Genre: Young Adult (Dystopian / Fantasy / Science Fiction)
Date Published: February 9, 2016
Publisher: SelectBooks
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 they are imprinted, the people she loves begin to 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.
At first, I was turned off by all the celebrity praises for this book. I hope that's not becoming a thing, because it felt way too superficial to me. Ultimately, they weren't necessary.
Anomalies by Sadie Turner and Colette Freedman has a strong Divergent feel to it in the beginning and maybe a little bit of Matched too. As it progresses it grows into its own story nicely though. This is a world that looks peaceful at first glance, but then you start to see things like the total complacency of the people and how things are a little too orderly. Unnaturally so. Even though she wants to be "normal" like everyone else, Keeva begins to wonder about these things as well. The more you learn about their society and its leader the more horrific you realize it is. I was pretty entranced by this book. The pacing of the story itself as well as the narration kept my attention completely with hardly a dull moment. It definitely has me intrigued and ready for more.
Anomalies by Sadie Turner & Colette Freedman was kindly provided to me by the authors for review. The opinions are my own.
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
To learn more about Sadie Turner and her books, visit her on Goodreads, Instagram, and Twitter.
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 musical Serial 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.
To learn more about Colette Freedman and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads and Twitter.
Anomalies by Sadie Turner and Colette Freedman has a strong Divergent feel to it in the beginning and maybe a little bit of Matched too. As it progresses it grows into its own story nicely though. This is a world that looks peaceful at first glance, but then you start to see things like the total complacency of the people and how things are a little too orderly. Unnaturally so. Even though she wants to be "normal" like everyone else, Keeva begins to wonder about these things as well. The more you learn about their society and its leader the more horrific you realize it is. I was pretty entranced by this book. The pacing of the story itself as well as the narration kept my attention completely with hardly a dull moment. It definitely has me intrigued and ready for more.
Anomalies by Sadie Turner & Colette Freedman was kindly provided to me by the authors for review. The opinions are my own.
Prologue
The screams pierce through the early morning ocean air. I don’t know if they belong to the baby or my mother, I just know that I have to get home. Immediately. I knew something was wrong the moment I got up that morning. I had one of my feelings. I shudder as I rub salty water away from my eyes. Mother isn’t scheduled to deliver my sister for several hours. I thought I would have time to get in an early swim.
I thought wrong.
The wails are deafening as I get out of the water and race up the shore. As I push open the wooden door of our home, the first thing I see is my mother. She is lying on a bed in a pool of blood. A stranger dressed in white with a large turban is closing her eyes. What is happening?
“Mother!” I scream, my six-year-old voice shaking with fear and sadness.
The stranger tries to hold me, but I pull away. My mother is dead. Her blond curls are matted around her head, giving her a disturbing angelic look. A tiny baby lies quietly on the bed next to her. My father, my rock, is broken on the floor next to my mother’s corpse. He is sobbing.
“Mother,” my voice cracks. My life is over.
“You must listen to your heart, Keeva,” the turbaned stranger warns, lowering his accented voice and forcing me to come closer to hear him.
“How do you know my name?”
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he picks up the infant and slips into the back room.
Moments later, there is a knock at the half-opened door. Two officials enter. They are dressed from head to toe in black, the uniform of the Global Governance. Protectors. Sobek Vesely’s men.
“A citizen has been born,” the shorter man says. It is a statement rather than a question.
“She’s dead,” I immediately say, unsure why I am lying. I know my responsibility as a citizen is to confirm the baby’s birth to these government officials so that they can record her in the census. Officials are always present at a child’s birth. It is the law. Their job is to insert a small crystallized dot, called a Third, containing data for the encrypted codes of our Global Governance, between the
baby’s tiny eyebrows.
A strong instinct is begging me to justify the lie.
“Please, just let us grieve,” I implore, nodding to my wailing
father.
The men respectfully bow and leave, recording on their data tablets what has transpired. They have no reason to suspect I am lying. Citizens of the Global Governance don’t lie. It is not in our nature. There is no reason for me to lie.
The turbaned man emerges from the back room. He hands me my baby sister. Her fingers are so tiny. So delicate. Her eyes are so bright. She looks just like my mother.
For months, my mother and I had been talking about names for the baby. Now, my mother is dead. I digest the terrible reality and begin to cry. The stranger gently takes the baby from me, “You have sad eyes, Keeva. Sad eyes which will allow you to both observe the world and the truths within yourself.”
I am in shock. I cannot digest what he is saying. I want my mother. I want my sister. I want everything to be fine and it never will be again.
“Everything will be fine,” the stranger says kindly as if he can read my thoughts. “I am Harijiwan. I promise to protect her until you are ready. Be strong, Keeva.” He swathes the baby in white, as if she is part of his costume, and heads toward the door.
“Her name is Sun,” I call out before turning to comfort my distraught father.
The screams pierce through the early morning ocean air. I don’t know if they belong to the baby or my mother, I just know that I have to get home. Immediately. I knew something was wrong the moment I got up that morning. I had one of my feelings. I shudder as I rub salty water away from my eyes. Mother isn’t scheduled to deliver my sister for several hours. I thought I would have time to get in an early swim.
I thought wrong.
The wails are deafening as I get out of the water and race up the shore. As I push open the wooden door of our home, the first thing I see is my mother. She is lying on a bed in a pool of blood. A stranger dressed in white with a large turban is closing her eyes. What is happening?
“Mother!” I scream, my six-year-old voice shaking with fear and sadness.
The stranger tries to hold me, but I pull away. My mother is dead. Her blond curls are matted around her head, giving her a disturbing angelic look. A tiny baby lies quietly on the bed next to her. My father, my rock, is broken on the floor next to my mother’s corpse. He is sobbing.
“Mother,” my voice cracks. My life is over.
“You must listen to your heart, Keeva,” the turbaned stranger warns, lowering his accented voice and forcing me to come closer to hear him.
“How do you know my name?”
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he picks up the infant and slips into the back room.
Moments later, there is a knock at the half-opened door. Two officials enter. They are dressed from head to toe in black, the uniform of the Global Governance. Protectors. Sobek Vesely’s men.
“A citizen has been born,” the shorter man says. It is a statement rather than a question.
“She’s dead,” I immediately say, unsure why I am lying. I know my responsibility as a citizen is to confirm the baby’s birth to these government officials so that they can record her in the census. Officials are always present at a child’s birth. It is the law. Their job is to insert a small crystallized dot, called a Third, containing data for the encrypted codes of our Global Governance, between the
baby’s tiny eyebrows.
A strong instinct is begging me to justify the lie.
“Please, just let us grieve,” I implore, nodding to my wailing
father.
The men respectfully bow and leave, recording on their data tablets what has transpired. They have no reason to suspect I am lying. Citizens of the Global Governance don’t lie. It is not in our nature. There is no reason for me to lie.
The turbaned man emerges from the back room. He hands me my baby sister. Her fingers are so tiny. So delicate. Her eyes are so bright. She looks just like my mother.
For months, my mother and I had been talking about names for the baby. Now, my mother is dead. I digest the terrible reality and begin to cry. The stranger gently takes the baby from me, “You have sad eyes, Keeva. Sad eyes which will allow you to both observe the world and the truths within yourself.”
I am in shock. I cannot digest what he is saying. I want my mother. I want my sister. I want everything to be fine and it never will be again.
“Everything will be fine,” the stranger says kindly as if he can read my thoughts. “I am Harijiwan. I promise to protect her until you are ready. Be strong, Keeva.” He swathes the baby in white, as if she is part of his costume, and heads toward the door.
“Her name is Sun,” I call out before turning to comfort my distraught father.
To learn more about Sadie Turner and her books, visit her on Goodreads, Instagram, and Twitter.
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.
To learn more about Colette Freedman and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads and Twitter.
An interesting blurb. Thank you for your honest review. I found it very helpful.
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