Review - The Glitch
The Glitch
According to the publisher: "Shelley Stone might be a little overwhelmed. She runs the company Conch, the manufacturer of a small wearable device that attaches to the user's ear and whispers helpful advice and prompts. She's married with two small children, Nova and Blazer, both of whom are learning Mandarin. She employs a cook, a nanny, a driver, and an assistant, she sets an alarm for 2AM conference calls, and occasionally takes a standing nap while waiting in line when she's really exhausted. Shelley takes Dramamine so she can work in the car; allows herself ten almonds when hungry; swallows Ativan to stave off the panic attacks; and makes notes in her day planner to "practice being happy and relatable." But when Shelley meets a young woman named Shelley Stone who has the exact same scar on her shoulder, Shelley has to wonder: Is some sort of corporate espionage afoot? Has she discovered a hole in the space-time continuum? Or is she finally buckling under all the pressure?
Introducing one of the most memorable and singular characters in recent fiction,The Glitch is a completely original, brainy, laugh-out-loud story of work, marriage, and motherhood for our times."
I desperately wanted to read this book when it came out over the summer. It was close to impossible to go on Instagram without seeing at least one post raving about how great this book was. When I was finally sent my copy, I was thrilled.
I was quickly disappointed, however, once I started reading it. The most notable thing about The Glitch is how dreadfully unlikable the main character Shelley is. She is cold and completely unattached from everything in her life: she doesn't seem to really care at all about her husband, she treats her children as if their worth is determined by their capacity for future accomplishments, and she treats pretty much every other character that is introduced as if they are a threat.
I believe the author was going for some kind of spoof on Sheryl Sandberg or a similar high-powered career woman. If I were one of these women, I would be insulted. As I was reading, I felt as if the author were insinuating that women have to choose between being successful career women or family oriented. At least for the main character, the two were mutually exclusive.
As far as the writing goes, there were many times throughout the book when Shelley's internal dialog would go off on a multi-page, completely irrelevant tangent that was completely uninteresting to me as the reader. If this was some kind of character development device, it was completely lost on me.
The reason that I did not rate this book lower is that I thought the concept of the plot was good. By the end, I was interested to see how everything was wrapped up, even though I was not invested in the characters.
While this wasn't the right book for me, fans of science fiction may enjoy it.
by Elisabeth Cohen
release date 5/22/2018
368 pages
Chapter length: long
2 out of 5 stars
I received a free copy of this book from the people at NetGalley and Doubleday. All opinions are my own.
Introducing one of the most memorable and singular characters in recent fiction,The Glitch is a completely original, brainy, laugh-out-loud story of work, marriage, and motherhood for our times."
I desperately wanted to read this book when it came out over the summer. It was close to impossible to go on Instagram without seeing at least one post raving about how great this book was. When I was finally sent my copy, I was thrilled.
I was quickly disappointed, however, once I started reading it. The most notable thing about The Glitch is how dreadfully unlikable the main character Shelley is. She is cold and completely unattached from everything in her life: she doesn't seem to really care at all about her husband, she treats her children as if their worth is determined by their capacity for future accomplishments, and she treats pretty much every other character that is introduced as if they are a threat.
I believe the author was going for some kind of spoof on Sheryl Sandberg or a similar high-powered career woman. If I were one of these women, I would be insulted. As I was reading, I felt as if the author were insinuating that women have to choose between being successful career women or family oriented. At least for the main character, the two were mutually exclusive.
As far as the writing goes, there were many times throughout the book when Shelley's internal dialog would go off on a multi-page, completely irrelevant tangent that was completely uninteresting to me as the reader. If this was some kind of character development device, it was completely lost on me.
The reason that I did not rate this book lower is that I thought the concept of the plot was good. By the end, I was interested to see how everything was wrapped up, even though I was not invested in the characters.
While this wasn't the right book for me, fans of science fiction may enjoy it.
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