Anne's Reviews > Aberrant

3.5 stars

This review and other cool stuff are also at http://www.addicted2heroines.com/2013...

Huh.
I'm a bit undecided on this one. On one hand, I don't like it when dystopians don't move things along fast enough. On the other hand, I felt like things maybe moved too fast in Aberrant. And by things, I mean Olivia ends up in three separate and (mostly) unique dystopian societies during her journey. The author does a pretty good job giving the reader a decent peek at each society, but there's no thorough world-building...mainly because she doesn't stay in one place long enough to necessitate it. I still don't know if it's a good thing or not.
So.
Ill try to break it down, and you can decide for yourself...M'kay?
There may be some mild spoilers below, but the vast majority of the stuff in my review has already been stated in the blurb.

The first society is the one she was raised in. Everyone in Cabal is well provided for, but all of their decisions are controlled by the government. The marriages are arranged, the jobs are assigned, and children are regulated by a lottery.
Olivia is ecstatic when she is chosen to marry her best friend, Joshua. She expects them to live happily ever after, and is shocked when she is arrested on her wedding night.
Wait. I forgot something.
It's not a regular wedding night, because somehow nobody has sex anymore. She learned about it from outlawed trashy romance novels, and was attempting to put the moves on her fella when the POPO busted in. But they aren't arresting her for that. Evidently, her mom and dad also bumped fuzzies! And even though it is genetically impossible for women to get pregnant anymore, nine months later Olivia was born. She's a medical miracle! Her mother and father managed to pay off some people to pretend that her mother had been artificially impregnated, and somehow the government just now found out.
Of course, Olivia doesn't find any of this out until later, and she was unaware of her bizarre birth until the cops show up at her door.
On the outside of the city, there's a rebellion going on that (again) Olivia was unaware of. The rebels help her escape to one of their cities, and here's where the second society comes into play.
In the rebel city, everyone is allowed to choose what they do and who they marry. Except Olivia. They give her two years to choose anyone besides Joshua to marry. Why not Josh? Well, it would look bad if the government was right about anything. It starts off with a nice suggestion that she spend time with other guys, and ends up with her being locked up in a room when she doesn't listen to their friendly advice. Oh. And she needs to hurry up and have a baby. Because that would make the government look bad, and help their cause. And since she the only woman who might possibly be capable of becoming pregnant naturally, she really doesn't get a choice in the matter. Haven is starting to look just as horrible as her original home by now.
In a twist of fate, the army raids the city to find her, and she and Joshua are able to escape in the confusion.
They steal a solar-powered jeep, and ride off into the wild together on another epic adventure!
When they were back in Haven, Joshua found a map with a hidden city on it. Hoping that it will be better than their last two homes, they decide to try to seek asylum there.
Welcome to the third and (maybe) final society.
After a rough trip across the Gravelands, they arrive at...the new place.
Here they find out that they need to compete in some sort of survival games to determine if they are worthy to be allowed into this secret group. These guys have their own set of rules that the two need to abide by in order to play the game.
Oh. And there's another twist that's got a bit of an X-men vibe to it, but I don't want to get too spoilery.

Sound like a fun book? Then go get it!

A digital copy of this book was given to me through NetGalley in return for an honest review.