Thalli has fifteen minutes and twenty-three seconds left to live. The toxic gas that will complete her annihilation is invading her bloodstream. But she is not afraid.
Thalli is different than others in The State. She feels things. She asks questions. And in the State, this is not tolerated. The Ten scientists who survived the nuclear war that destroyed the world above believe that emotion was at the core of what went wrong—and they have genetically removed it from the citizens they have since created. Thalli has kept her malformation secret from those who have monitored her for most of her life, but when she receives an ancient piece of music to record as her community’s assigned musician, she can no longer keep her emotions secreted away.
Seen as a threat to the harmony of her Pod, Thalli is taken to the Scientists for immediate annihilation. But before that can happen, Berk—her former Pod mate who is being groomed as a Scientist—steps in and persuades the Scientists to keep Thalli alive as a test subject.
The more time she spends in the Scientist’s Pod, the clearer it becomes that things are not as simple as she was programmed to believe. She hears stories of a Designer—stories that fill her mind with more questions: Who can she trust? What is this emotion called love? And what if she isn’t just an anomaly, but part of a greater design?
My review:
I don't typically read books in this genre, though it's kind of funny that I've read two in the past month. I really enjoyed this story for a number of reasons. I think it's cool how the author used a dystopian and futuristic world to show the importance of what God created and how altering the divine order in our lives makes us a bunch of clones of each other.
We all need a purpose for our lives and given the right conditions, we will all, at some point, long for something better. We all make choices that make us who we are. Without emotion and love, we have nothing. Since God is love, it all ties together. I found the way the author tied that all together quite fascinating. I would consider this a high concept novel, though the concept if firmly based in a Christian worldview.
I appreciated the deep point of view used by the author to show deception and how putting our hope in something that isn't real is kind of like falling in love with our sin. In the end it leaves us feeling emptier...worse than before. I saw Dr. Loudin as not just an antagonist, but also a "satan" figure in that his goal is not only to get the character to believe the deception, but he was willing to not only mess with her mind and her emotions, but destroy her soul to accomplish that. Very profound stuff.
And the way the biblical truths were presented to the characters was emotionally moving. The way they were willing to sacrifice their lives for each other was also very touching. The insight and sense of a higher purpose because of the teaching they received from John touched my heart. The ending left me anticipating the next book. I can't wait to see what this author cooks up for book two.
Anomaly was published by Thomas Nelson and releases in two days! This is one worth pre-ordering now!
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