Book Review :: Glitch, by Brenda Pandos

Glitch by Brenda Pandos
Published by Obsidian Mountain Publishing
on January 31st 2014
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 312
Format: eBook
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads

Blue Eyes and his illegal slip of paper are about to shatter Abby's perfect world. When a mysterious guy from the forbidden zone sneaks a note to a beautiful young girl from Brighton, she must decide if she should turn him in or follow what the note says.

Eighteen-year-old Abby has no trouble following Brighton's rules. For one, she's OCD about checking her Date of Death clock latched to her wrist, making sure her decisions never shorten her lifetime, and two, she enjoys the peace Brighton has to offer. But when her best friend returns from her Advice Meeting--a glimpse into the future--shell shocked and won't tell Abby what's happened, she's worried what awaits her meeting in a few days.

The stranger with blue-eyes warned her not to go, but does Abby dare enter the forbidden zone to get answers? Or is she doomed to live the life her glimpse is about to show her?

Last updated on 29 March 2022

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What is Glitch by Branda Pandos about?

Glitch tells the story of Abby, a teenage girl who lives in Brighton, a walled city in the future (2034 I believe). The city is ruled by the EA, the government, and the wall is to keep the zombies out.

One day Abby is handed a piece of illegal paper with a note from a strange blue-eyed boy (new genre: love story!) from the zombie zone (the other side of the wall). It tells her that she mustn’t go to her meeting with her Complement. Knowing that nobody is supposed to be on the other side of the wall she freaks out, and ignores the boy. When it’s Abby’s turn to meet her Complement, the boy’s words are running through her head, but she goes anyway. And when she meets herself, she knows something’s not right.

Later, Abby is essentially kidnapped by the young man, and all she can think is that she’s going to be attacked by zombies. On the other side of the wall, on the other side of everything she knew to be true, she discovers lies and manipulation that she never thought existed. She meets a world of other people she didn’t know about and is suddenly on a mission of her own.

My thoughts on Glitch by Brenda Pandos

Glitch by Branda Pandos, was most certainly a mash-up of different genres. I knew that going into the book, but I didn’t really realise just how much. Just in the opening pages you have three genres: YA, dystopian, and zombies. To throw another genre into the mix, the young people in Brighton are booked in for an Advice Meeting with their Complement – their future selves. That’s right, folks. Time travel. It’s a thing.

I did enjoy this book, for the most part. Looking at Goodreads, it seems people either love it or hate it. But I seem to be somewhere in the middle. I really enjoyed the beginning two thirds, but it got a little confusing nearer the end, possibly due to the time travel. But Abby as a character was all right…not my favourite, but I didn’t hate her.

The love interests, Kaden and his brother Memphis (of course it’s his brother…) were very different characters, and I think I would have liked more of one in the first half and more of the other in the second half. It seemed that they sort of occupied Abby’s attention in two separate parts of the story…which was fine, and they did overlap a little, but I think I would have liked to have seen more overlapping. The love triangle was more like Abby and Memphis…and then Abby and Kaden. Which I guess was fine…but…I don’t know. Something was a little bit odd about the whole situation.

The plot was pretty standard for a Young Adult dystopian novel: a girl in a secluded bubble of protection is ripped out into a world she doesn’t know, discovers secrets, she goes back to do something about it. Pretty standard, but I did like the world that Pandos had created, and the setting in general. Being in the future meant they had the technology and all those yay things, but it was also plain and simple out of the city. It was a nice mix of both.

Have you read Glitch? What did you think? 

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I received this book for free from Brenda Pandos and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.