jinxy_'s review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Stupidest book ever it’s so bad
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Torture, and War
madisongturner's review against another edition
4.25
This was a pretty good dystopian-style science fiction book. I do think it targets the same demographic of people who enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale. It does a great job of demonstrating how the oppressed are not without the ability to become the oppressors. While I do not think it is inevitable that they would, I appreciate the look into how we see the worst come out in those who are in charge, no matter how much it seems like they would never act that way. The only major qualm I have with this is the same as we are used to seeing in this style of feminist literature, it is a little trans-exclusionary which was unnecessary. Otherwise, it definitely made me think and was a very intriguing style of book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, War, Violence, and Trafficking
Moderate: Transphobia
Pretty much any content warning you can imagine, consider it given for this book.madelinedalton's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Oof, this book is a total clusterfuck.
The characters are very hollow. They’re just props for carrying out the plot, which made it hard for me to get emotionally invested in them. The constant shifting of perspectives between the characters also contributed to my emotional detachment. As soon as I felt like I was excited to see what happened next to a character, their chapter would abruptly end. Giving each character roughly one chapter per year over a ten year time span was also jarring. They each lived so much life between those chapters, and we didn’t get to see any of it.
My perception is that the “thesis” of this book is that disproportionate power in anyone’s hands can be deadly. While I agree on the whole, the execution was sloppy in this book because the story started in our current patriarchal society. It would have been more interesting to deeply examine how the remnants of misogyny and patriarchy hung around during the shift to violent matriarchy. There were glimmers of this—the UrbanDox guy, and the line towards the end talking about how there are still a handful of men with power and money out there. But I think those moments fell flat because they weren’t properly connected to the overall thesis of the book.
The characters are very hollow. They’re just props for carrying out the plot, which made it hard for me to get emotionally invested in them. The constant shifting of perspectives between the characters also contributed to my emotional detachment. As soon as I felt like I was excited to see what happened next to a character, their chapter would abruptly end. Giving each character roughly one chapter per year over a ten year time span was also jarring. They each lived so much life between those chapters, and we didn’t get to see any of it.
My perception is that the “thesis” of this book is that disproportionate power in anyone’s hands can be deadly. While I agree on the whole, the execution was sloppy in this book because the story started in our current patriarchal society. It would have been more interesting to deeply examine how the remnants of misogyny and patriarchy hung around during the shift to violent matriarchy. There were glimmers of this—the UrbanDox guy, and the line towards the end talking about how there are still a handful of men with power and money out there. But I think those moments fell flat because they weren’t properly connected to the overall thesis of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Violence, Death, and War
Moderate: Blood
sneakya3's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence and Sexual assault
Moderate: War
vivikasweiven's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Torture, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Murder, Misogyny, Cursing, Child abuse, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Death, and Adult/minor relationship
fsws's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Rape, Trafficking, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, War, Slavery, and Sexual assault
hannahmdejong's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Violence, Torture, Death, Rape, War, and Sexual violence
sydneythekydneybean's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A very, very odd book. It had me hooked for the majority. I liked all the characters (Roxy being my favorite, followed by Margot and Jocelyn, then Tunde, and Allie was somewhere in there before taking a major drop in the ranking in those final 10-20 pages) and the set-up, premise, and plot were all interesting to keep me interested. I really liked the way it made me think about power dynamics, morality, and gender stereotypes. The way the author processes the different ways women would go about life with "the power" is so fascinating, BUT the ending really fizzled out for me, which was even more disappointing since the build-up to it was so good.
This book had so much potential to be a great, thought-provoking feminist read, but I don't think it can be that book when most of the women say Not only did it completely blow up (pun intended) a lot of character arcs, but it was also just like a hopeless ending, which is notoriously the worst way you can end a story to me.
Also, maybe someone can explain it to me, but I didn't really see the point of the letters at the beginning and the end of the book. Just give me the story in the middle. I don't need this weird back and forth, especially after giving me that apologetically bad ending.
This book had so much potential to be a great, thought-provoking feminist read, but I don't think it can be that book when most of the women say
Spoiler
"yes, let's blow up the world because we can (???????). we have more power than men now, but they want it back so instead of working with them now that we're at an equal level, let's blow it all up, go back 5,000 years, and start all over again".Spoiler
Allie's final story beat of becoming the President of Bessapara and choosing between war and peace had me at the edge of my seat, especially with the dynamic change between Roxy (who wants peace) and Allie (who wants war). I thought Allie finding her former adoptive mother and realizing that she was just as awful, if not worse than her former adoptive father, would lead to an epiphany that not all would be grand if women came out on top. Women can be just as vicious and violent and malevolent as men, and nothing will change. Only the reverse would happen. Women would be on top, leaving men with the scraps of the world, and I know historically that is how women were treated, but what kind of victory is that? Why would we create the same world that was so cruel to us? But nope, it seems like Allie didn't take any of this into account and chose war even after all of that. What an incredibly disappointing way to end her story.Also, maybe someone can explain it to me, but I didn't really see the point of the letters at the beginning and the end of the book. Just give me the story in the middle. I don't need this weird back and forth, especially after giving me that apologetically bad ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Medical content, Torture, and Sexism
Moderate: War and Genocide
Minor: Bullying
nezi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Fascinating concept but the execution leaves much to be desired. The Saudi Arabia part reeked of white feminism at times. I also disagree with the author on how the events would unfold should such a thing happen. That could just be the optimist in me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Torture, and Genocide
Minor: Death of parent
apersonfromflorida's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Drug use and War
Minor: Trafficking and Gun violence