Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Anomaly

I really wanted to like this book. The first third is essentially background on the characters and their lives. Because the main characters include everyone on the plane, this took a long time just jumping around and hearing a little bit about each of the main characters. Once the 'anomaly' actually occurred, I was sucked in and really loved the next 10 or 20% of the story. However, the second half was less enjoyable. I don't want to spoil anything, but I felt that the book was almost poking fun / blaming world religions. I find this to be in bad taste, just as I would find a book poking fun at race, weight, sexual or political orientation. I felt the idea could have been delved into with more respect, even if the main characters are not religious themselves.

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pershie13's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Oh boy, how to describe the book that I just read… The Anomaly is a genre-bending, multi-perspective, multi-timeline book that will leave you with more questions than answers. It all takes place over the course of a few months, and the satire, science fiction, and dystopia all wrapped up in one brings you to the end of the book in a hurry. It’s a book about empathy, yet also a book about some of the biggest horrors of life. There’s not much more I can write about The Anomaly without spoiling it, so I’d simply suggest reading it and interpreting it as you wish. You may need to search the internet for answers once you’re done, but this book will leave you thinking about life for a long time. Oh, and that last page is a journey, to say the least!

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lautreamont's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

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sarah984's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I thought the concept of this book was really cool - the characters are duplicated with a four month gap and have an opportunity to make different choices - but the execution didn't work for me. The setup is way too long and the book is much more about the simulation theory than any of the characters. I never felt really connected to anyone and nothing interesting happened. Also the book within a book of The Anomaly sounded terrible.

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sweeetpeasoup's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was the best and most interesting book I’ve read in a long while. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, and I will be thinking about this book for ages.

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