Anomalies
by Sadie Turner & Colette Freedman
Release Date: February 9th 2016
Genre: YA Sci fi
Select Books in NY
Summary from Goodreads:
In the future there is no disease. There is no war. There is no discontent. All citizens are complacent members of the Global Governance. But one summer is about to change everything.
Keeva Tee just turned fifteen. All of her dreams are about to come true. She s about to make the trip to Monarch Camp to be imprinted with her intended life partner. One day they ll have perfect kids and a perfect life. But in her happy, carefree life in the Ocean Community, something weighs on her mind. She hears whispers about anomalies citizens who can t be imprinted. No one knows what happens to them, but they never seem to come back.
When Keeva arrives at Monarch Camp, her worst nightmare becomes a reality she is an anomaly. After imprinting, the people she loves change, and she starts to doubt everything she s ever believed. What if freedom and individuality have been sacrificed for security? And what if the man who solves all the problems is the very man who s created them and what if he isn’t a man at all?
When Keeva finds a warning carved under a bunk bed she begins to understand: nonconformity will be punished, dissent is not an option, insurgents will be destroyed.
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My Review:
This is my first review for an audiobook and I am so lucky it is a great start! I loved the story and the narrator!
I am one of (probably) the few people who have not read “The Hunger Games”, nor have I seen the movies. Not because I don’t like the story, but it was so much publicity around it, so many people saying how great the story is, how amazing the main character is that I feel I already know what to expect. So, based on that, I started listening to “Anomalies”, with an open mind, trying not to let my idea of other similar books cloud my judgment.
So all is nice in the world, everything has its place. Everybody knows what will come next, until Keeva discovers she’s an anomaly. She’s now someone whose destiny has been altered, someone who doesn’t fit in anymore. When she realizes she will not be imprinted with her intended partner at Monarch camp, she will be faced with a new future, one she has to decide on.
The authors have created an ideal world, with no diseases, no worries about the next day. Everyone lives in owe of their savior Sobek, who brought peace after a war that nearly caused the extinction of humanity. Society is divided into communities, with specific purposes, being ruled by the Global Governance. An interesting thought. Nowadays people have forgotten to help each other without expecting anything in return.
The main character, Keeva, is part of the Ocean community. She loves the ocean, she loves swimming and can’t wait to be reunited with her intended partner and come together to her beloved community to follow in her father’s footsteps. Still, in all her thoughts, she has never forgotten about her little sister, who was taken away at birth. The words of the strange man that took her have been kept hidden in her soul. Her carefully planned life has been turned upside down when she realizes she’s an anomalie. Though something strange is happening to the ones that do get imprinted.
A person who plans her whole life has to learn to live in the moment. She will have to overcome her fear of the unknown, to follow her instincts.
The action is told mostly from her perspective, but there are also some small passages where we are presented with Calex’s point of view. He is Sobek‘s son and the future ruler of Earth. I appreciated this insight, as it brought a clear understanding of how the Global Governance works and all the plans they have for humanity. Calex also has to face a new life, but as opposed to Keeva, he knows exactly what he has to do, though he’s not entirely sure on how to achieve it.
What I also liked about these two characters was that they never meet in this first book. Calex sees her for just some seconds and there is no super attraction. He sees her as interesting due to her strange red hair but nothing else. And here is the point where all my ideas regarding how this book will end are turned to dust. So for me the action was not that predictable. Sure, there were hints on what to expect, but only on some small level.
As for the reader, Lucinda Clare does a great job! Taking into account I am not a native English user, I had no trouble understanding the words. I only noticed that for one character she used a certain accent, but later on it disappeared (Anelia). No other complains from my side.
So, to close this long review, a total of (wait for it, wait for it) 5 stars go to this amazing collaboration between Sadie turner and Colette Freedman. I loved the story and the main character was great as well. The quality of the audiobook was great as well so I hope you read it or listen to it and come back with an opinion J
About the Authors
SADIE TURNER is a Los Angeles-based producer and writer originally from Brighton, England, who works in business development with several Hollywood entrepreneurs. She has various projects in development, and also teaches yoga.
Author Links:
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COLETTE FREEDMAN– An internationally produced playwright with over 25 produced plays, Colette was voted “One of 50 to Watch” by The Dramatist’s Guild. Her hit musicalSerial Killer Barbie can be heard here.
Her play Sister Cities was the hit of the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe and earned five star reviews: It has been produced around the country and internationally, fifteen times including Paris (Une Ville, Une Soeur), Rome (Le Quattro Sorelle) and Australia. It is next up in Chicago August 2016. She wrote the film which is currently in post-production and stars Jacki Weaver, Alfred Molina, Jess Weixler, Stana Katic, Michelle Trachtenberg, Amy Smart, Troian Bellisario, Tom Everett Scott and Kathy Baker. She has co-written, with International bestselling novelist Jackie Collins, the play Jackie Collins Hollywood Lies, which is gearing up for a National Tour.
In collaboration with The New York Times best selling author Michael Scott, she wrote the thriller The Thirteen Hallows (Tor/Macmillan). Her novel The Affair (Kensington) came out January 29, 2013. The play of the novel earned both critical and commercial success as it toured Italy February through May 2013. Her sequel novel The Consequences(Kensington) came out January 28, 2014. Her YA novel Anomalies (Select Books) came out February 9, 2016. She also co-wrote the film And Then There Was Eve which is currently in pre-production and begins principal photography May 2016.
Author Links:
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