

I can shelve other books as "currently reading" and they will show up.

 

I have removed this from my shelves and re-added as currently reading = no luck.

 

Removed from shelves and tried adding a different edition = still no luck.

The Glitch (The Glitches Series Book 1) ... A young girl wakes up with the hot sun beating down on her. The ground beneath her is dry and cracked. Her memory has been wiped. She doesn’t know where she is, where she came from or even what her name is. She hears someone scream and she knows she has to help them. She finds a girl Skye who looks to be about the same age as she is and after she rescues her Skye tells her that she is a glitch like her.

A Glitch is someone who has been thrown out of the Norm. A Glitch is someone who has not lived up to the AI’s standards. If you make a mistake then you are out no if ands or buts about it. The AI will not tolerate anything in its system that may cause a problem in the schedule.

Now she is all alone with no memories and with no clue of how to survive on the outside. But no problem her new friend Skye will take her back to her home with her and introduce her to other Glitches and the Tracker Clan. Well maybe there is a problem; a problem with the Clan and the clan is only out for number one and that is the Clan. Glitches and Clan may live together but Glitches are not a part of the family they are not clan and never will be. Glitches are used by the Clan to scavenge for them but with all due respect the Clan scavenges as well. But there is some things the Glitches can do that the Clan cannot do.

Over time parts of her memory comes to her in flashes and she remembers that her name is Lib. When Lib and Skye return to the caves where the Clan live Lib meets the leader of the clan Wolf who Lib thinks is hot but she meets another guy Raj and he is a Glitch like Lib and Skye. Lib wants to be friends with both the Glitches and the Clan but that may not be possible for the Clan considering what the Glitches are. The Clan doesn’t know if they can trust them or not. Can Glitches change? Can they live on the outside or even want too?

Raj wants to go back to the Norm to live and he thinks that with Lib’s help they can fix the Norm so they can go back to live there. But Lib is not sure that is a good idea or if it is even possible. But when terrible things start happening to the Clan and everyone thinks that it is Lib’s fault she starts to rethink her position. Can they fix the AI so that hopefully she can change the Clan’s opinion of the Glitches and they can all live together in peace? Will she find out who she truly is? Will she get her memories back? Who is Lib? Who is Raj? Who is Skye? Who is Wolf? Who or What is the Clan? What is their story? To find out pick up your copy of The Glitch today to find out.

The world of The Glitch was so well thought out and it all came together brilliantly and I loved it. I loved that we got to know Lib and learned who she was at the same time she did. I also liked how the Glitches connected with the Norm and the AI. It was all so amazing and I can’t wait to read the next book The Empties.

If you like reading Young Adult, Dystopian, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Post-Apocalyptic then you are going to fall in love with The Glitch it is unlike any Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic novel I have ever read. If this is your genre then this is your book.

TW: Sexual Harrasment
Several years ago, I won a giveaway for the second book, Override, which included a copy of Glitch. Only what I received was two copies of Override. My attempts to receive a copy of Glitch went nowhere so I’ve had two copies of the second book languishing on my shelves for years. I finally said fuck it and got a copy of Glitch for myself.

I really liked the idea of Glitch, the reality not so much. I didn’t hate it so much as others but I didn’t really enjoy it either. The romance is god awful and dominants the book. The interesting premise languishes behind inconsistencies and obviousness while the characters play hook-up and catch-up.

The world and set-up is pretty standard fare in dystopians but hey, they became standards for a reason. I really liked where it was going at first. With Zoe glitching out, the explanations of rolled out smooth instead of in an info dump.

But that may have been a double-edged sword because she’s inconsistent. There’s no rhyme or reason to the things she understands but shouldn’t and those she’s clueless about. Like knowing the fruit taste of her drink (hasn’t been glitched out before during lunch tho? Was it a new drink? Why would it matter to drones? Why not just water?) and names of colors. Color names aren’t, you know, innate or obvious. Her drone-hood is seemingly used when it’s convenient and otherwise forgotten.

Maybe there’s something we’re missing, not seeing her first glitches and not hearing what lies they’ve been told about emotions. Maybe it’s really fucking hard to write and put your mind in her drone state because it’s so alien, so slip ups happen. Either way…*sigh* but this is one of the smaller things I could let go and forget about, especially in the face of everything else.

The Plot:
Again, pretty standard. I did like her memory being wiped and sending her back. But sending her back didn’t work out so well. There was just so much relationship drama, things obviously didn’t add up but they were too slow to get it, and suddenly the cast grows. It alternated between too much too fast and too little too slow.

It was rather obvious something more was going on or the government was extremely incompetent. Zoe had too many fuck ups in public. And in front of Max. He clearly had something going on from the get-go. I mean come on, touching her and leaning in to smell her hair? But Zoe’s too wrapped up in herself to notice anything else. And of course, why would they allow them to study privately? There’s a reason she was so surprised when it happened.

Having another glitcher rebel in a different way was…interesting. It certainly solved the problem of The Community catching them. But again, I don’t have a good feeling about it. It seems like a way to distract and delay from dealing with The Community, who’s the actual fucking problem.
I did like how she reacted to being outside for the first time, and I thought her being allergic was a nice twist. Though adding it to the end to prolong the perilous journey was a tad much. They at least brought sunglasses along too.

Later, Molla’s been throwing up for a week pregnant, and they practically just fucking met? That’s not how pregnancy works! It’s not instant conception and it’s not instant morning sickness either. It’d fit better in a ridiculous anti-sex abstinence education ad.

At the end, Zoe had to “lose control to gain control” over her powers. Pah-lease. I’m so over that lightening “Ureka” moment where characters, especially women, go from pathetically helpless to stopping bullets mid-flight and saving the day. I do like how her telekinesis is described though.

The Romance:
Instalove. Greaaaaaaat. There needs to be more lead up, more something. Without it, it’s ridiculous and squicky how Adrian just leaps on Zoe, who knows nothing! How is that not taking advantage of her and the situation? He says he knows it’s creepy to know about her from visions but damn if the boy uses his brain after that. It feels like a Nice Guy™ bait and switch.

Then it becomes a love triangle and tries to justify it with memory lapse and desperation. Sure, that explains Zoe’s flipping away. How can she stay loyal when she doesn’t remember? (Plus, the instalove is fucking ridiculous anyways. Have I mentioned that? Lol)

But the other dude is a pushing, abusive fuckface. Double greaaaaaaat. His defense is “I’ve never felt this way before” and “All I think about is you!” Yes, he’s a victim of The Community, obviously not taught any morals and can’t deal with these new feelings. But there’s no doubt, he’d get Zoe to himself by any means necessary and force her. He’s a victim who became a predator.

The only moment he did something right was walking away at the end. At least, if he stays away and doesn’t continue to scheme to get her back. (Not holding my breath.) And Zoe screams his name the whole time she’s being carried to the Outside, leaving him behind! Calls him family. How disturbing.

And Zoe just rolls along. There’s no push back, no self-defense, and not even internal dialogue that what he’s doing is wrong. It’s hard reading, it rings true as a representation of a young woman’s internal slut-shaming and victimization.

It honestly wouldn’t be that bad without the romance mucking it up. The inconsistencies could be overlooked but no one’s getting past this.
On the fake cussing:
Meh. It was obvious and fake. How do those words become cuss words in the world? But I didn’t really care. With Zoe being so naïve, the plot escalating over the top, and the romance…well, it was hardly noticeable.
There are some books that do the evolved fictional language and cussing well (Catspaw by Joan D. Vinage springs to mind immediately) but Glitch doesn’t cut it.
The Series: At this point, I’ll continue just to get it off my shelf but I’m not sure how Override will fare.