This was a fun one. Readers who don't care much about worldbuilding might be irritated with the amount of time Soule devotes to it, but it's really rich and smart and believable. The weaving of Gabby and Annami's storylines was so skillful, and I had so much fun trying to puzzle out their connection and how the story would get us from point A to point B. I expected a twisty, smart, exciting book, and was taken by surprise by just how thoughtful and emotional the story was on top of delivering on the SF thriller I was expecting. The ideas in the book are familiar enough to capture readers who don't often venture into SFF, but creatively and surprisingly handled enough to thrill, I'd think, just about 'anyone.'

This was a really cool concept and was wonderfully written. I felt very connected to the characters throughout the book and the action was engaging and clear. Nothing super shocking about some of the moments that were intended to be twisty but it didn't need that kind of shock factor to be darn good.

Not a 100% original idea, but it's all in the execution. Fast-paced, thrilling, and engaging. I liked the time-shifts, but hated Gabby.

Anyone was a really intriguing premise and they're were parts that I really enjoyed. However, I found the time shifts awkward and sometimes even jarring. I also didn't love the main character, Gabby.

Sci-fi is definitely not my favorite genre but I'm so glad I got to read this book! The premise of the book is mind blowing; a scientist has developed technology that enables people to switch bodies with other people. The thought of that actually happening is kind of terrifying - never really knowing who you are truly interacting with. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give anything away. Towards the middle of the book the story somewhat dragged and at times things could be a little bit confusing but overall this book was amazing. The ending was not what I predicted at all! I thought this book was thought-provoking and entertaining. I highly recommend picking up a copy!

I’m not always one to seek out science fiction. But I was honestly drawn to the setting of the story: Ann Arbor, Michigan. Fortunately for me, the tie to my beloved home was one of the many reasons I enjoyed this novel.

Setting – There is absolutely nothing more enjoyable than reading about your home in a book. Books are literally set in millions of locations across this world. And when a book setting is familiar, it just makes the book a bit more special and appealing. While desperately missing Michigan, Soule brought a piece of home to me from 11 hours away. One of the many magical things about this book.

Get Out – The synopsis on Goodreads accurately compares Anyone to Get Out and Blade Runner. Can’t speak on behalf of Blade Runner but I definitely got the Get Out feels. And I absolutely loved the heck out of it. So very interesting the whole concept. Not being able to remember your body being used to do whatever some parasite might want to do. I really enjoyed this new advanced world/technology Soule created. I’m not always into Sci-Fi but Soule certainly re-peaked interest.

I think this is a story that can appeal to many. You have technology, body hosts, science, betrayal and a crap ton of other exciting things going on! I would encourage those interested in a thrilling little ride to take a gander at Anyone.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publisher for the read.

This is the type of book that makes me want to broaden the horizons of my patrons by wrapping it up in brown paper and putting it out there for them to have a "blind book date" with. Many would read the synopsis and quickly return it to the shelf, dismissing it because it's science fiction. But this book is so much more. I am excited for the individuals that will choose it because it is sci-fi and for those that will do a random grab-and-read. I am not usually a science fiction person, but the description of Charles Soule's Anyone piqued my interest, and I'm thankful because I would have hated to have missed out on this one.

Gabriella White is attempting to find a breakthrough for Alzheimer's and accidentally invents what will be referred to as flash technology. Simply put, it is the transferring of one person's consciousness into the body of another, leaving the original in a sort of comatose state. As any good scientist does, she Immediately imagines the many benefits this could have on society. You could literally put yourself in someone else’s shoes. She is determined to not only get recognition for her work but also to be sure it is handled properly. Unfortunately, her research was expensive and paid for by someone with a less humanitarian nature.

Annami is a woman on a mission. She wants revenge and will do whatever it takes to get it. Twenty-five years after the flash was first developed, it has become a part of daily life. It is a way to travel without flying, experience life without the limits of age, be and do anything one can dream of. Anything at all. Rules and regulations don't prevent darkshares. Desperate people can make a lot of money allowing others to occupy their bodies for any purpose whatsoever, and you can bet there will be great risk, and often abuse, to the borrowed body, if not death. This is how Annami will make it possible to exact her revenge. She is a body to be used, but the end result will be worth it...if things fall into place as planned.

Alternating between the two time periods, the worlds of then and now are filled in and rounded out until the ends finally meet in a way that you might have thought you saw coming, but you will be wrong.

Normally, in a book written this way, I get annoyed because I’m so absorbed with one timeline that the other is a jolting interruption. Not once did I feel like that while reading Anyone. The time periods were equally interesting, and I wanted to know the outcome of each even through the gut-wrenching moments.

So, from a non-sci-fi reader standpoint, what is it that made this book so much more? It was well written, for one thing. Moreso, the concept was fantastic! I was actually excited about the possibilities just as Gabriella was. To be able to be anyone, experience anything because you can put your mind in someone else’s body as easily as pulling on a pair of socks. Okay, it’s not completely original. This was done, to an extent, in the movie Selfless, but this book takes it to a point way beyond the movie. Hollywood needs to pick this up. I want to see it on the big screen. For now, I’ll settle with introducing it to my patrons.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishers for supplying me with a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

“Be anyone with Anyone” from Anyone by Charles Soule
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Gabrielle White is a scientist trying to find a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease. Nearly out of the money that is funding her research (and that she obtained from a somewhat sketchy, dangerous donor),she throws the switch on her laser, and instead of a breakthrough on her Alzheimer’s research, Gabby has mysteriously transported her consciousness into her husband’s body.
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Anyone is told in two different time periods—when Gabrielle discovers the “flash” technology and years into the future after the Flash technology has become a part of daily life. The Flash tech is monitored strictly except on the black market, called the “darkshare” where there are no rules and regulations. Anything goes. Literally.
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I love books like Anyone because they are relatable sci-fi. Even if you think the genre is not for you, this book is so much fun to read and thought=provoking as well. What if this technology were actually available? What if you could move your consciousness into another person’s body?
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I am so glad and grateful to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for my copy. I loved the author’s previous book, The Oracle Year, so I’m happy that I loved this new book just as much. Give this book a try! There are so many great reads out there under the umbrella of sci-fi and Anyone is one of them. Highly recommended!
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W hile trying to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, Gabrielle inadvertently invents the technology to transfer a person’s consciousness into another individual. She initially imagines all the ways that this could benefit society making people more tolerant of differences.
In a second storyline twenty five years in the future, the flash as it’s now called, is used for less altruistic purposes than imagined. People use other people’s bodies for all kinds of reasons: seeing other places without traveling, a skilled surgeon transferring in to another body to use his skills to save a life, even getting away with criminal activity. •
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The two storylines played off of each other brilliantly and the cleverness of the story made up for other faults like lack of character development.
This was such an intriguing, well written book.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a great sci-fi thriller about the implications of new technology. It was fast-paced and I kept reading to find out what happened next.

This book was a random choice for me and turned out to be one of the best books I read this year. Anyone by Charles Soule is a page-turner that asks how the world would be different if you could transfer your consciousness into another person. I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story in Anyone occurs in two separate timelines. One of these follows Gabriella White, a brilliant neuroscientist, as she works in her home laboratory and accidentally transfers her consciousness into her husband’s body. She immediately realizes the potential ramifications of such a technology and, after figuring out how to return to her own body, fights to make sure that her discovery doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

The second timeline falls twenty-five years later. Annami is a young woman working for the corporation that runs all of the world’s “flash” technology, through which Gabby’s discovery allows customers to hop into other bodies all over the world. Annami is living some sort of double life and has plans for revenge. Initially, her motivations are unclear, but as the book unfolds, the separate plots come together and we learn how the world (and Annami) evolved to reach their current state.

Anyone is not a light-hearted book and the characters suffer through some devastating events. Annami starts out by renting her body out through the darkshare underworld to make a huge amount of cash quickly. She has no say in what happens while in that state and the risks are high. The world depicted in Anyone is dark, and people use the flash for all kinds of underhanded and sinister purposes.

The two separate stories of Gabby and Annami contrasted well and filled in details about the flash technology in a complementary way, making the novel flow well. There is plenty of action to be had, and I found the book hard to put down. The characters also embody a nice amount of diversity that I don’t see as often as I would like.

The revelation at the conclusion was well-done in that it was shocking as I realized what was going on only shortly before the characters did. The only criticism of this book that I can really have was that I thought that the ending was a little abrupt after that.

While I haven’t read any other books by Charles Soule, I will be looking out for his work in the future.

Be anyone with Anyone!

This book was a thrill! It was so much fun reading and discussing this book with many of you on #bookstagram

Dr. Gabrielle White is a cognitive neurologist who is invested in finding a cure for Alzheimer’s. Gabby’s research takes place in her barn, converted into a laboratory. Unfortunately, funds are running low on her research end until one night she and her husband switch consciousness in a major experiment finding. An incredible breakthrough, Gabby tries her best to hide this potential billion dollar idea from Hendricks Capital, the company that originally funded her project.

That intro alone- the first couple pages hooked me and I was a lost cause! This book switches back and forth between Gabby’s researching and 25 years later, when the “flash” technology has become ever-present in this world. Sounds amazing right? Well, there is quite a dark side to this technology as not all use it with grace and honesty.

I don’t want to say much more, as you know I stick to my spoiler-free reviews, however, there were a few OMG moments throughout! For fans of a fast paced, sci-fi thrill, this is for you!

I don't generally read sci-fi but after hearing so much about this book I had to give it a shot and it is amazing. Gabriella White is a neuroscientist that is researching cures for Alzheimers Disease. In the process she discovers a new invention that will change the world. She wants to be acknowledged as the inventor.
Gray Hendricks, a ruthless businessman with money to spend has bought and paid for her time. He sees there is no cost to great as long as he gets what he wants in the end.
Paul White is Gabriella's music professor husband receiving tenure at the University of Michigan in the Music School and their daughter 11 month old daughter Kitty.
The decisions Gabby makes to ensure she gets credit for her discovery causes many ripples in the lives of her family and in the lives of the world. Great Read even for the non sci-fi reader. I don't like the use of the underlined words by the author though. Its very confusing to the reader.

#netgalley, #anyone.

Anyone by Charles Soule was in interesting read. I am always on the look out for a good thriller and I found it in this book. Its action packed from page one & I completed it in one sitting. The inter weaving or the time line was so well done that I didn’t lose any parts of what was happening. Over all I gave this book a 3.5. I see me reading more of Soule’s work in the near future.

Thank you Harper Pernnial & Netgalley for gifting me this darc in exchange for an honest review.

HOLY SHIT.

Anyone by Charles Soule is INSANE. I completely devoured this book.

I don't even want to share the synopsis, as this is one of those books that it's better to go in cold, without any prior knowledge of the premise. This is what I did, and it allowed for an even better experience.

All the Blake Crouch vibes, and if you read my reviews of Dark Matter and Recursion, you know that is the highest of compliments from me for Mr. Soule here.

Another book that blew my damn mind. I never thought I was a sci-fi reader, but these three books have turned me into an addict. I can't stop. I'm a Blake Crouch and Charles Soule junkie. I need my fix, and I need it now. Just one more hit. In the words of my girl Lzzy Hale:
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Just a dose to remedy, to taking away the death of me
I get a buzz to feel alive, I get a rush deep inside
Just a touch is all I need to trigger the sweetest dopamine
You're taking away the death of me
I can hit it, quit it, not addicted, you know it's a lie

You get me high, like a painkiller, like a painkiller
You numb the pain, you're blowing my mind
Like a painkiller, you're the painkiller
That gets me, gets me, gets me high
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Okay, maybe it's not quite that dramatic, but it works. Because it's another sci-fi book that blew my damn mind and got me thinking and questioning everything. Are Blake Crouch and Charles Soule the same person?? Do they share a vessel?? Is it really one person flashing between them both writing all of their novels?! Which one is the prime?! OH MY GOD WHAT DID I JUST FIGURE OUT?!

Seriously though, this book is fucking nuts. It has incredible writing, page-turning, plot-driven details, twists and turns and bends and curves and convolutions and spirals I never saw coming. It's brilliant. It's addicting. It's methodically planned and perfectly executed. Un.fucking.real. ALL THE STARS.

ANYONE
Charles Soule
Harper Perennial
ISBN 978-0-06-289063-4
Hardcover
Science Fiction

I used to read science fiction novels by the bagful in the 1960s through the 1980s, at which point I stopped for reasons not pertinent here. I will still pick one up occasionally --- usually with the name “Blake Crouch” on the spine --- but I for the most part breeze past the genre except for the annual “Best of” short story collections. I accordingly have been wanting something like ANYONE by Charles Soule for a while now. ANYONE is Soule’s second novel (after THE ORACLE YEAR) and while one never knows I predict that it is destined to be described with a raft of superlatives by anyone who reads it.

The narrative of ANYONE alternates between the present and a future which is roughly a quarter-century from now. In the present, a struggling scientist named Gabrielle White is attempting to find a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease when she accidentally discovers a method that transfers one’s consciousness into the body of another. She almost immediately begins to realize the possibilities, good and otherwise, which might result when and if this discovery and technology are unleashed upon the world. Unfortunately, Gray Hendricks, the head of Hendricks Capital which has been funding her research (and which has the ownership rights sewn up, six ways to Tuesday, to any discoveries she makes) is as coldly ruthless as he can be. White attempts to keep her discovery secret, but to no avail. Hendricks is just as quick to see the potential for White’s discovery, so much so that he wants her research to continue under his ownership. He is prepared to do anything it takes to make sure that happens, and, before ANYONE concludes, demonstrates that he will do just that. Meanwhile, the timeline of ANYONE’s future track proceeds apace. It is obvious that White’s discovery --- known generally as “flash” and controlled by a company named NeOnet Global but generally known as “Anyone” --- has changed everything. Flash enables a “traveler” to transfer their consciousness to the body of a “vessel” anywhere in the world and in some cases beyond. It is all paid for, registered, and legal, with each session taking place for a specified and limited period. There are all sorts of questions attached to this, such as what happens to the consciousness of the vessel while their body is being inhabited, but everyone is pretty much caught up in the experience of the Anyone’s marketing pitchline, which is “Be anyone with Anyone.” Naturally, there is an illegal market for flash, which is called “darkshare,” and which allows off-market vessels to rent out their bodies for anything from murder to kinky sex to anonymous travelers with no questions asked. In the middle of this new world, a woman named Annami is pursuing a desperate and possibly crazy plan of revenge against the whole system. We slowly learn (and maybe eventually guess) who Annami is, why she is doing what she is doing, and, in the end, how far she is willing to go.

ANYONE is as wild a ride as you are likely to read this year. It rings all of the right bells and chills all of the right places. What particularly struck me --- and your results may differ, though I don’t think so --- is how much I really, really wanted to see the flash come to fruition in my lifetime and to experience it (though, as presented in ANYONE, I would be a “dull,” or too old to legally do so). That desire lasted right up to the last couple of pages, where I irrevocably changed my mind. See what you think. Very strongly recommended.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
© Copyright 2019, The Book Report, Inc.

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For me, this book started slowly, but next thing I knew I was flying through the chapters. I highly recommend this book to everyone!!!. But all my Thriller lovers I honestly believe you’re not going to want to miss this!!

What would happen if you could be anybody?
Gabby invents a technology that can transfer one person's consciousness into another. (Though it's started as a way to try and cure Alzheimer's)
This book alternates chapters between Gabby and what happens after she brings "the flash" into existence and Annami, who rents out her body to be used for whatever (usually dark in nature) purposes.
But Annami is on a mission.... To tell the world the flash isn't all it seems to be.
I have to admit....I didn't think I'd end up liking it as I did and almost DNF'd it several times. I'm glad I stuck through because the last third of it had my head spinning with how crazy it was..... But in a good way.

Anyone is the kind of book that instantly forces you into its fascinating world, holding on tight until you experience the shock it’s there to present. I went into the book without reading anything about it and that made it exciting, adventurous, and down right enthralling.

We’ve all seen the central concept before: transferring your consciousness into another body so you can experience the world through someone else’s eyes. Anyone takes this oft used story and makes it new by giving us multiple angles on this startling technology. We get to see its invention by pure accident, feeling the terror of first discovery and the fears that go along with it. We get to see the wonder of the world discovering such an impossible technology. Most interesting to me, you get to see the dark underbelly of a world inundated with this addictive technology, and the many things people use it for. That’s where Soule throws in a long and winding mystery, giving us a central character with a shady past and a plan to blow the world out of the water.

Stories centering on technology are always loads of fun, especially the kind that take you deep into the inner workings to show what such a breakthrough actually does to the human condition. Anyone dives into the human psyche to show what kind of horrors mankind is capable of when given complete autonomy. It’s a gritty future filled with a technology that’s exotic in advertisements and terrifying behind the scenes. At the end of the day, it’s the kind of book that’s riveting from page one, adding a great science fiction adventure into the mix.

NOTE: I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫/5⁣
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This 👏 book 👏 right 👏 here! It's action-packed, hard to put down, and full of surprises. And no- you can't foresee many of the events that occur in this FANTASTICALLY WRITTEN story. I could absolutely see this on the big screen (and I'm not a movie-watcher!)⁣
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THANK YOU, for the advanced copy to read and review