(Disclaimer: I did receive the novel for free in exchange for an honest review. )
Anomaly is a 2019 self-published novel by Jessica
Gilliland. It is a paranormal thriller. I decided to give the novel a chance
since the description reminded me of X-Men, more particularly the second X-men
movie that was released in the early 2000s. The synopsis of the book is as
follows:
“Liv is a powerful telekinetic, but she keeps her head down,
and her powers in check. If she doesn’t, the government is going to execute
her. Deemed a threat to society by the governments Anomaly Control Team, Live
was kidnapped from a facility for supernaturally gifted children and has been
under surveillance for five years. When a group of renegades led by her first
love, Jason, break Liv free from government control, she gets a taste of
freedom. Jason takes Live to Hawthorn House, a secret facility that vows to
educate and protect those with supernatural abilities. Liv and Jason fall back
into their interrupted romance, but life at Hawthorn isn’t as perfect as she’d
hoped. While at Hawthorn, Liv’s powers and loyalties are tested. Her struggle
to find herself and build a new life is only made harder by her insecurities
and her suspicions that Hawthorn isn’t what it seems.”
I found this book to be enjoyable. The pacing is excellent,
there’s an appropriate building of tension as the plot moves along and the
reader nears the climax of the story. There’s a good mix of showing and telling
of information about different characters, what’s going on and what the
motivations of the different characters are. There’s an underlying sense of
dread, vital for thrillers, as Liv becomes more at home at Hawthorn and starts
to become the powerful young woman she used to be before she was taken.
Let’s discuss the characters for a moment. There are a
handful of characters that need to be mentioned. Liv, our main character,
Jason, her first love, Lexa, her friend from before she was taken by the ACT,
and Dr. Stone, the woman who runs Hawthorn House. Liv was, unsurprisingly, my
favorite character, not just because she was the protagonist. For most of the
story, she was the one that was easiest to relate to, as she seemed to be the
only character reacting in an understandable way to what was happening. The
reason none of the others react in a way that makes sense is revealed during
the climax, but let’s just say its because some big things are being hidden
from Liv. Not only is Liv smart, and resourceful, she’s also strong-willed,
something I appreciate in my protagonists. Being strong-willed matters as the
story progresses and no one else seems bothered by things that are out of place
at Hawthorn. Jason and Lexa are both well-written and the fact that they are
both clearly conflicted is something that’s telegraphed early on but done in a
way that doesn’t reveal anything too important to the plot until the right
time.
Not including Liv, the most important character, I feel, is
Dr. Stone. Stone is a figure who, from her first mention, the reader know to be
wary of. None of what she does seems genuine, and given Liv’s history with her
before the government found her, I doubt any reader would assume she was
anything other than an antagonist. It’s Liv’s distrust of Stone, given their
history, which drives the plot forward. Liv’s not willing to relax, not willing
to trust any of the staff at Hawthorn, simply because of Stone’s past
experiments on her.
Something I enjoyed most about this story is the climax
itself. After pages of building tension, foreshadowing and introducing details
that may or may not be red herrings, Liv finally sees the truth of what
Hawthorn House is. I think what I enjoyed most about it was that I was close
when I tried to guess what the “big reveal” was, but I wasn’t completely right.
The real secret of Hawthorn, and Dr. Stone, was in the same vein of what I
thought, but it wasn’t completely correct. The revelation is related to my
assumption, which meant the story was somewhat predictable, but there was
enough room for me to be pleasantly surprised by the outcome. Since this is the
first book in a series, the ending is ambiguous which I enjoyed in this case.
While for the most part, I enjoyed the book, I do have a few
negatives I should mention. One is the length. The book is about 150 pages,
which is not very long for a novel. Gilliand’s writing somewhat makes the book
feel longer, with more plot packed in, but I feel like it needed to be a little
bit longer for the climax and ending to feel completely satisfying. My other
complaint would be regarding Liv’s reaction when she finally learns what’s
going on. Up until that point, I related to her, I thought she was making good
decisions and reacting to things in a normal way. Following the big reveal,
however, I can’t say I like her characterization. Rather than stay, and fight,
or make what’s happening stop, she leaves. She yells at a few people, asking
them what’s wrong with them, roughs a few people up, but doesn’t really do much
to stop Stone. I wish she’d done more than just storm off.
Anomaly is a good book. I found it entertaining, I
was intrigued by it. I’ll most likely pick up the next book in the series to
see where the story goes. A few things of note: the author has another
published book, this one from 2012, also called Anomaly and part of a
series called The New Haven Project. While the novels are similar, based
on the synopses of both, the main characters are different and I haven’t read
the 2012 version.
Rating: 3.7 stars
![Anomaly by [Gilliland, Jessica]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/312qUy26chL.jpg)
