The Glimpse
Where can the horizon lie when a nation hides its organic minds...(The title of this review is a quote from David Bowie's "All the Madmen" - a song very fitting for this book!)
The story:
The excellent writing drew me into the world of „The Glimpse“ right off the bat – a dystopian future world where people are divided into the Pure and the Crazies. A (supposed) genetic disposition towards mental illnesses can doom you to life as a pariah. For Pure girls, the flip side of the coin is that they’re expected to produce healthy offspring as their primary goal in life, even if they would prefer to become, say, a doctor or a concert pianist.
Ana, the main character, was raised as a Pure, sheltered and kept ignorant of how the people who are not so fortunate really live. But when she digs into the past to find out what really happened to her mother (who officially died of cancer a few years back), her life gets turned upside-down: not only is she a Crazy, she’s a Big3, expected to succumb to depression, schizophrenia or some kind of anxiety disorder any day. To her surprise, the Pure boy she was promised to wants to go through with the binding anyway – or does he?
Time is running out for Ana when her fiancé is abducted, forcing her to venture into the world of the Crazies – where she soon finds out that things are not quite the way that the government brain-washes the population to believe.
Pros:
I already mentioned the excellent writing: it is fresh, original, evocative, full of unusual images and metaphors that really bring the story to life.
Ana is my favorite kind of female lead: she is brave, intelligent and resourceful. She doesn’t wait to be rescued; she firmly takes her life into her own hands and sets out to discover the truth.
There is great chemistry between Ana and Cole, the young Crazy who’s everything Ana has been taught to mistrust and despise. The supporting characters are believable and interesting.
The premise of the story rings true: over the last couple of years, we’ve seen a dramatic incline in people suffering from depression or anxiety – no, I do NOT personally believe that these are truly things that are hereditary NOR do I believe that people with mental illnesses are a threat to society. (I have a history of depression myself.) But it’s not so far a stretch to believe that these people may one day be made into scapegoats for everything that’s wrong with modern society, simply because humans tend to villainize and ostracize what they don’t understand and/or what’s different from themselves
Contras:
You know, I honestly can’t think of any!
My overall opinion:
“The Glimpse” is definitely one of the best books I’ve read in the last year or so, maybe even THE best. I thoroughly enjoyed it: it made me think, it made me feel with the characters, it made me stay up until the early morning hours to find out what’s going to happen next.
If you like dystopian YA novels (like he much-acclaimed “Hunger Games”), give this one a try! I cannot guarantuee that you'll like it, of course, but there's a big chance you will. ;)
