Scan barcode
gemmasdilemma's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
kayahcherie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
10/5 stars. My entire brain was just rewired and I’m better for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault
amiegold's review against another edition
challenging
informative
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? No
2.75
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Incest, and Sexual assault
pershie13's review against another edition
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Murder, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Medical content, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Sexual content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Grief, and Religious bigotry
ollie_again's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Homophobia, Hate crime, Cancer, Pedophilia, and Suicide
Minor: Racism, Torture, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Incest
alexcribbs's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.75
Would’ve read this in one day if I had the time - The writing and the plot is that good. A beautifully written thought experiment I recommend to any sci fi lover.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault
meemawreads's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
2.0
Alright, suckers, I got a summer cold and read a bunch and refuse to space out posting about it so enjoy the opinion dump.
I don’t read much by cishet dudes but I’m more willing to try when they’re not American. It didn’t work. Plot spoilers ahead!
✈️
An Air France plane hits turbulence but lands in America in March. In June, the same plane lands with the same people who are atomically identical with identical memories. In the months between, one of the March passengers has committed suicide so the June version is now the only one, a March passenger has gotten pregnant and her June copy isn’t but they’re both in love with the same man, March-landing children have had birthdays while no time has passed for June children. I was excited to see an exploration into how these characters who were introduced in the first half of the book reacted to having a copy self in the world. But rather than focus on characters, the book seemed more caught up in the philosophy. Was this string theory? Time travel? Are we living in a simulation? Those abstract things don’t interest me nearly as much as exploring the characters and relationships. I was socialized female, so I see the world in terms of relationships and I’d love to see how this topic would be written about differently by a woman/femme. As it is though, it was unsatisfying and a little interesting. Two taters 🥔🥔/🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔
I don’t read much by cishet dudes but I’m more willing to try when they’re not American. It didn’t work. Plot spoilers ahead!
✈️
An Air France plane hits turbulence but lands in America in March. In June, the same plane lands with the same people who are atomically identical with identical memories. In the months between, one of the March passengers has committed suicide so the June version is now the only one, a March passenger has gotten pregnant and her June copy isn’t but they’re both in love with the same man, March-landing children have had birthdays while no time has passed for June children. I was excited to see an exploration into how these characters who were introduced in the first half of the book reacted to having a copy self in the world. But rather than focus on characters, the book seemed more caught up in the philosophy. Was this string theory? Time travel? Are we living in a simulation? Those abstract things don’t interest me nearly as much as exploring the characters and relationships. I was socialized female, so I see the world in terms of relationships and I’d love to see how this topic would be written about differently by a woman/femme. As it is though, it was unsatisfying and a little interesting. Two taters 🥔🥔/🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Child abuse
lesenilpferd's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Cancer, Pedophilia, Incest, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Terminal illness
bobin's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Murder, and Gore
carrington's review against another edition
I have a lot of thoughts. This book felt like if “Don’t Look Up” was like intellectualized or something. The deep individual worlds that were built at the beginning lost some of its flavor once it was met by the US government.
I know this book is meant to help us ponder our own existence, but I felt it leaned it too far to our own similarities than our differences. If you saw your double, perhaps you’d have identical thoughts but odds are… you wouldn’t. Because, in this case, the two individuals have had different lived experiences (for the past 3 months). I wanted more from the meeting of the minds, mainly because the author does such a fantastic job creating these minds at the onset of the novel.
Lastly, this is the second book I’ve read this year in which a male author writes about a sexual assault done to a woman/girl. It does next to nothing for the story and feels largely unnecessary to include/ describe to some detail, which was honestly upsetting.
I know this book is meant to help us ponder our own existence, but I felt it leaned it too far to our own similarities than our differences. If you saw your double, perhaps you’d have identical thoughts but odds are… you wouldn’t. Because, in this case, the two individuals have had different lived experiences (for the past 3 months). I wanted more from the meeting of the minds, mainly because the author does such a fantastic job creating these minds at the onset of the novel.
Lastly, this is the second book I’ve read this year in which a male author writes about a sexual assault done to a woman/girl. It does next to nothing for the story and feels largely unnecessary to include/ describe to some detail, which was honestly upsetting.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault