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meganemarshall's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This concept was really interesting, but I feel like it fell flat in many areas. The book starts with a letter from an author writing to another author to like 'Hey, what do you think of my book'. So I think that I ruined the book a little bit cause i was thinking the book was gonna be written with journal articles and documents used mostly to explain. It did that a little, but I was disappointed there wasn't more.
There were 4 main characters' POV but sometimes also side characters POV. It would sometimes swith POVs in confusing places. I didn't actually connect to any of the characters. One character storyline would get more interesting, while the others were kind of boring, and then it would switch, and it never really stayed consistent.
At times, the plot felt really weak jumping between all these characters, which they do end up crossing paths at times. Each of their stories didn't really have a good arc. Then there wasn't a really good main arc throughout the story. The book was an odd mix of hypocritical concepts, simplifying dynamics, going from one extreme to the other, but also having really important explanations of things that women deal with.
Overall, the idea was really interesting, but the execution was just not there for me.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, and Rape
Minor: Trafficking
allyjshand's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Gore, Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, Physical abuse, and Torture
Moderate: War, Death of parent, Cursing, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use
bestkasescenario's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Slavery, Sexual content, Misogyny, Sexual assault, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
garverse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
also the tone felt off a lot, but I liked when it languished in certain descriptions of moments
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual violence
boothdwellerbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
dnietoperafan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Power is first and foremost a critique, not a 'what if' type of book. I started reading it as a 'what if' type of novel, which is how it was marketed, but I quickly realised, I don't think this was Alderman's intent. The gore, the violence, the misuse of power... I don't think Alderman believes women (as a group) would make these mistakes after knowing what it is to be on the other side of it. That's why I continued reading The Power as a critique to our current patriarchal society.
Alderman fully swaps how patriarchy currently works, and puts women in those rotten positions of power. She completely mirrors today's horrors (which I believe wouldn't happen if women suddenly got electric powers). Which is why so many people who read this book are appalled. So please, read this book knowing it's a critique and not a 'what if'.
So how come I rated it a 3-star and not a 4-star? As a story, The Power was just a bit bland for me. The plethora of characters was interesting at first, but there wasn't anything deep in them. Their development felt quite superficial, and I didn't care for them. So critique-wise, amazing book; story-wise, it could have definitely been better.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, War, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Trafficking, Torture, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Sexual harassment
sapphireb22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
1.0
Graphic: Genocide, Sexual violence, Slavery, Sexual assault, Rape, Suicide, Abortion, Child abuse, Murder, War, and Trafficking
pasadenaellie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
1.75
Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, Rape, and Pedophilia
mthornburg13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Hate crime, Sexual violence, Sexism, Murder, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Drug abuse, War, Violence, Trafficking, Stalking, and Child abuse
cristinareading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
This book is well written but I base my star rating on how much I enjoy reading something and this was a difficult book to read. It had a very sad way of seeing the world.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Drug abuse, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Sexual violence, Murder, Misogyny, Slavery, Sexism, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Violence, and Police brutality