Glitch Review for Christian Parents

Name: Glitch
Author: Laura Martin

Concern LevelMedium

Concerning & Potentially Concerning Content

From a concerning content standpoint, your decision on this book is likely going to come down to one primary topic. By far, the largest potential concern here revolves around the relationship of the main 2 characters, a boy and girl named Elliot and Regan. When these two interact with each other they are constantly fighting, calling each other names, being rude, thinking the worst of one another, and so on. She calls him a jerk, moron, know-it-all, brown-noser, creep, jerk, idiot. She rolls her eyes and says things like “I can picture the look on his stupid face” and “don’t be dumb”. He calls her a stuck-up brat, dead-weight, royal pain. He says she is “too dumb for her own good”, annoying, obnoxious and calls her “dumb as a rock”. Elliot is also self-centered, far too focused on success and jealous. There is plenty more we could list because this goes on mostly unchecked for about 75% of the book. This could obviously be a deal-breaker, but it is meant to be overcome and redeemed when their relationship does completely turn and they do repent of their part and become close friends. The ending state is very good. Leading up to that each character is not very likable. Our suggestion would be to let a child read this, but ensure they make it through to the end and talk to them ahead of time and again afterward about this relationship. — It should also probably be mentioned that there is an interesting moral aspect in the overall setup of the book that should probably be talked through with a child reading this book. The group exists to prevent anyone from altering the past, but this means that the characters cannot do anything to prevent horrible events of the past. — As the story builds there are a few times the characters “have to” sneak out of a house or their room. Some parents may not want to plant this idea into certain children’s minds. There is also a rule of the facility that the kids know, but say it is ok to break because no one follows it. This is confirmed when they are caught and the teacher doesn’t do anything about it.

VerdictRecommended

Our Thoughts

A neat story to share concerning this review. Just recently we started feeling led to include the “extra” content at the end of books in our reading as we review books. As you can imagine, this can be easy to talk yourself out of when you finally complete a book and are itching to start on your next read. Well, with this book we get to see a (positive) example of why God led us in this direction. In the author’s note of this book, the writer makes several references to her faith. She mentions Heaven and being blessed. She mentions how “It’s amazing how God brings the exact people into your life to help make your dreams a reality”. Best of all, she concludes with a verse (Ephesians 3:20). This was reflected further in a blog post we saw on her author blog. She has several other books that look exciting that we will be excited to check out in the future. — The story itself is really neat. Kids training as a part of a group that prevents time-traveling criminals (“butterflies”) from altering the past is something that has the potential to really grab a child’s attention. People are often looking for ways to make history more interesting and this book jumps into the middle of several key historical events across multiple centuries in a really interesting way. The action is done really well, feeling real and serious, but never scary or dark (jumping into a burning building with fire everywhere, knowing that many will not survive is probably the example that is most likely to startle a young or sensitive reader). The main potential concern above is certainly a valid one to think through, but even that one does turn a corner and end well (although it is about 75% of the way through the book).

Plot SummaryNote: This information is typically from the publisher.Use with caution

Regan Fitz and Elliot Mason have been enemies since they started training to become Glitchers—people who travel through time to preserve important historical events. But everything changes when they find a letter from Regan’s future self, warning them about an impending disaster that threatens them and everyone they know. Will they be able to set aside their past in order to save the future?

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