I didn't realize this was a prequel story and wish I would have known that beforehand. A good story with a strong family dynamic.

i'm not a fan of infodumps, which i did spot in this story. i found that for a prequel, it probably relied a little too heavily on the book that was published before this one, as there were things that didn't fully make sense (regarding the gifts etc).

"Hidden Variables" serves as something of a prequel to Caitlin Lynagh's "Anomaly". Sophia Leto serves as our main character. She's a part of the Leto family that has unique gifts with Sophia being able to a vision of a murder. She must use her abilities to see who the killer is.

This wasn't particularly my cup of tea. While I like books of this genre just fine, I think the overall style just wasn't for me. The characters aren't terrible but there are definitely some things that could have been more eloquently included in the story. I'm not a big fan of info dumps which are definitely a part of this story. While it wasn't for me, I'm sure it might better suit other fans of this genre with tastes that differ from my own.

In total, I'd have to give this 3 stars. The writing wasn't the best, but the overall stories and the characters are the only reason that I finished this.

Loved Sofia and her drive. She just couldn't sit back and do nothing and that was quite admirable. I do wish that the dialogues were a bit advanced and diverse because it felt like they all spoke the same at some point. Thanks for the eARC.

I did not have time to fnish this bbok before the title expired, I cannot give my opinion without having read the whole book, i was a little dissapointed because i started reading it was was cut right in the middle.

'...witnesses a murder in a vision from the past...'
This was one of the reasons why I wanted to read this. A family with special gifts of time and memory, a murder, a killer to catch, the use of science...this was different from my usual reads, but it was incredibly enjoyable!

Sophia was interesting, strong character who cares a lot about others. Her life and family are complicated, but she can pretty much handle it all, and that maturity really appealed to me. The fact that they have these supernatural gifts but choose to pursue knowledge and science in order to uncover the meaning and origin of it all is such an intricate concept, and I must say it was well done. I'm not very inclined to science, especially physics, but this journey for knowledge made me wish I was.
I really liked Avery, and I loved Elias. I thought the way they were all written together, the Leto family included, and how they interacted made way for a strong cast.

My only issue is the writing sometimes. It's a minute problem for me when I've enjoyed some of the characters and plot this much, but it was difficult to differentiate voices when I felt it needed it. I didn't mind having to check to remind myself, but it felt a bit unclear in certain parts.

I didn't realise this was a prequel, but I'm glad it was and that I read it because I'm now interested in Lynagh's other books! I was intrigued from the beginning and now I'm left wanting more.

My thanks to Netgalley for a review copy of this book. I picked this one up, while it does contain some paranormal elements, because of the description of the book which included the words ‘witnesses a murder’, and ‘to catch a killer’, and the combination of visions of the past and future and a murder mystery sounded an interesting read.

This is the story of Sophia Leto, who like the other members of the Leto family has certain ‘gifts’―the ability to look into the possible future, or rather various possible futures, and people’s memories of the past where they are especially strong, and to use that information to prevent untoward outcomes, and perhaps ensure a certain outcome which is seen to be good for the world. Sophia’s case is however, different from the other members of her family for while the others have been seeing visions of people they don’t really know (as has Sophia), she is very much a part of that future to come, and will have a role in changing the course of things, positively or negatively. As a result, Sophia is seen as a ‘freak’ by some of her fellow students, and it is only with her friend Annie that she can share what she is going through. Besides these visions, another vision that she’s been getting is of a boy, a fellow student at school named Avery, whose mother was robbed and murdered two years ago, which mystery still remains unsolved. There is some role that Avery must play in the future which is not clear to Sophia or her family yet, but as a result of the state of affairs, he is inclined to suicide which Sophia must prevent, and at the same time solve the mystery of what really happened to Avery’s mother. Sophia has much more at stake in all of this as her own future is also involved besides of course, that of the wider world. Alongside are some other-worldly spirits (not quite sure how I should describe them), the Thirteen, who have gone through some problems of their own in their world but who are now looking out for the earth’s future, and guiding Sophia and others to reach the ‘right’ outcome. Of them, we essentially meet one, Ahrl, who seems to have some of the same visions that Sophia does.

This was very different from my usual kind of reading because of the supernatural aspects, but I quite enjoyed reading it―one reason probably was that while this world does have its supernatural elements, it is also one in which the characters try to find explanations through science. Sophia’s father works at CERN (her mother at a hospital) and this is where she intends to get to herself, her interests lying in physics, and using this to explain what she and her family can see. It is a struggle of course, considering others can’t and won’t be able to understand this, and so they must always tread with caution. The other was of course that this was a murder mystery, and that element I felt was pretty well done because while one does get some clue that things are not what they seem at first glance, I couldn’t tell how it would turn out. Sophia herself is a really likeable character—she’s intelligent, has her head firmly on her shoulders. I enjoyed how Avery dealt with the girls who bully Sophia but also liked the fact that Sophia had the maturity to simply ignore them and not give way to anger. Despite all of this happening I also liked how the author dealt with the whole idea of visions and the future—that it isn’t as such anything definite but a whole host of possibilities, any of which may come to pass depending on the choices people make. Some aspects though (some characters as well) didn’t entirely make sense to me (this could have had to do with my reading), and I felt more explanation was needed. I only realised later that this was a prequel, and since I quite liked the plot and characters, I am interested to see how the story progresses (haven’t read book 1) and how things really turn out for the characters in the future.

I enjoyed Avery and Sophia's story. not clear about the gifts and those Alice and Kyle. I don't get them but I enjoyed the story.👍🏼

This was a compelling read with a good main character. I love the Leto family and how closely knitted they were. Although I found the pacing a little slow at first, it definitely picked up! Also, that cover is absolutely beautiful. Even if you haven't read anything by Caitlin Lynagh, I urge you to give this a go, it does not disappoint!

I didn't know this book is prequel. But the wonderful cover is drawn my attention. I'm glad i read it because the story is unique and beautiful. I don't think you have to read other book to understand this. It follow Sophia's past and we find out how she discovera her gifts. I like reading smart characters and Sophia is definitely one of them.

This one was really interesting. At some points it felt simple and then there were a few info dumps and theories. I liked the plot and both main characters. Sophia the gifted haunted by visions and Avery the broken barely clinging to life. I like how close knit the Leto family is. I’d say Elias was my favourite character. I found the story flowed easily enough and seeing the duo’s lives intertwine was sweet.

This is a book I really enjoyed. Sophia is an intelligent, caring young woman and one who has big plans for the future. It was easy to get caught up in her concern for her classmate and her desire to do the right thing. It’s a complicated world and family that she’s been brought into, but she handles a lot of what happens to her with grace and level-headedness. The story poses some interesting questions about the nature of knowledge, the potential pitfalls of knowing the future and how the limited nature of Sophia’s gifts could put her in a precarious situation. Especially as she tries to alter things for the better.

One thing that bothered me throughout the book, was that the characters didn’t have much differentiation between their voices, and they all seemed to talk in ‘as-you-know’ explainy dialogue. Which is a real shame, because most of the time what they’re talking about is really interesting. I would have liked to see more personality and characterization present, but overall, the plot was still interesting enough that I kept reading, even despite this.

Because this book is a prequel, there’s a lot of information about things that aren’t necessarily pertinent to this particular story, but from what I gather, matters in later books. It was a little distracting to try to ferret out this information. However, I’m really excited to read the next book, Anomaly, because given what I’ve read already, I wanna know more.

Overall, a very enjoyable and short read. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves stories where you have to collect the pieces and put them together.

I wish I had known this book was a prequel before i started it.
The plot was amazing, i was a little lost on some of the characters due the fact i hadn't read the other two books already in the series.
If you have read those, you will love this book.