Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
This isn’t a long book but it took me almost two weeks to get through. There were moments of beautiful writing but too many of the characters felt underdeveloped and the narrative lacked cohesion. I had high hopes but was left underwhelmed.
This took me a long time to read cause it hits too close to home right now. It's a very hard topic to read about. However, Leni Zumas creates 5 very interesting female characters, that are by no means perfect but very interesting to follow through this world.
This is one of those books that I didn’t enjoy much as a reader, but found interesting as a scholar. Zumas is pretty clearly telling the story of a place by displacing the world of Newville into a near-future dystopia, which is an interesting move. Sure, this book is about the connections between women in a community, but on a much deeper level it’s about the connection of human bodies to the environments they inhabit, which is honestly a much more complex narrative move than I was expecting. Zumas’s book is about reproductive complexities, certainly; but it’s also about the larger cycles that occur around us, and the deeper histories that inhere in our surroundings—and whether we matter within this greater context.
I felt like this book is trying too hard to be something it isn’t- and shouldn’t be. It’s trying to be literary, and I felt like that took away from the storyline(s).
The hype, the comparisons to The Handmaid's Tale, and the "dystopian" label are all misleading. Red Clocks has a frightening premise: a US very like our own, but with the newly passed Personhood Amendment, conception is defined by law as starting at birth. Abortions and in vitro fertilization are illegal. Women who miscarry are forced to hold funeral services. Seeking an abortion can land a woman in prison.
With this political scenario as the background, Red Clocks shows the lives of four women in a small coastal town, each defined as a type: "the biographer", "the wife", "the daughter", "the mender". Sometimes the author uses their actual names, sometimes not.
The story is interesting enough, but the writing is a bit maddening, and overall it just doesn't work as well as it should. For more, see my full review at Bookshelf Fantasies.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy via NetGalley.
With this political scenario as the background, Red Clocks shows the lives of four women in a small coastal town, each defined as a type: "the biographer", "the wife", "the daughter", "the mender". Sometimes the author uses their actual names, sometimes not.
The story is interesting enough, but the writing is a bit maddening, and overall it just doesn't work as well as it should. For more, see my full review at Bookshelf Fantasies.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy via NetGalley.
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is where we’re headed if we stay complacent about freedom over our own bodies.
Chillingly relevant. Handmaid’s Tale with deeper undertones and a modern understanding of what an America would look like if Roe were to fall.
“Laws are not natural phenomena. They have particular and often horrific histories.”
What chilled me most was that it was so close to reality — especially under the current administration’s chants of “overturn Roe.” The author made me completely believe that this was America. Which is utterly terrifying.
“Laws are not natural phenomena. They have particular and often horrific histories.”
What chilled me most was that it was so close to reality — especially under the current administration’s chants of “overturn Roe.” The author made me completely believe that this was America. Which is utterly terrifying.
This is one of those books that you don't simply enjoy; it feels special. I found myself reading paragraphs, and sometimes pages, multiple times because I loved them so much.
When I first started to read Red Clocks, I wasn't sure this was going to be the book for me. But then, I continued reading, and boy was I wrong!
I got a bit confused at first by the chapter changes -- each chapter is from one of the four main character's point of view and their name is never mentioned in that chapter. However, once I got to know the characters, their voices were so unique that there was no danger of confusing them.
I love the premise of the book -- that in the near future (ie, anytime, really), the abortion laws in the US are repealed and embryos are granted person status, which changes everything around reproduction. Also, there's a new law around adoption where "every child needs two", meaning single people can no longer adopt. Red Clocks takes place just as these new laws are going into effect so that we can see their full impact.
By throwing the world into this kind of situation, combined with the story of the 19th century Icelandic Arctic explorer, Elivor. Zumas is able to explore the concept of motherhood from many different angles in a fascinating and thoughtful way. By about mid way through the book, I couldn't put it down and just had to finish.
NOTE: I received an ecopy of this book via NetGalley.
I got a bit confused at first by the chapter changes -- each chapter is from one of the four main character's point of view and their name is never mentioned in that chapter. However, once I got to know the characters, their voices were so unique that there was no danger of confusing them.
I love the premise of the book -- that in the near future (ie, anytime, really), the abortion laws in the US are repealed and embryos are granted person status, which changes everything around reproduction. Also, there's a new law around adoption where "every child needs two", meaning single people can no longer adopt. Red Clocks takes place just as these new laws are going into effect so that we can see their full impact.
By throwing the world into this kind of situation, combined with the story of the 19th century Icelandic Arctic explorer, Elivor. Zumas is able to explore the concept of motherhood from many different angles in a fascinating and thoughtful way. By about mid way through the book, I couldn't put it down and just had to finish.
NOTE: I received an ecopy of this book via NetGalley.