Book Tour: Shutdown- Review and Giveaway

Thanks to Shane, from Itching for Books, for organizing this blog tour. To see other stops on the tour click here

 Shutdown by Heather Anastasiu

Glitch #3

320 pages- Fiction, Young Adult, Scifi/Fantasy/post-apocalyptic

July 2,2013

http://www.heatheranastasiu.com/

Facebook- Yes

Twitter-@h_Anastasiu

Source: Netgalley, and Itching For Books

Purpose: Review, Blog Tour

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this digital galley, free, in exchange for my honest opinion.

From Goodreads: The battle is all but over, and hope seems to be lost. Zoe and her fellow Resistance fighters are on the run, having lost their home, their protection, and their leader. They are outnumbered and outmatched by the powerful corporation that controls the world, and the cruel Chancellor is inches away from completing a scheme that would kill most of humanity. Zoe's only remaining option is to chase the impossible dream of upending the Link system, freeing the world from the hardware that controls their thoughts and emotions, and hope it will trigger a revolution.  The plot requires a nearly impossible mission to infiltrate the dangerous Community, and it is a task that Zoe must unfortunately complete alone. With challenges and surprises at every turn, nothing goes according to plan. Adrien's visions of the future now show two possible outcomes: one in which they succeed, and one in which humanity falls. It all lies in Zoe's hands. 

My Thoughts: 

                Have you been following my reviews? Have you been listening to my thoughts about this series so far? In case you haven’t, or if you want a refresher, here it goes. Glitch didn’t do it for me. I was excited about the series, but in the end was completely disappointed. In fact, I even considered giving up on the series altogether. Override was a lot better. Though it didn’t make me want to go out and purchase a copy, it did make me very grateful that I chose to continue the series. But then . . .but then I read Shutdown.  I am a fan! Finally. Okay, yes I still had my doubts. Yes I was still hypercritical and hyperaware of the pitfalls. Yes there were moments that I groaned because I felt that Zoe was regressing into her whiny naïve self. And perhaps she was, but she didn’t stay there! She grew and blossomed into a very flawed, a very human hero.  I couldn’t say for sure whether or not she would survive ‘til the end, but I was right there with her.

                I don’t want to make this super long, and go overboard with my happiness, but I will say this. I am even more grateful that I was convinced that I needed to continue the series.  Let’s rewind a bit, and cover the cons of this story. Honestly, they are minor and I can’t say that they lie in Anastasiu’s control. First, I am not sure if it was just the galley or if it effects the print edition, but there were quite a few areas where words were misspelled, words were left out or extra words were left in. It was distracting, but not too detrimental. Zoe was whiny, to the point that it got a little annoying.

                But here is the good. There was action, there was danger and doubt. There was hope, there was strength, acceptance and humanity. There was redemption, beauty and redefining.  Zoe turned out to be an awesome hero, one who carried the guilt and truth of things but also the hope and strength to push on. The things that didn’t make sense seemed believable. The romance… Finally it was believable and it didn’t read as being too much. The end came and it didn’t turn out the way that anyone expeted it to. I really liked the conclusion to this series; it may not be a favorite of 2013. But it does get the title of the most improved and I plan on buying this series-all because of Shutdown – the best in the trilogy.

4.5 Stars ***

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Always Shine, 

Starr K

Review: Override

Override by Heather Anastasiu

Glitch #2

320 pages- Fiction, Young Adult, Scifi/Fantasy/post-apocalyptic

February 12,2013

http://www.heatheranastasiu.com/

Facebook- Yes

Twitter-@h_Anastasiu

Source: Netgalley

Purpose: Review

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this digital galley, free, in exchange for my honest opinion.

From Goodreads: Zoe is free. She has escaped the enslavement of the Community, disconnected from the hardware that had controlled her every thought and emotion, and evaded capture by the Chancellor intent on killing her. She is finally free, but she is far from safe. Zoe and Adrien hide themselves from detection at the Foundation, an academy that trains teen glitchers to fight in the Resistance movement. Together, Zoe and her new team of superhuman fighters must risk their lives to rescue other glitchers and humans from the Chancellor's control. Challenges abound at every turn, and Adrien, who has become silent, distant, and tormented by his visions of the future, only adds to the growing certainty of defeat. But worst of all, as Zoe's team fights against impossible odds, distrust and betrayal leads to the terrible discovery that their greatest threat could already be lurking behind the safe walls of the Foundation.

                Did anyone read my review of Glitch? Well, this is not going to be the same. I liked this Override. Did I love it? Almost, but not quite. I have learned a valuable lesson in keeping an open mind when continuing a series, and to finish all review books. Yep, it’ll be hard and irritating, but you never know what will surprise. Where I didn’t feel Glitch was worth reading, Override definitely was. I couldn’t put this one down. It still had it flaws, but they weren’t so in-your-face. I was able to overlook them and get into them. That’s something I can appreciate, since it is hard to write the perfect story for more than one person. Override was redeeming to the series. I am once again looking forward to this series.

                There are only a couple of minor things that I didn’t like, so I won’t talk about those. I will talk about the major flaws that I saw. Of course, the first one is the romance. I get it, I really do, but gag! They are teenagers so their hormones are going crazy. Their emotions are still fairly new so they are strong and overwhelming. But, really?  Come on! Is it really necessary to do some serious kissing and light touching, then sneak away and insinuate they’re going to have sex only to pull back at the last moment? At this point, either do it to get it over with or move on. Personally, the passion is too much for such young and naive people. I can understand the tension that’s being created, but there are much better ways to do that.

                The second major thing is the twist. Well, it sucked. It read as if it was thrown in there because Anastasiu didn’t know how to get to point A to point B with what was already happening in the story, so she just pulled something out of the air. What’s sad about the twist is two things. The first is the writing is better than that, she cut herself short doing this. The other is that this would have been an awesome twist, and an emotional pivot point in the story – had it been believable. I won’t spoil it, but if there had been an earlier clue to put the possibility out there this would have been amazing.

Now on to what I liked about it. This time, the characters had emotional depth. It wasn’t just because they were able to openly share and experience emotions. Each had a story and as it was shared, I was able to understand them a little better. With this understanding came a connection. There was a whole lot of action and second guessing. The pacing was strong and the storyline was engaging. Finally, Zoe. When I started reading and she was the same whiny, annoying glitcher I groaned and thought the books was doomed before I started it. But-she grew, she changed. She developed into someone who really stood a chance at being a hero.
3.5 Stars

Review: Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

Glitch #1

308 pages- Fiction, Young Adult, Scifi/Fantasy/post-apocalyptic

August 7, 2012

http://www.heatheranastasiu.com/

Facebook- Yes

Twitter-@h_Anastasiu

Source: Netgalley

Purpose: Review

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this digital galley, free, in exchange for my honest opinion.

From Goodreads:

In the Community, there is no more pain or war. Implanted computer chips have wiped humanity clean of destructive emotions, and thoughts are replaced by a feed from the Link network. When Zoe starts to malfunction (or “glitch”), she suddenly begins having her own thoughts, feelings, and identity. Any anomalies must be immediately reported and repaired, but Zoe has a secret so dark it will mean certain deactivation if she is caught: her glitches have given her uncontrollable telekinetic powers. As Zoe struggles to control her abilities and stay hidden, she meets other glitchers including Max, who can disguise his appearance, and Adrien, who has visions of the future. Both boys introduce Zoe to feelings that are entirely new. Together, this growing band of glitchers must find a way to free themselves from the controlling hands of the Community before they’re caught and deactivated, or worse.

                What can I say? I was very disappointed with this book. I was very excited about it, the premise sounded new and original and exciting. The execution was fair with a dash of mediocre. When I had read 30% (there aren’t page numbers on a Kindle) I put the book down, and debated on giving up on it altogether. The main thing that I hated about this story was the romance, it was juvenile and distracting. I get that everything was new to Zoe and to the other glitchers. But it didn’t have to read that way, so I consider it a writing flaw.  First problem was, Adrien and Zoe had only really known each other for a few hours (at the most) before they were liplocked and in love. On top of that, within three pages (three screens on the Kindle) they had stopped and kissed each other more than was necessary. Then something happens with Max later, and within minutes they’re in love. Though, he’s more in love than she is. 

                Usually when the romance in a story bothers me, I try to separate it and go on with the story. But in this case, the love triangle (which actually doesn’t completely form til the near end) takes forefront in the story. Zoe’s path from destination A t o destination B is travelled through the romance. The story plot was placed on the shoulders of the interactions between Zoe and Max as well as Zoe and Adrien.  To me Zoe was a very weak hero, and I didn’t like her. There was strength in her at the beginning that I thought might be the redeeming factor for the book. It wasn’t because she lost it somewhere around the third of the book. She didn’t get that back at all in this installment. She did get some strength towards the end when the truth and betrayals were revealed. Even then, it seemed to just appear in her character, there wasn’t anything internal clicking in place.

                Max, to me it was obvious the role that he played. He was too hot and cold. He was obsessive, selfish, abusive and an all-around jerk. He had nothing redeeming about him. I was not surprised with his decision at the end. Adrien, I liked a little bit more. Actually between all three of the main glitchers I liked Adrien the best. He was flawed but likeable. I think a lot could have been avoided if he was honest with someone about something being off with his gift. There were a couple of things that I liked: I liked that there was some diversity within the characters.  I can’t say that there was a lot, because not everyone was described.  The ending (I won’t give it away) was the best part, action and strength in the characters. I can’t say that they came into their own. I can’t say that the ending redeemed the torturous beginning and uncomfortable romance. I can say that I enjoyed it and I will continue to the next book to see what happens.

2 stars **

Always Shine, 

Starr K