Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Faber & Faber Childrens Books (2012), Edition: Main, 411 pages
Description
London, in the not too distant future, and people are now divided into Pures and Crazies, according to the results of a DNA test, with the Crazies sectioned off to live within 'the City.' Until the age of fifteen, Ana has lived amongst the Pures, but her whole world crumbles when she finds out that her DNA test was faked, which makes her one of the Crazies. She has just three years before she will be cast out of the Community . . . But Ana meets Pure-born Jasper and is offered a ticket tofreedom when he asks her to Join with him. She looks forward to a 'normal' life, and fulfilling her dreams of becoming a musician. Then, just a week before the Joining ceremony, Jasper goes missing; it appears he is somewhere in the City, and no one knows why. Ana sets off on his trail, which takes her into the pits of the human soul. And as she delves deeper into the mystery of Jasper's disappearance, Ana uncovers some devastating truths that destroy everything she has grown up to believe, butshe also learns to love as she has never loved before.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Ixachel
The Glimpse, by Claire Merle, is a dystopian young adult novel in which society is divided and controlled by its government. The method of their subjugation? Mental health as determined by a DNA test. If that sounds ridiculous, it’s because it is. And Merle knows that. She has created a
Ana, the protagonist, has her Pure status revoked when a certain anomaly comes to light. Now her future is in the hands of Jasper. She needs to bind with him or she’ll be cast out among the Crazies. Having been raised in a Pure community, she believes what she has been taught of them: they are violent, aggressive, unpredictable. When Jasper goes missing, Ana is determined to find him, to solve the mystery of his abduction. Out in the real world, far from the safety of her community, Ana learns the truth of the Pures and the Crazies, of the tests and the treatments her government issues. Her world is thoroughly rocked, and she will never be the same. Ana is a strong character. She rises to the challenges thrown at her. She has doubts and fears, but she does her best and uses her head.
At times, though, the highly improbable happens. This is a work of fiction, sure, but suspension of disbelief can only go so far. She played a lawyer and won based only on some reading she did? Really? With just a haircut and a pair of contacts, she went completely unrecognised? Ugh. No. Another problem for me: the instant-love. Ana meets Cole. Sparks fly. They love one another. Forever. Um, bite me. That sounds like a crush, like lust. The word “love” is used, though... am I to believe thats what it is? If that is love, then it is of the shallow variety. That magical Disney love that takes no time at all to manifest itself. It’s a fairy tale wedged into a dystopian novel, and it drags down the quality of the story for me.
Last major bone of contention for me: the glimpse itself. From what I gather of this ill-explained phenomenon, the glimpse is a look into the future that only certain people get. This entire concept seems so completely random to me! Why throw this little paranormal tidbit into the book? Nothing else in this novels world-building hints at anything psychic or supernatural, so why is it included? It seems to me that the only purpose for it is to push Cole and Ana towards one another. An attempt to make that little fairy-tale-love seem more believable, more real. It falls completely flat, though.
Despite these flaws, I’d still say The Glimpse is well written and engaging. Merle is clearly talented. The actual flow of the story was smooth; Ana, well drawn. As a dystopian novel, though, this isn’t one of the strongest I’ve read. If you like YA sci-fi in general, especially those with a strong element of romance, then The Glimpse may be right up your alley.
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post-collapse world where the people are struggling for order, willing to put their trust in anyone with an answer. Que the Pure test. It claims to detect mental illness, and weeding these “defective” people out seems to improve society... at least for a privileged few, the Pure. And so, people buy into the big lie. I found the use of mental illness effective, and not at all offensive. It’s acknowledged pretty early in the novel that the test is a sham, that the ability to test for mental illness in DNA isn’t possible. The segregation of the people, ruling them with fear, is the real reason for the tests. Ana, the protagonist, has her Pure status revoked when a certain anomaly comes to light. Now her future is in the hands of Jasper. She needs to bind with him or she’ll be cast out among the Crazies. Having been raised in a Pure community, she believes what she has been taught of them: they are violent, aggressive, unpredictable. When Jasper goes missing, Ana is determined to find him, to solve the mystery of his abduction. Out in the real world, far from the safety of her community, Ana learns the truth of the Pures and the Crazies, of the tests and the treatments her government issues. Her world is thoroughly rocked, and she will never be the same. Ana is a strong character. She rises to the challenges thrown at her. She has doubts and fears, but she does her best and uses her head.
At times, though, the highly improbable happens. This is a work of fiction, sure, but suspension of disbelief can only go so far. She played a lawyer and won based only on some reading she did? Really? With just a haircut and a pair of contacts, she went completely unrecognised? Ugh. No. Another problem for me: the instant-love. Ana meets Cole. Sparks fly. They love one another. Forever. Um, bite me. That sounds like a crush, like lust. The word “love” is used, though... am I to believe thats what it is? If that is love, then it is of the shallow variety. That magical Disney love that takes no time at all to manifest itself. It’s a fairy tale wedged into a dystopian novel, and it drags down the quality of the story for me.
Last major bone of contention for me: the glimpse itself. From what I gather of this ill-explained phenomenon, the glimpse is a look into the future that only certain people get. This entire concept seems so completely random to me! Why throw this little paranormal tidbit into the book? Nothing else in this novels world-building hints at anything psychic or supernatural, so why is it included? It seems to me that the only purpose for it is to push Cole and Ana towards one another. An attempt to make that little fairy-tale-love seem more believable, more real. It falls completely flat, though.
Despite these flaws, I’d still say The Glimpse is well written and engaging. Merle is clearly talented. The actual flow of the story was smooth; Ana, well drawn. As a dystopian novel, though, this isn’t one of the strongest I’ve read. If you like YA sci-fi in general, especially those with a strong element of romance, then The Glimpse may be right up your alley.
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LibraryThing member Readaba
When you start the book you soon discover that this future society classifies mental disabilities and that three in particular are called “the big three”, deemed to be worse than the others: schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression. Now, while schizophrenia is undeniably a mental disorder, the
This said, I find it hard to believe that just ten years or so from now, the population as a whole will swallow the information that they’re fed by those in charge about such a classification. Had it been fed to people a hundred years ago, then it would have been easier to accept, but nowadays I’d like to think that we’re too knowledgeable about such things for this to ever happen.
The story itself was a fairly good dystopian and the society presented was believable even if the way it came to power was on the far-fetched side. It was interesting to see this set in the UK as well as most of the dystopias that I read seem to be set in the US. Even though it was easy enough to unravel many of the mysteries – such as who took Jasper and why – well before the characters got that far, it was still interesting to watch them coming to the same conclusions as me.
I particularly enjoyed the stint in the loony bin. The insane were hospitalising and treating the supposedly insane in conditions that don’t even bear thinking about. Those were some powerful scenes that showed just how far society had really fallen and tested the characters the most. I personally considered them to be the highlight of the book. I would have actually been quite happy to read a whole book with such a setting!
The romance, though, did leave something to be desired. It got off to a good start but then the characters were split up and things evolved to such a point in absence that I wanted to have seen more interactions between them to support such strong feelings. I know they say that absence makes the heart grow stronger, but when I’m reading, I want to be able to observe the growing romance so that I can become invested in it myself as well. In this case, I wasn’t invested and didn’t particularly care which of the two romantic interests she ended up with.
The way that the book ends sets up the possibility of a second book, but I don’t know whether or not this will be continued. It would be interesting to see where things would go from here, though!
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other two are just part of everyday life. Who among us has never been depressed or anxious about something? I’d imagine no one. This in turn led me to believe that the whole mental health classification was just another way for the few to control the many, something that was soon backed up by revelations within the story.This said, I find it hard to believe that just ten years or so from now, the population as a whole will swallow the information that they’re fed by those in charge about such a classification. Had it been fed to people a hundred years ago, then it would have been easier to accept, but nowadays I’d like to think that we’re too knowledgeable about such things for this to ever happen.
The story itself was a fairly good dystopian and the society presented was believable even if the way it came to power was on the far-fetched side. It was interesting to see this set in the UK as well as most of the dystopias that I read seem to be set in the US. Even though it was easy enough to unravel many of the mysteries – such as who took Jasper and why – well before the characters got that far, it was still interesting to watch them coming to the same conclusions as me.
I particularly enjoyed the stint in the loony bin. The insane were hospitalising and treating the supposedly insane in conditions that don’t even bear thinking about. Those were some powerful scenes that showed just how far society had really fallen and tested the characters the most. I personally considered them to be the highlight of the book. I would have actually been quite happy to read a whole book with such a setting!
The romance, though, did leave something to be desired. It got off to a good start but then the characters were split up and things evolved to such a point in absence that I wanted to have seen more interactions between them to support such strong feelings. I know they say that absence makes the heart grow stronger, but when I’m reading, I want to be able to observe the growing romance so that I can become invested in it myself as well. In this case, I wasn’t invested and didn’t particularly care which of the two romantic interests she ended up with.
The way that the book ends sets up the possibility of a second book, but I don’t know whether or not this will be continued. It would be interesting to see where things would go from here, though!
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LibraryThing member Urbanfan
I personally really enjoyed this book. I love the dystopian take and the characters of Ana and Cole. I read this book in one day quite happy to see where things were headed. I liked the mystery, the intrigue, the development of Ana and Jasper, the relationship with Cole. No insta-love here but true
The plot surrounds the government creating a system of 'haves' and 'have-nots' typical of dystopians. In this, the have-nots are those that a genetic test has deemed as possibly developing a mental illnesses and what the government does to them is crazy. The author uses this in a way that by no means offended me but rather made me question how current society treats people with these true illnesses. This is a piece of fiction and should be treated as such. But, the way the author uses it as a catalyst to create her dystopian has some basis. Hilter and all the genetic 'testing' his doctor did to people I could see fitting into this plot.
The writing style was fluid and I followed the story as if I were walking with Ana the whole time. I did skim over of some of the description since I'm more of let's get to the point and I don't care what a corridor looks like down to the detail. But, that's my preference, and didn't detract from my experience. I was just impatient to get to more scenes with Cole. ;)
I would recommend reading this book if you are a YA dystopian fan with some romance. If you are easily offended by mental illness being present and not able to take this as a work of dystopian fiction, I'd steer clear.
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attraction that develops. The plot surrounds the government creating a system of 'haves' and 'have-nots' typical of dystopians. In this, the have-nots are those that a genetic test has deemed as possibly developing a mental illnesses and what the government does to them is crazy. The author uses this in a way that by no means offended me but rather made me question how current society treats people with these true illnesses. This is a piece of fiction and should be treated as such. But, the way the author uses it as a catalyst to create her dystopian has some basis. Hilter and all the genetic 'testing' his doctor did to people I could see fitting into this plot.
The writing style was fluid and I followed the story as if I were walking with Ana the whole time. I did skim over of some of the description since I'm more of let's get to the point and I don't care what a corridor looks like down to the detail. But, that's my preference, and didn't detract from my experience. I was just impatient to get to more scenes with Cole. ;)
I would recommend reading this book if you are a YA dystopian fan with some romance. If you are easily offended by mental illness being present and not able to take this as a work of dystopian fiction, I'd steer clear.
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LibraryThing member arlenadean
Author: Claire Merle
Published by: Faber & Faber
Age Recommend: Adult
Review By: Arlena Dean
Raven Rating: 4
Blog Review For: GMTA
Review:
"The Glimpse" by Claire Merle was some chilling read. It took me a minute or two to get into this novel but once in and by the ending I was hooked...it was a
I found the characters were all interesting, brilliant and even some were predictable........ Ana(Ariana) ...a real smart- strong- good person ...Jasper was to marry Ana...however, what was he involved in? I will not say ... and Cole ....one of the Crazies, handsome... Tamsin, Lila and Ana's Dad .....now you must read it for yourself to see how this all comes together. You may be surprised!
There is a lots to understand about this novel...sometimes I was a little lost at the detail and dialog and some what complicated ... but if you can stick with the read you will get a good read of a society that focuses on mental health. I must say that I was surprised how this author managed to bring on many surprises in this well written novel.
If you are in for a chilling, controversial, inventive, intriguing, dystopian, romance and mysterious all caught up together in a read then The Glimpse" is for you. For you have come to the right place and I would recommend this captivating read.
Published by: Faber & Faber
Age Recommend: Adult
Review By: Arlena Dean
Raven Rating: 4
Blog Review For: GMTA
Review:
"The Glimpse" by Claire Merle was some chilling read. It took me a minute or two to get into this novel but once in and by the ending I was hooked...it was a
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captivated well written novel. "The Glimpse" was full twist and turns that the reader was simply left astonished. This author will leave you surprised with this very enthralling and well thought out provoking novel of a London dystopian society. You will be given scares of not being normal, some thrill of romance and even some glimpse into the near future and the setting was from the UK. I found the characters were all interesting, brilliant and even some were predictable........ Ana(Ariana) ...a real smart- strong- good person ...Jasper was to marry Ana...however, what was he involved in? I will not say ... and Cole ....one of the Crazies, handsome... Tamsin, Lila and Ana's Dad .....now you must read it for yourself to see how this all comes together. You may be surprised!
There is a lots to understand about this novel...sometimes I was a little lost at the detail and dialog and some what complicated ... but if you can stick with the read you will get a good read of a society that focuses on mental health. I must say that I was surprised how this author managed to bring on many surprises in this well written novel.
If you are in for a chilling, controversial, inventive, intriguing, dystopian, romance and mysterious all caught up together in a read then The Glimpse" is for you. For you have come to the right place and I would recommend this captivating read.
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LibraryThing member JenRyland
Source: e-ARC from NetGalley.
In the world of the Glimpse, every British citizen is genetically tested, and anyone with a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia, depression or anxiety is forced to live as a so-called "Crazy" in overcrowded central London, or, if they're truly mentally ill, in a
The Glimpse seems to be, in part, a kind of what-if based on the Human Genome project, a real-life 2003 endeavor that mapped the human genome. I do think the topic of genetic information and how it could be used against us is a fascinating one. But I'm not sure that the political system described in the book made any sense, even in a dystopic society.
[Total random aside: given the fact that the book takes place only a few decades in the future, I also wondered about the royal family. As Princess Diana publicly battled depression, her children would presumably be labeled "Carriers" in the world of this story. I got all distracted picturing William and Harry and their children cast out of the palace as "Crazies."]
Ana, the main character, is the daughter of the geneticist who designed the "Crazy" test. Thus, he is able to fake Ana's test results and pretend she's "Pure" even though her mother was depressed and committed suicide. Ana is supposed to be bound to Jasper, the son of the CEO of a Big Pharma company. Binding to him is her last chance to lead a "Pure" life rather than a "Crazy" one. But Jasper disappears, and Ana becomes involved with Cole, a resistance fighter.
Ana was a mass of contradictions. I'm all for books where the main character starts out shy or uncertain and then grows strong and confident. Ana sort of veers between the two. One minute, she's a sheltered Pure, watching the "Crazies" out of the window of her chauffeured car. Then, she's sneaking into the "Crazy" part of the city, where she's like a Navy SEAL as she dives to the bottom of a murky river and rescues a suicidal child. Next, she's successfully impersonating a lawyer in court. After that, she literally passes out like a wilting Victorian maiden upon receiving some shocking news.
Jasper isn't in the book enough to give the love triangle much viability; I don't feel I really got to know him as a character. Cole has shamanistic powers that I didn't quite understand and which didn't seemed to have much to do with the plot, except to tell him that he should be in love with Ana.
I thought some of the ideas in this book definitely had the potential to be interesting and thought-provoking. If you're a die-hard fan of the dystopian genre, give The Glimpse a try -- and let me know what you thought!
In the world of the Glimpse, every British citizen is genetically tested, and anyone with a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia, depression or anxiety is forced to live as a so-called "Crazy" in overcrowded central London, or, if they're truly mentally ill, in a
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"Loony Bin." Citizens who don't exhibit any genetic tendency for any of those conditions are considered "Pure" and are cloistered, forced to "bind" and "join" to each other, i.e. reproduce and have "Pure" children. The Glimpse seems to be, in part, a kind of what-if based on the Human Genome project, a real-life 2003 endeavor that mapped the human genome. I do think the topic of genetic information and how it could be used against us is a fascinating one. But I'm not sure that the political system described in the book made any sense, even in a dystopic society.
[Total random aside: given the fact that the book takes place only a few decades in the future, I also wondered about the royal family. As Princess Diana publicly battled depression, her children would presumably be labeled "Carriers" in the world of this story. I got all distracted picturing William and Harry and their children cast out of the palace as "Crazies."]
Ana, the main character, is the daughter of the geneticist who designed the "Crazy" test. Thus, he is able to fake Ana's test results and pretend she's "Pure" even though her mother was depressed and committed suicide. Ana is supposed to be bound to Jasper, the son of the CEO of a Big Pharma company. Binding to him is her last chance to lead a "Pure" life rather than a "Crazy" one. But Jasper disappears, and Ana becomes involved with Cole, a resistance fighter.
Ana was a mass of contradictions. I'm all for books where the main character starts out shy or uncertain and then grows strong and confident. Ana sort of veers between the two. One minute, she's a sheltered Pure, watching the "Crazies" out of the window of her chauffeured car. Then, she's sneaking into the "Crazy" part of the city, where she's like a Navy SEAL as she dives to the bottom of a murky river and rescues a suicidal child. Next, she's successfully impersonating a lawyer in court. After that, she literally passes out like a wilting Victorian maiden upon receiving some shocking news.
Jasper isn't in the book enough to give the love triangle much viability; I don't feel I really got to know him as a character. Cole has shamanistic powers that I didn't quite understand and which didn't seemed to have much to do with the plot, except to tell him that he should be in love with Ana.
I thought some of the ideas in this book definitely had the potential to be interesting and thought-provoking. If you're a die-hard fan of the dystopian genre, give The Glimpse a try -- and let me know what you thought!
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LibraryThing member swimmergirl0621
My Thoughts:
I received this book from net galley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
First of all, I need to take a second to breathe after reading this dystopian novel, it was complicated, heavy, and intense read for me. I wasn't sure what to expect when I began reading this book
Some of my favorite aspects of this book were the future historical events that were talked about in the book. For example, The U.S. Petrol Wars. I liked how Merle came up with these historical facts by using current events and things I could actually see happening in the future of our world, which made the story that much believable. I also slowly but surely fell in love with our main character, Ariana Barber. She is one of the most interesting characters I have read in a while because I felt she grew immensely throughout the book and took on so many challenges that were very intense and sometimes hard for me to read. (Warning there is some events in this book that are somewhat violent and may be hard for some people to read about) What Ana goes through to find out what happened to Jasper and uncover the truth about her world is something that I hope no person real or fictional has to go through in their lifetime. Also, the romance aspect of the book really surprised me and I didn't expect it to go where it did and I didn't expect her to fall in love with the boy she did. The book takes place in London which I really liked and gave a different feel to the story.
Overall, this book was so much more than I expected it ever would be. It was such a roller coaster to read. I highly recommend that you read it, although it is a dystopian novel, it had a different feel then many of the dystopian novels I have read focusing on the dystopian world as much as the mystery of Jasper's abduction that Ana has to unravel. Sorry, if throughout this review I have been very vague describing what goes on but, it's hard to write about it without giving too much of the plot away because I don't want to ruin it for you guys!
Happy Reading!
Kristin
I received this book from net galley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
First of all, I need to take a second to breathe after reading this dystopian novel, it was complicated, heavy, and intense read for me. I wasn't sure what to expect when I began reading this book
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but, it took my on one wild and crazy ride. In the beginning of the book I was so sure I wasn't really going to like it and I was beginning to get bored, thinking just another dystopian novel where the little details were changed to make it different from another on the shelf. But, I was so wrong and I loved how in depth, creative and layered the whole plot of the book was, coming together at the end with all these culminating events. Some of my favorite aspects of this book were the future historical events that were talked about in the book. For example, The U.S. Petrol Wars. I liked how Merle came up with these historical facts by using current events and things I could actually see happening in the future of our world, which made the story that much believable. I also slowly but surely fell in love with our main character, Ariana Barber. She is one of the most interesting characters I have read in a while because I felt she grew immensely throughout the book and took on so many challenges that were very intense and sometimes hard for me to read. (Warning there is some events in this book that are somewhat violent and may be hard for some people to read about) What Ana goes through to find out what happened to Jasper and uncover the truth about her world is something that I hope no person real or fictional has to go through in their lifetime. Also, the romance aspect of the book really surprised me and I didn't expect it to go where it did and I didn't expect her to fall in love with the boy she did. The book takes place in London which I really liked and gave a different feel to the story.
Overall, this book was so much more than I expected it ever would be. It was such a roller coaster to read. I highly recommend that you read it, although it is a dystopian novel, it had a different feel then many of the dystopian novels I have read focusing on the dystopian world as much as the mystery of Jasper's abduction that Ana has to unravel. Sorry, if throughout this review I have been very vague describing what goes on but, it's hard to write about it without giving too much of the plot away because I don't want to ruin it for you guys!
Happy Reading!
Kristin
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LibraryThing member strongpieces
Originally posted at The Wandering Fangirl.
The Glimpse is an odd little book. Under the dystopian genre, you can do just about anything you want to create a dystopian world. Make love a disease? Sure. Have people die at age 20/25? Why not! Create a religious state? Go for it! But you have to be
Sadly, The Glimpse doesn’t do exactly what it should; it simply beats the reader over the head with “crazies” and “pures” and mental asylums as we follow Ana’s journey. Like most heroines in dystopian YA lately, she’s grown up with an idea of how the world should work, and that should be enough to forgive her for the way she looks down on those with mental illness.
But it isn’t.
Ana is an incredibly frustrating character to follow. From the start, we’re with her as her whole world shatters when she’s told the truth about her mother: that she was a crazy, and Ana was a carrier as well. Except…nothing happens to her. Not until her future husband is kidnapped and she suddenly makes the decision to leave her gated community for the dirty, crazy streets of London. Despite her adventures on her own, from meeting and falling for a supposed terrorist to admitting herself into a horrifying mental asylum, Ana doesn’t seem to grow. Her experiences open her eyes to what the world is really like, yes, but as far as I felt, she never really has a light bulb moment. She doesn’t really change, and that’s not fun to read.
I’d talk about the secondary characters, expect none of them really stuck in my mind or stood out. Jasper was bland and Cole, the supposed terrorist she falls in love with, wasn’t any better.
As for the plot, I couldn’t care one bit. It didn’t move along as fast as it could have, and everything crawls to a stop when Ana ends up in a mental asylum for reasons I won’t go into because they might be considered spoilers. The whole mental asylum section…I have a problem with abuse perpetrated simply for the sake of a) making the character suffer, and b) being shocking.
And after all she goes through, does Ana even think ‘hey, that mental asylum was awful, maybe I should do something about it’, or I don’t know, think something like that? Nope.
That was my main problem with the book — for all that Ana goes through, it doesn’t seem to change her as a character. She sees the world in a different light and can’t stand her situation anymore, but she’s still the same boring character she is at the start of the novel, and I didn’t care less how the novel ended, just that it did.
The Glimpse is an odd little book. Under the dystopian genre, you can do just about anything you want to create a dystopian world. Make love a disease? Sure. Have people die at age 20/25? Why not! Create a religious state? Go for it! But you have to be
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careful, well-researched, and most importantly, conscientious when you pick a topic that is sensitive to many readers. When She Woke treated religion very well, presenting both good and bad sides without feeling like the author was talking down to the reader from a soapbox. Delirium did a good job in showing how the heroine is shaped by the dystopian environment she grew up in, as did Wither.Sadly, The Glimpse doesn’t do exactly what it should; it simply beats the reader over the head with “crazies” and “pures” and mental asylums as we follow Ana’s journey. Like most heroines in dystopian YA lately, she’s grown up with an idea of how the world should work, and that should be enough to forgive her for the way she looks down on those with mental illness.
But it isn’t.
Ana is an incredibly frustrating character to follow. From the start, we’re with her as her whole world shatters when she’s told the truth about her mother: that she was a crazy, and Ana was a carrier as well. Except…nothing happens to her. Not until her future husband is kidnapped and she suddenly makes the decision to leave her gated community for the dirty, crazy streets of London. Despite her adventures on her own, from meeting and falling for a supposed terrorist to admitting herself into a horrifying mental asylum, Ana doesn’t seem to grow. Her experiences open her eyes to what the world is really like, yes, but as far as I felt, she never really has a light bulb moment. She doesn’t really change, and that’s not fun to read.
I’d talk about the secondary characters, expect none of them really stuck in my mind or stood out. Jasper was bland and Cole, the supposed terrorist she falls in love with, wasn’t any better.
As for the plot, I couldn’t care one bit. It didn’t move along as fast as it could have, and everything crawls to a stop when Ana ends up in a mental asylum for reasons I won’t go into because they might be considered spoilers. The whole mental asylum section…I have a problem with abuse perpetrated simply for the sake of a) making the character suffer, and b) being shocking.
And after all she goes through, does Ana even think ‘hey, that mental asylum was awful, maybe I should do something about it’, or I don’t know, think something like that? Nope.
That was my main problem with the book — for all that Ana goes through, it doesn’t seem to change her as a character. She sees the world in a different light and can’t stand her situation anymore, but she’s still the same boring character she is at the start of the novel, and I didn’t care less how the novel ended, just that it did.
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