The Glimpse by Claire Merle

In 2018, the world as it was known collapsed. Society was thrown into chaos. In order to rise from the ashes and rebuild, London instituted a new policy: every person would have to undergo a DNA test, and anyone who had the gene for one of the Big3 (Depression, Schizophrenia, Anxiety) was immediately dealt with. The "Pures" were given a much different life from the "Crazies," and much emphasis was placed on binding and joining two Pures together so that they could have Pure children. Just before she's ready for her own joining, Ana discovers that she isn't who she thinks she is. Her mother wasn't Pure, and neither is she. How could the test make such an error? Or did it? It casts suspicion on her father, the creator of the test. As Ana tries to figure out who she is and what she wants, she gets drawn into a deadly game of power, truth, and politics.

The strongest futuristic books are the ones that seem outlandish at first but also completely believable. Medicating children, scapegoating, and the focus on an ideal purity all seem like things that could happen in this way. Ana is a smart, resourceful girl whose world is crashing around her. Her father isn't who she thought he was; her fiance is a mystery to her, too. She makes dangerous moves because she's desperate. There's a lot of action and a few twists about what is really going on, both in the city and in the Pures' own walled community. And, rounding out the action, is a romance that emphasizes questions of attraction, fate, and doing the right thing. The Glimpse is book one in a two book series, so look for the story to continue sometime in the near future.

See more at Claire Merle's website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Faber and Faber.

Read it with:
Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Matched by Ally Condie