Books for Christian Girls: "Aberration" by Cathy McCrumb

About this book:

  “The Consortium is All. But Recorder Can No Longer Obey.
    Recorder has no family, no friends, and no name. Donated to the Consortium before birth, her sole purpose is to maintain and verify the records. A neural implant and drone ensure compliance, punishing for displays of bias.
    Suddenly cut off from controlling technology, Recorder tastes what it means to be human. But if the Consortium discovers her feelings, everyone she knows will be in danger.
    With no name, no resources, and only an infinitesimal possibility of escape, Recorder's time is running out.”

Series: Book #2 in the “Children of the Consortium” trilogy. Review of Book #1, Here!

Spiritual Content- A reference to Scripture (“being the salt and the light”—though someone doesn’t think the person saying it knows was light is); In the first book, Recorder is told that “some people say we evolved from the dust of stars. Others say we are uniquely formed by a divine being. Stardust or Creation. Either way, you are exceptional. You are the only one of you in all the space and time. You cannot be nothing.”, and she thinks about this a few times later in this book (including being confused when the person says that everyone is defective since she thinks that it contradicts what he said before & later feeling like it is mocking her because she feels of no value); Recorder thinks about someone’s unquantifiable God (Book #1) and comments that maybe there is “something larger than this life, after all”; Recorder thinks “please no” and it’s called a “thought—or prayer”; Someone who is a Christian mentions about having faith “no matter what” in hard times (said a few times); When someone who wears a cross necklace is talked about, someone else says the person is an “elite” (tauntingly); Someone talks about “going home” when the person is dying; A few mentions of prayers; A couple mentions of a cross necklace; A couple mentions of a side-character having olive wood beads and running them through their fingers when stressed/worried (could be a rosary); A mention of “old-Earth hagiography”;
             *Note: Someone says something that is “either a prayer or a curse” when upset; A side character says that sharpening knives is “like meditation” to her; A side character orders for whatever can help protect the group from the virus “vitamins, meds, face paint, or burning feathers. I don’t care.”; Someone is called a minotaur because of his size; “Pax” is said a couple of times when showing that you want peace with another (Pax is the goddess of peace); When a drone is “killed”, Recorder corrects that it was never alive; Mentions of rumors about a place being haunted & having ghosts; A few mentions of Medusa & Poseidon; A few mentions of evil people & their actions; A couple mentions of wishes; A mention of a painting of two humanoids with flaming swords.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: two ‘back off’s, four forms of ‘idiot’, five forms of ‘blast it/blast you’, five forms of ‘shut up’, ten ‘blasted’s, and twenty-four forms of ‘stupid’; A man is also called a bigot (but we aren’t told why); Made-up cursing for this fictional world includes: a ‘thank the founders’, a ‘void-ridden’, a ‘what the void’, two forms of ‘rust it/stow it’, two forms of ‘space you/crush you’, three forms of ‘moons above’, three forms of ‘stars above’, three ‘void it’s, four forms of ‘void take it’s, four forms of ‘we’re spaced (screwed)’, six forms of ‘founders’ sakes/founder’s oath’, six forms of ‘space it’s, six ‘trog’s (derogatory), eight ‘moons and stars’, nine forms of spacing (used for emphasis), nine forms of ‘voided/voiding’s, twelve forms of ‘dross’ (used as an insult), and fourteen ‘stars’ (exclamation); Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Many mentions of curses (said, not written); Seeing dead bodies & Having to move them to a temporary morgue (multiple times, including blood and the condition of the bodies, up to semi-detailed); Seeing others ill, in pain, injured, beaten, bleeding, & three people pass away (up to semi-detailed); Seeing other being attacked & fighting (including giant cockroaches, up to semi-detailed); *Spoiler* Someone is left for the roaches to get him due to his orders to not slow down the group and is dying anyway (barely-above-not-detailed) *End of Spoiler*; Being trapped and almost burned alive, Trauma from being in prior near-death related places again, Explosions, Being held at knife-point, Being ill/shot with a needle, Being shocked, Being hit, Fighting, Fighting off drones and giant cockroaches, Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, Passing out (up to semi-detailed); Remembering events from the first book (giant bugs, major pain, deaths, & seeing corpses, up to semi-detailed); Some Panic & Anxiety (up to semi-detailed); A nightmare (up to semi-detailed); Eavesdropping; Recorders are punished (shocked) by their drone if they do not act like they are supposed to (such as being emotional or helping a citizen because they are only to observe) and we see this happen on-page many times (up to semi-detailed); After her drone is destroyed in the first book, Recorder started to hit herself when she shows emotion and that’s continued in this book as well; Recorder has been starved for a few days (not intentionally); Recorder is not displeased by the news of the death of someone who wasn’t a good person; *Major Spoiler* It's hinted at in this first book about the Hall of Reclamation being the worst thing that can happen to Recorders who do not follow their rules, but it's never really said what it is; In this second book, we quickly learn that it's where Recorders and Elders go to either be put into medical containers for live organ donation or take care of those who are set for that path (including children who were deemed to have genetic flaws “egregious to prohibit development” or had “genetic material” that was too valuable); This is deemed part of their service and if they cannot serve, then their bodies will in this way; We see another character’s chapter with taking care of those there that are deceased citizens and living Recorders; He shares happy memories with a child in a tank since the child should have had memories of her own and gets in trouble for doing that until an Elder says that “Slaughterhouses providing stress-free butchering produce better quality—” before being cut-off by someone else saying that was a repugnant comparison *End of Spoiler*; Two scenes of those who have passed being “recycled” and the bodies (“shells” going on a conveyor belt) & grief (up to semi-detailed); Some side characters are disrespectful to “shells” (bodies) and are called out on it; Many mentions of deaths (including of parents), murders, bodies, having to move the bodies to a morgue set-up, incinerating the bodies, & grief (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of weapons, weapons being aimed at others for threats, explosions, giant man-eating roaches, fighting them, fighting, someone losing an arm to one, pain, injuries, blood/bleeding, throwing up, & passing out (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of deaths through a virus (biological weapon), someone’s plans to unleash it, & an attempted murder; Mentions of people being “spaced” (which is when they are kicked out of a ship and left to float in the void and can be considered as murder); Mentions of citizens getting “removed” (set to a hard labor area and not heard from again); Mentions of kidnappings, being held hostage, & shot with a virus; Mentions of Recorders and others being shocked, tortured, & in pain; Mentions of pirates, mutineers, criminals, & crimes; Mentions of hatred (that some have towards the Consortium); Mentions of lies, lying, & liars (including that Recorders and Elders can lie because they are human, but they will be reprimanded if it’s discovered); Mentions of gossip, rumors, & eavesdropping; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of animal experimentation (which happened on cockroaches) for a good reason of saving those trapped in a mine; A few mentions of earthquakes & deaths; A few mentions of a man changing after the death of his son; A few mentions of mines collapsing & deaths; A few mentions of wanting someone who did a person wrong to suffer (which Recorder agrees with); A few mentions of a woman trying to drive two brothers apart & is condescending to the younger one behind his brother’s back; A few mentions of starvation; A few mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of terrorists; A couple mentions of a drone taking a life even though it isn’t supposed to unless programed to do so; A couple mentions of others believing Recorder is suicide risk (she is not); A couple mentions of a possible break-in/thief; A mention of a someone dying in a mine because of a lack of oxygen; A mention of a grandmother taking her granddaughter away from her mother (not said why); A mention of sounding like a stalker; A mention of flogging; A mention of a bully; A mention of urine; A mention of cats being “disposed of” as a person of high authority sees fit;
             *Note: Prejudice towards Recorders and those raised in a certain area that is where criminals are sent (rude comments are on-page and also towards Recorder); A side character feels guilt for not viewing a Recorder as a potential friend like she did with one of the opposite gender; Some view and make comments about Recorders being property of the Consortium (which our Recorder says she is not); An Elder implies that Recorder should have died in order to stop someone else from unleashing a virus (Book #1); Recorder wonders that if everyone holds value like someone told her, that should that also extend to those who did wrong; Recorder misses her drone at times because of different reasons (including it being able to calm her); Those who are Recorders or other government service staff were “gifted” by their biological donors and it’s said that they redeem their gifting by doing service (someone asks Recorder if she regrets being gifted, but as it wasn’t her action, she says she doesn’t but has pondered what could have happened if she wasn’t gifted; Later, an Elder says it was the most moral choice the biological parents could make); Someone says that because he didn’t have a contract (partnership) with a woman, she was able to choose what happened to their twins without his opinion mattering and because one was said to be “defected” she gifted them (the man has been looking for them for years); Someone thinks that “heading out on one’s own” was when “life really started” (thinking of a friend who is too loyal to a family member); Mentions of eugenics, genocide, & an attempted genetic cleansing a hundred years prior to the book starting; A few mentions of a young man wearing earrings; A couple mentions of a girl’s biological mother didn’t want her and was going to give her to the Consortium “like most college students do” but she was adopted by family members; A mention of trying to find either a cure, antivirus, or a vaccine for the virus.

Sexual Content- A forehead kiss; A few kisses on-page in side characters’ chapters (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Remembering and Dreaming of touches, hand holding, & nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing & Staring (barely-above-not-detailed); Marriage is not a concept in this world, but people have “contracts” and become “partners”; Someone is embarrassed to share that she is reading a historical romance book but clarifies that it is not banned or “even rated orange”; Mentions of the assault (in Book #1) where a guy forces a kiss on Recorder (this was also considered attempted murder because of a virus; Recorder has to tell an Elder about it and says that she was assured it was not kissing, but there was an exchange of saliva; She adds that she didn’t report is because “it seemed a small thing. He was young and I did not believe it was in his character to repeat it.”); A reference to what Poseidon did to Medusa (in regards to a painting of Medusa having to beautiful since Poseidon did something (unnamed) to her); Seeing couples kiss, embrace, & hold hands (barely-above-not-detailed); Three ‘babe’s; A woman calls a young man ‘doll’ twice and he blushes; Mentions of the assault & forced kiss; Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends & dating (these terms aren’t used but the idea of them are); Mentions of couples, hand holding, embraces, & kissing; A few mentions of blushes; A few mentions of crushes & jealousy; A mention of someone acting like they saw a long-lost lover; A bit of love, being in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Recorder notices that a young woman has gained weight but does not say anything because she was told that’s impolite to comment on; A side character tells another that he should eat up because “there will be plenty of time in your future to curtail the input of calories, but you aren’t there yet”; A side character (teen girl) is irritated that a guy can eat and eat and still be lean; A side character is teased about ogling others (he’s actually skin-shy) & blushes when seeing others’ bare skin (midriff and arms); A side character says that she trusted someone and was in love with the person, but ended up stuck with consequences (no more is said but could imply an out-of-wedlock pregnancy based on other comments); Mentions of growth hormones for an animal (insect) experimentation; A mention of testosterone levels.

-Recorder, age 24
                            POV switches between Recorder (1^st person) & flashbacks to others’ POV (Eric, James, Freddie, Lorik, Kyleigh, & Elliot all in 3^rd person)
                                             Sci-fi
                                                        354 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

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My personal Rating-

{ Older Girls who enjoy sci-fi books may enjoy this book more and could add a full star to that rating. }

I thought it would be best to continue this trilogy while the information from the first book was still fresh in my mind and I’m glad that I did that because whew! Lots of things (but also not a lot of things in hindsight??) happen in this sequel and lots of new faces entered in. Like in the prior book, there’s a lot of characters with many names and you have to keep up with it all—which I struggled with at the beginning of this book as well.

I never thought a sci-fi book could make me tear-up but when you have a rag-tag group with clashing personalities that have each others’ backs regardless of their differences like only the Found Family trope can do, you might as well pass me the tissues. I found myself tearing up at a couple touching moments and then a sad moment as well.

These two books have been very interesting for me. I’m engaged into the story while reading it and once I finished both books I’m thinking that I enjoyed it, but I’m having a hard time saying why I enjoyed it. Is it because it’s different from my normal reads? Or because it’s an intense ride that I don’t know what will happen next? Particularly with the first book, I liked it but I didn’t like some elements and wished there was more hope as it felt depressing at times. I suppose it’s hard to have hope when you’re a Recorder in this world, though. We do see a bit more of that element in this second book, which I was grateful for.

My major hope for the third book is that the government is burned to the ground in it. We see glimpses of the terribleness they do in the first book, but this second book really heightens what atrocious acts they are doing.

On the romance, it’s definitely not the main focus of the plot which I like, but at the same time feels a little shoe-horned into the plot. I’m curious to see what will happen in that regard in the final book because while they like each other (or as much as our Recorder can figure out with her new emotions being allowed to show) they don’t have much time for discussions and are really just a source of comfort and strength to the other. Which is cute, but I was expecting a bit more in that regard. Not a compliant at all about the light romance, but it has been interestingly done.

I do have to ask: why do sci-fi books have to have giant creepy, man-eating bugs? I can count on one hand how many sci-fi books I’ve read (and I’ve seen even less sci-fi movies or TV shows), but that seems to be a standard element and frankly I don’t like it. I already loath cockroaches but this series is making me dislike them even more, so a heads up for others who do not do bugs.

I’m hoping the third book will enter in with more Christian Faith content because so far it’s been more of a Clean Fiction book written by a Christian with a few faith hints—which is fine, but I feel like this world needs Jesus pronto!

See y’all on Monday with a new review!