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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
You can find this and more of my reviews at Book Disaster.
Small spoilers in review.
On Josie’s 17th birthday she doesn’t think anything could make it worse, her father is missing, her boyfriend just broke up with her, and her older brother is still dead. Then Reid shows up and everything changes. Josie discovers that she has these strange powers that make her an Anomaly and Reid is there to help her learn how to use them.
Cover, cover, cover. I really dislike this cover. I mean the girl on the front is very pretty, but it just looks odd to me. I’m not really a fan of just a person being on the cover and nothing else. There are a lot of covers with people on them that I like, but they usually have a background or something and this has nothing. I just don’t like it.
The book opens on Josie’s birthday as her power are just starting to emerge. Reid shows up the same day and pretty quickly he has everything explained to her. She is an Anomaly, like him, who can pretty much create things with their minds or erase them. Her parents also know about these powers and they’re part of a resistance trying to protect the human race. Soon it is explained that Reid has to give her a crash course in everything so she can hand a secret serum over to the vice president, who is like them.
While I thought the characters overall were fine, I didn’t really connect with them as well as I do other characters. I also figured out early on the secret about Reid. Josie’s mom’s character was one that bothered me because she just acted very strangely and I couldn’t connect with her at all. There were other characters that, not going to spoil, surprised me very much and gave the book a nice change of pace.
While I liked the story overall, I had some problems with parts of it. I felt that Reid explained everything to Josie too early on. It bothered me that they didn’t establish a relationship before spilling the beans. I also did not like how the mother didn’t try to hide anything like I feel a real parent would, she’s just like “yep, I’ve been lying to you, here’s all the truth.” It just felt very disjointed for the first half of the book. There was also a lot of pop culture references, but maybe a little bit too much. About half way through, I started to enjoy the book more.
Anomaly is an action packed sci-fi young adult read filled with hot boys, cool powers, and a little bit of mystery. While I felt there could have been some small changes, I really did enjoy the book and I eagerly await the second. 3/5.
Small spoilers in review.
On Josie’s 17th birthday she doesn’t think anything could make it worse, her father is missing, her boyfriend just broke up with her, and her older brother is still dead. Then Reid shows up and everything changes. Josie discovers that she has these strange powers that make her an Anomaly and Reid is there to help her learn how to use them.
Cover, cover, cover. I really dislike this cover. I mean the girl on the front is very pretty, but it just looks odd to me. I’m not really a fan of just a person being on the cover and nothing else. There are a lot of covers with people on them that I like, but they usually have a background or something and this has nothing. I just don’t like it.
The book opens on Josie’s birthday as her power are just starting to emerge. Reid shows up the same day and pretty quickly he has everything explained to her. She is an Anomaly, like him, who can pretty much create things with their minds or erase them. Her parents also know about these powers and they’re part of a resistance trying to protect the human race. Soon it is explained that Reid has to give her a crash course in everything so she can hand a secret serum over to the vice president, who is like them.
While I thought the characters overall were fine, I didn’t really connect with them as well as I do other characters. I also figured out early on the secret about Reid. Josie’s mom’s character was one that bothered me because she just acted very strangely and I couldn’t connect with her at all. There were other characters that, not going to spoil, surprised me very much and gave the book a nice change of pace.
While I liked the story overall, I had some problems with parts of it. I felt that Reid explained everything to Josie too early on. It bothered me that they didn’t establish a relationship before spilling the beans. I also did not like how the mother didn’t try to hide anything like I feel a real parent would, she’s just like “yep, I’ve been lying to you, here’s all the truth.” It just felt very disjointed for the first half of the book. There was also a lot of pop culture references, but maybe a little bit too much. About half way through, I started to enjoy the book more.
Anomaly is an action packed sci-fi young adult read filled with hot boys, cool powers, and a little bit of mystery. While I felt there could have been some small changes, I really did enjoy the book and I eagerly await the second. 3/5.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I liked this a lot more than I expected to!! I found some of it to be kind of annoying, the character conflicts to be silly (partially because the protagonist, Josie, is a teenager! And teenagers have silly conflicts sometimes :) ) but I liked the ways in which this form of magic was pushed into being a logical/scientific form of understanding. I thought that was extremely interesting. The overrun of the resistance by the consortium was very well written and logical, and I really enjoyed a lot of the worldbuilding. The protagonist also never stops talking about physics, science, and Star Wars, so if pop culture bothers you in books, this is not for you. The whole book honestly screams 2012-2014 so I found it entertainingly nostalgic!
Interesting plot and characters, fairly poorly written. Overall, enjoyable every time I read it.
DNF at 15%
Just can't get into it. Not for me, unfortunately!
This was an interesting supernatural ya story. Not amazing, but good enough for a rainy day.
This sucked me in and had me intrigued from the first few pages. She is a nerd and that is littered throughout but more of a quirk than anything else. (It does get a bit forced at times though...)
Reid is strong and alpha.... but not. Definitely a softy who is brave enough to be a soldier.
This was incredibly well-written and the reveal of everything, lore and otherwise, was masterfully done. The characters come alive off the page and bring you into this fantastic world.
The subtle chemistry between these two is a slow burn but not to be ignored.
The suspense is fantastic and had me on the edge of my seat, with action that had me cheering at how badass she is.
There were some things I predicted early but it is still a hell of a ride!
Reid is strong and alpha.... but not. Definitely a softy who is brave enough to be a soldier.
This was incredibly well-written and the reveal of everything, lore and otherwise, was masterfully done. The characters come alive off the page and bring you into this fantastic world.
The subtle chemistry between these two is a slow burn but not to be ignored.
The suspense is fantastic and had me on the edge of my seat, with action that had me cheering at how badass she is.
There were some things I predicted early but it is still a hell of a ride!
Review: http://bennitheblog.com/bookbiters/anomaly-by-tonya-kuper/
Josie is your typical nerd and honor student, except not typical at all, as she is poised to accept the National Physics Honors Award.
But her seventeenth birthday is Grade-A Awful. Her boyfriend Tate dumps her, her dad can’t be bothered to come home, and Josie has come down with a virus that makes her want to throw up. On top of that, she’s the same age as her older brother was when he died in a car accident, and she will never stop missing him.
Things start to look up when a boy named Reid shows up on the first day of school, looking just as hot under the motorcycle helmet as Josie pictured him. Soon, Josie learns that she can bend reality with her thoughts alone, and her life will never be the same.
Based on the blurb, I thought Anomaly was going to be a blast to read—Josie makes Star Wars references, and actually sounds like she’s ready to have fun with her own newfound abilities. Unfortunately, the book was a bit of an uneven mess. Sure, there are some funny Star Wars analogies; when Tate breaks up with her in front of others, Josie describes to us how that feels (keep in mind all quotes are from an ARC and are subject to change):
As Josie later explains:
More often than not, however, most nerdy references are just thoughtless throwaways. Josie wears tight Star Wars shirts that turn Reid on; Josie likes saying, “for the love of Khan” or “I’d bet the USS Enterprise…”; Reid calls Josie “Spock” when she’s being smart, etc. Nothing particularly clever.
The hugest disappointment was how Josie wasn’t nearly as fun as I thought she’d be. I understand that shock and doubt may be the most reasonable responses to huge, world-altering revelations, but if we’re already dealing with people who can form objects out of thin air, I’d prefer we drop the pretense of realism (and not trying to explain the phenomenon with pseudo physics).
I can also only handle so many emo teens who lament how they are Curse with Awesome; I am pretty much at my limit. And if one must be emo, I’d want her to be more eloquent than this:
Josie compares her training with Reid to The Empire Strikes Back Dagobah training scenes. Indeed, that’s what the bulk of the book consists of: training scenes. This is the whole of Anomaly comprising of Star Wars scenes: (1) Luke finding out he possesses the Force in A New Hope (Josie finding out she has superpowers), (2) Luke training with Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back (Josie training with Reid, so imagine a sexy Yoda taking all the time in the world to train Luke as they flirt but try to be serious but can’t help flirting again), and then (3) the Ewoks fighting the stormtroopers in Return of the Jedi (some silly action scenes at the very end).
Have you ever noticed while watching a tv show, nothing particularly exciting is going on, but the camera is swirling and moving around to help build tension? That’s how most of the action scenes felt. People are running around, shifting appearances, creating guns from scratch, but none of it felt compelling. Not enough time was spent building up the stakes; instead, it was training scene after training scene where Josie and Reid more or less ogled each other.
Anomaly held a lot of promise. In particular, although Josie and Reid seem like they’re in “insta-love” or at least “insta-attraction,” there’s good reason for it. Part of it’s because Josie inadvertently wields her superpowers to turn Reid into having an appearance that is most attractive to her. The other part I won’t spoil, but I did like the two together.
The twists and turns of the book could have been fun, too, had the book’s pacing evened out a little more.
So, this being the first book of the Schrodinger’s Consortium series, there’s room for improvement and growth. The premise is promising, but I’ll need a more focused plot and fewer whiny teens in the follow-up adventures.
I received a digital review copy of the book via NetGalley, courtesy of Entangled Teen.
Review: http://bennitheblog.com/bookbiters/anomaly-by-tonya-kuper/
Josie is your typical nerd and honor student, except not typical at all, as she is poised to accept the National Physics Honors Award.
But her seventeenth birthday is Grade-A Awful. Her boyfriend Tate dumps her, her dad can’t be bothered to come home, and Josie has come down with a virus that makes her want to throw up. On top of that, she’s the same age as her older brother was when he died in a car accident, and she will never stop missing him.
Things start to look up when a boy named Reid shows up on the first day of school, looking just as hot under the motorcycle helmet as Josie pictured him. Soon, Josie learns that she can bend reality with her thoughts alone, and her life will never be the same.
Based on the blurb, I thought Anomaly was going to be a blast to read—Josie makes Star Wars references, and actually sounds like she’s ready to have fun with her own newfound abilities. Unfortunately, the book was a bit of an uneven mess. Sure, there are some funny Star Wars analogies; when Tate breaks up with her in front of others, Josie describes to us how that feels (keep in mind all quotes are from an ARC and are subject to change):
I felt like I was wearing Princess Leia’s buns at a Star Trek convention.
As Josie later explains:
I threw myself into movies and books even more than I had before Nick [her brother] died. I find comfort in fiction—it’s safe. I can lose myself and find myself in books.
More often than not, however, most nerdy references are just thoughtless throwaways. Josie wears tight Star Wars shirts that turn Reid on; Josie likes saying, “for the love of Khan” or “I’d bet the USS Enterprise…”; Reid calls Josie “Spock” when she’s being smart, etc. Nothing particularly clever.
The hugest disappointment was how Josie wasn’t nearly as fun as I thought she’d be. I understand that shock and doubt may be the most reasonable responses to huge, world-altering revelations, but if we’re already dealing with people who can form objects out of thin air, I’d prefer we drop the pretense of realism (and not trying to explain the phenomenon with pseudo physics).
I can also only handle so many emo teens who lament how they are Curse with Awesome; I am pretty much at my limit. And if one must be emo, I’d want her to be more eloquent than this:
The agony and despair bored a non-repairable hold in my heart. There was no filling it.
Josie compares her training with Reid to The Empire Strikes Back Dagobah training scenes. Indeed, that’s what the bulk of the book consists of: training scenes. This is the whole of Anomaly comprising of Star Wars scenes: (1) Luke finding out he possesses the Force in A New Hope (Josie finding out she has superpowers), (2) Luke training with Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back (Josie training with Reid, so imagine a sexy Yoda taking all the time in the world to train Luke as they flirt but try to be serious but can’t help flirting again), and then (3) the Ewoks fighting the stormtroopers in Return of the Jedi (some silly action scenes at the very end).
Have you ever noticed while watching a tv show, nothing particularly exciting is going on, but the camera is swirling and moving around to help build tension? That’s how most of the action scenes felt. People are running around, shifting appearances, creating guns from scratch, but none of it felt compelling. Not enough time was spent building up the stakes; instead, it was training scene after training scene where Josie and Reid more or less ogled each other.
Anomaly held a lot of promise. In particular, although Josie and Reid seem like they’re in “insta-love” or at least “insta-attraction,” there’s good reason for it. Part of it’s because Josie inadvertently wields her superpowers to turn Reid into having an appearance that is most attractive to her. The other part I won’t spoil, but I did like the two together.
The twists and turns of the book could have been fun, too, had the book’s pacing evened out a little more.
So, this being the first book of the Schrodinger’s Consortium series, there’s room for improvement and growth. The premise is promising, but I’ll need a more focused plot and fewer whiny teens in the follow-up adventures.
I received a digital review copy of the book via NetGalley, courtesy of Entangled Teen.
Review: http://bennitheblog.com/bookbiters/anomaly-by-tonya-kuper/
Received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Talk Nerdy To Me: YA Sci-Fi for the WIN! Tonya Kuper is a pop-culture nerd after my own heart. There were so many glorious references to Star Wars, Star Trek, Sherlock, etc.
ANOMALY is a fast-paced and thoroughly enjoyable read. It's packed with humor, action, and a swoon-worthy love story. I knew about 20 pages in that I would love this book. Josie is smart and sassy (the lovable nerd).
Her chemistry with Reid was fantastic (YAY for witty banter). I was definitely getting a bit of a Katy/Daemon vibe from these two... Perfect for fans of Jennifer Armentrout!
The story wrapped up nicely. We were definitely left with a cliffhanger, but the author managed to give readers a nice sense of closure. This chapter of Josie's journey has been completed. Can't wait for the next...
Talk Nerdy To Me: YA Sci-Fi for the WIN! Tonya Kuper is a pop-culture nerd after my own heart. There were so many glorious references to Star Wars, Star Trek, Sherlock, etc.
ANOMALY is a fast-paced and thoroughly enjoyable read. It's packed with humor, action, and a swoon-worthy love story. I knew about 20 pages in that I would love this book. Josie is smart and sassy (the lovable nerd).
Her chemistry with Reid was fantastic (YAY for witty banter). I was definitely getting a bit of a Katy/Daemon vibe from these two... Perfect for fans of Jennifer Armentrout!
The story wrapped up nicely. We were definitely left with a cliffhanger, but the author managed to give readers a nice sense of closure. This chapter of Josie's journey has been completed. Can't wait for the next...
One of the best books I've read in awhile. There were so many plot twists, and events that took place. The character development was extreme that it took my heart and ran. I strongly suggest this book to anyone that wants to read a good book.