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A review by meemawreads
The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier
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