A review by te_books
Eleven Percent: A Novel by Maren Uthaug

Did not finish book. Stopped at 56%.

DNF at 56%. This book is not for me. Aside from the pacing being way too slow, I disliked the writing style and plot. Maybe I would’ve enjoyed it more if I had read handmaiden’s tale, since this is a gender reversal of that. What really contributed to my DNF was how comically over the top everything was. There are no subtle plot devices here, everything is so extreme that it reads more as satire than as fiction: the story focuses on the magical properties of menstrual blood infused cakes, a Christian church that relies on menstrual blood donations and performs services that involve snake-venom fueled rituals, a 200lb python that only eats male animals, and a stolen 10 year old boy who’s feared for his testosterone. There are audiences may find this less bizarre than me, and perhaps they’ll be able to enjoy the story more. I could not.

Furthermore, I found some of the content super inflammatory, like the repeated idea that “men will rape women unless medicated,” (a direct quote) but I suppose I could chalk that up to being used as exposition for the post-patriarchy world in the story.