I feel like I may have really enjoyed this book if it hadn't been so religious. However, the religious aspect was too simplistic and really ruined this book for me.
I love religion in that I love discussing it and how it makes people think. I love reading about people debating their faith and coming to terms with it. I love hearing different perspectives. In Anamoly, Thalli has religion introduced to her and decides to just blindly follow it. While a lot of religion is blindly following, it just felt so insincere and indoctrinating to me. I can see her forming her own version of faith, but going straight into believing specifically in God and Jesus and Christianity? I didn't buy it. Religion is very complex and McGee really dumbs it down.
The premise of this book was really interesting; however, we didn't see very much of it. I was really fascinated by how someone might act as a regular human being surrounded by people with no emotions. Instead, we just see Thalli being put through various scenarios, basically alone.
I loved the idea of how Thalli and Berk formed a connection, but I didn't feel it. She obviously has a desire for an emotional connection as shown by Stone but I don't think that this was particularly for Berk. I feel like Thalli could have been interested in anyone who walked her way.
The best chapter was the epilogue. That was an intriguing chapter. But I'm definitely not going to continue this series; I already can tell that the Designer will fix any problems that come.
Oh, and spoiler: she has fifteen minutes and twenty-three seconds to live at the END of the book. Which kind of ruined the premise, too.
If you're extremely Christian and religious, you might enjoy this; however, I had to skim the second half of the book to get through it. I was very disappointed.
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