Thursday, May 23, 2013

Book Review: Override (Glitch #2)

Book being reviewed: Override
I give this book:
4 out of 5 owls.

Override

Zoe is free. She has escaped the enslavement of the Community, disconnected from the hardware that had controlled her every thought and emotion, and evaded capture by the Chancellor intent on killing her. She is finally free, but she is far from safe.

Zoe and Adrien hide themselves from detection at the Foundation, an academy that trains teen glitchers to fight in the Resistance movement. Together, Zoe and her new team of superhuman fighters must risk their lives to rescue other glitchers and humans from the Chancellor's control. Challenges abound at every turn, and Adrien, who has become silent, distant, and tormented by his visions of the future, only adds to the growing certainty of defeat. But worst of all, as Zoe's team fights against impossible odds, distrust and betrayal leads to the terrible discovery that their greatest threat could already be lurking behind the safe walls of the Foundation.

Full of high-adrenaline action and shocking twists, Heather Anastasiu's Override is an exciting continuation of this popular young adult trilogy.

Wow!  Wow!  Wow!  I was pleasantly surprised with this one!  After having read Glitch and not liking it as much as I had hoped,  Override made up for everything that the first book was lacking.  

The story did start off a little slow, but eventually picked up after awhile and I couldn't put the book down.  One part of the book I really liked is Zoe's character and the role that she plays.  She's such a strong female, even in the times when she think thinks of herself as weak.  She lives through half of the book thinking that she can't live up to the image of this heroine that every sees her as being, mostly because she had no control over her telekinesis powers because they terrified her.  Finally, halfway through the book, she learns to control her telek powers by reigning in her fear.  I really enjoyed reading that part of the book where Zoe is mentally challenging herself to gain control over her power and let go of the fear that has control over her. 

One aspect I could never quite understand is how with all the amazing technology that's been developed, how could Chancellor Bright never exactly pinpoint the location of the Foundation?  I understand that anyone who has visited the place could never remember anything about it due to Simin's unintentional power of making people forget everything when they're around him, but it seemed like there could have been a way outside of the Foundation.  With all the immense technology and endless amenities that the Chancellor had control over, it seemed like she could have found a way to locate the Foundation and ultimately Zoe.  Maybe it's just me, but I felt that because there was so much intrigue detail to all the technology, there could possibly have been a lot room for gaps within the story.  And Zoe being Linked when she went to sleep every night, wouldn't that have been a way to track her down?  That question might have been addressed in Glitch and I just don't remember, but it's something I asked myself often while reading Override.  This is probably just me being critical and looking too deep into it.  I've always been the person who constantly looks for holes in the story and questions the what-if's and whatnot, but that didn't make me enjoy the book any less!

The part when Max switches himself with Adrien after the task force's first mission, I wouldn't exactly call it predictable, but I knew immediately Max was using his power to pretend to be Adrien the night of their date.  I could tell by Max-pretending-to-be-Adrien's reaction (wow, isn't that a mouthful?) that his conscience was weighing on him.  He couldn't bring himself to do anything sexually with Zoe because he knew it was wrong.  This is the point where I actually do believe Max when he told Zoe he was truly sorry for what he had done.  As Zoe always wanted to believe in the good in Max during the first part of the book, I will continue to believe in that good now.  Zoe has every right to be angry with Max's betrayal, but I believe that if Max were truly evil he wouldn't have stopped Zoe and would have continued doing "the deed".  I really do think that Max loves Zoe, and I also believe he's going to play a bigger and better part in the next book.  I hope, anyways.

I think I've covered all the points I wanted to bring up in my review.  I will say that I am now excited for Shutdown, the third book in the series.  And I would recommend this series to any dystopian fan who enjoys a little sci-fi kick thrown in the mix.

Until next time,
happy reading, fellow book nerds,

2 comments:

  1. I still haven't read the first book, but the premise sounds so interesting! Love your review and you hit upon some great points!

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    Replies
    1. I really like the mixture of science fiction and dystopia in the series. You should read them sometime!

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