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, 07:05, 30 May 2012
{{infobox
|title=The Glimpse
|sort=Glimpse
|author=Claire Merle
|reviewer=Catherine Bakes
|genre=Teens
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-0571280537
|paperback=
|hardback=
|audiobook=
|ebook=B007TVAOCM
|pages=432
|publisher=Faber and Faber
|date=June 2012
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571280536</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0571280536</amazonus>
|website=http://www.clairemerle.com/home.html
|video=
|summary=Ana has live as a Pure all her life, but when she finds out there's been a mistake with her test, everything she knows and believes in will be tested.
}}
Ana's Dad helped invent the DNA test that helps to divide Society into two categories: Pures and Crazies. Pures are people who are 'normal', and Crazies are people who carry genes for depression, schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. Having lived as a Pure all her life, when Ana finds out her test was wrong her world falls apart. Now, marrying Jasper, a Pure-boy, is her only chance of a normal life. But will Jasper still want her now she's a Crazy?
After their joining ceremony (the stage before marriage) Jasper is kidnapped and disappears but not until after telling Ana he is in trouble. Determined not to let Jasper slip away, Ana sets out to find Jasper and bring him home. But to find Jasper she has to leave her protected Pure life and venture over the border into the City, where the Crazies live. There she will be tested, learn some devastating truths about herself and her family, and learn that true love is found in the strangest of places and will catch you unaware.
It's taken me a while to gear myself up to sit and write this, because I just cannot find the words to describe this book. It's breathtaking. Honestly, I can say that this is one of the best books I have read in a very long time. Ana's journey is one that I found myself lost in, and spent many lunch breaks being anti-social just so I could lose myself in the pages of this book. The story was great; well thought out and paced. It's nice to see some amazing new ideas cropping up in dystopian society fiction.
Ana was an amazing female lead: brave and intelligent. I liked Jasper, I thought he was sweet, although the show-stopper was Cole. Swoon! Strong, rebellious ''and'' a gentleman, what more can a girl ask for? You could feel the tension between him and Ana, and I was praying all the way through that they would end up together. However, it's in no way a soppy or overly feminine book: it was very nicely done.
I cannot wait for the sequel.
Thank you to Faber and Faber for sending me a copy of this incredible book.
[[Matched by Ally Condie]] and [[Delirium by Lauren Oliver]] are other great books along the same theme combining dystopian society and love stories. If it's just the romance you are looking for try [[Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen]] (one of my favs!)
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