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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Abortion, Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
As soon as I read the concept for this book I added it to my Goodreads "want to read" shelf and then nearly 2 years later I see a video detailing a TV show scheduled for release later this year based on this book- well that meant I was reminded of this books existence and I wasn't going to forget about it a second time- I immediately got access to the Audiobook and started it the next day. It lived up to my expectations.
I enjoyed the multi POV and how everyone was linked to one another in different ways. The whole curfew system was so interesting and I can imagine it being like Cowie details society in the book if something like that actually came to pass (it never would because we still very much live in a patriarchy).
Lots of twists and red herrings, and as we know there was a murdered woman from the get go, you spend the whole book trying to not only solve who murdered her but also who the victim might be, guessing the hows? and whys? as you read on.
Cowie writes deplorable characters very well, there are quite a few I HATED in this book.
I look forward to seeing if the Curfew (2024) TV show does this novel justice.
I enjoyed the multi POV and how everyone was linked to one another in different ways. The whole curfew system was so interesting and I can imagine it being like Cowie details society in the book if something like that actually came to pass (it never would because we still very much live in a patriarchy).
Lots of twists and red herrings, and as we know there was a murdered woman from the get go, you spend the whole book trying to not only solve who murdered her but also who the victim might be, guessing the hows? and whys? as you read on.
Cowie writes deplorable characters very well, there are quite a few I HATED in this book.
I look forward to seeing if the Curfew (2024) TV show does this novel justice.
I know what the message was supposed to be but it was so bad, also the women did flawed things too like hitting her daughter
Also very white women feminism, pretends that everything is sexism and completely ignores any other type of discrimination which is so unrealistic
Also very white women feminism, pretends that everything is sexism and completely ignores any other type of discrimination which is so unrealistic
challenging
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed the characters all linked together in a subtle way. I couldn't stand the character of teenager Cass, but maybe we're not meant to so we learn to love her by the end?! A world in which women have more freedom and power...imagine that! Am interested to read more by the author
After Dark is a very gripping and unputdownable book that offers a view into a world where women hold all the power.
Under the Curfew law, men are electronically tagged and are not allowed to leave their homes between the hours of 7pm and 7am. It changed things for the better until a woman is murdered late at night and has male DNA on her body. The police must investigate whether she was murdered by a man and how he was able to bypass the Curfew.
The story follows four women: Pamela, a police officer on the verge of retirement; Sarah, who is a tagger and reported her ex-husband to the police for breaking Curfew; her daughter, Cass, who strongly believes Curfew is wrong; and Helen, who is on the verge of starting a family with her boyfriend and ignores advice that they’re not a compatible couple.
I found this to be a very thought-provoking read as I had so many questions about the Curfew law and how it worked. I thought some things worked really well and would probably be good to have in real life too, like the Motherhouse, which is a home for women only. I liked the idea of having a place where you felt safe and could almost have a family with other women. The Motherhouse is where Sarah and her daughter live so it was good to have an inside view of what it was like.
I did like Sarah’s chapters and found her situation quite interesting. She’s trying to protect herself and her daughter, but Cass only ever finds her mother at fault so they have a rather difficult relationship. Sarah supports Curfew and even went as far as getting a job as a tagger, which involves checking tags and even tagging boys as young as ten. I’d have liked to have been given the reasoning behind tagging ten-year-olds as I thought that was quite a young age to have to follow Curfew. There’s so many things I was considering while I was reading this and it would definitely be interesting having a debate about it with someone.
While I did like having the perspective of a woman who doesn’t believe in the Curfew and defends men’s violent behaviour, I found Cass to be a very immature character at times and I was surprised to find out that she was eighteen as she acted much younger. Her argument against Curfew was mainly because she missed her dad and was angry at her mother for reporting him. I liked when she was debating the Curfew with her teacher and classmates but I think she could have been more open-minded as to why some people supported it. However, I did agree that it was unfair to place restrictions on all men. It didn’t escape my notice that the men we follow in this story were all quite nasty. I found myself wondering where all the decent men were as they can’t all be violent against women.
Pamela’s chapters were probably my favourite as she’s the only police officer left who remembers what it was like before Curfew. All the new recruits refuse to consider that a man was able to break Curfew. While Pamela knows the law can be broken, the other officers consider it to be a rock hard alibi. I appreciated how Pamela refused to be silenced and carried on investigating whether a man could have broken Curfew.
After Dark is an absolutely fascinating read that will keep you up all night and stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page. Jayne Cowie is definitely an author to watch for.
*I received a copy of this book for review.*
Under the Curfew law, men are electronically tagged and are not allowed to leave their homes between the hours of 7pm and 7am. It changed things for the better until a woman is murdered late at night and has male DNA on her body. The police must investigate whether she was murdered by a man and how he was able to bypass the Curfew.
The story follows four women: Pamela, a police officer on the verge of retirement; Sarah, who is a tagger and reported her ex-husband to the police for breaking Curfew; her daughter, Cass, who strongly believes Curfew is wrong; and Helen, who is on the verge of starting a family with her boyfriend and ignores advice that they’re not a compatible couple.
I found this to be a very thought-provoking read as I had so many questions about the Curfew law and how it worked. I thought some things worked really well and would probably be good to have in real life too, like the Motherhouse, which is a home for women only. I liked the idea of having a place where you felt safe and could almost have a family with other women. The Motherhouse is where Sarah and her daughter live so it was good to have an inside view of what it was like.
I did like Sarah’s chapters and found her situation quite interesting. She’s trying to protect herself and her daughter, but Cass only ever finds her mother at fault so they have a rather difficult relationship. Sarah supports Curfew and even went as far as getting a job as a tagger, which involves checking tags and even tagging boys as young as ten. I’d have liked to have been given the reasoning behind tagging ten-year-olds as I thought that was quite a young age to have to follow Curfew. There’s so many things I was considering while I was reading this and it would definitely be interesting having a debate about it with someone.
While I did like having the perspective of a woman who doesn’t believe in the Curfew and defends men’s violent behaviour, I found Cass to be a very immature character at times and I was surprised to find out that she was eighteen as she acted much younger. Her argument against Curfew was mainly because she missed her dad and was angry at her mother for reporting him. I liked when she was debating the Curfew with her teacher and classmates but I think she could have been more open-minded as to why some people supported it. However, I did agree that it was unfair to place restrictions on all men. It didn’t escape my notice that the men we follow in this story were all quite nasty. I found myself wondering where all the decent men were as they can’t all be violent against women.
Pamela’s chapters were probably my favourite as she’s the only police officer left who remembers what it was like before Curfew. All the new recruits refuse to consider that a man was able to break Curfew. While Pamela knows the law can be broken, the other officers consider it to be a rock hard alibi. I appreciated how Pamela refused to be silenced and carried on investigating whether a man could have broken Curfew.
After Dark is an absolutely fascinating read that will keep you up all night and stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page. Jayne Cowie is definitely an author to watch for.
*I received a copy of this book for review.*
So, in the world of this book, women somehow got a law through a male-dominated Parliament to force all men to wear electronic tags. Men must be in their registered address by seven at night and stay there until seven the next morning. Since this limits the work they're able to do, women have drifted into power - apparently, we're never shown that. This is very specifically a UK only phenomenon; we're told about one character's parents who live in France and never visit because her father doesn't want to pay for a temporary tag.
We're told that this one simple change has put women in power over men, by ensuring that they can go out at night, walk home alone and so on. And I can see how that would be true. Certainly a lot of violence against women happens at night, in dark places. However, a lot of violence against women doesn't happen at night in dark places. How does the Curfew stop domestic violence? How does it give women any power at all? It means there are no false alibis, I suppose, but that's not helpful to the woman who's been attacked in a car park, or who's been beaten to death in her own home.
Apart from that; all the men here are horrible. The only one I feel at all bad for is Billy; we're told once that his Male Temper came out, but that's after literal weeks of Cass torturing him, and there's still no implication that he hit her or touched her at all. I think some shouting is the least she deserved. Everyone is is a violent, bullying, abusive mess of a man. I know that there are men like that out there, but there are also some men who are perfectly normal and nice. Where are they in this novel?
All in all, I liked the idea of this novel, but I think the execution leaves something to be desired.
We're told that this one simple change has put women in power over men, by ensuring that they can go out at night, walk home alone and so on. And I can see how that would be true. Certainly a lot of violence against women happens at night, in dark places. However, a lot of violence against women doesn't happen at night in dark places. How does the Curfew stop domestic violence? How does it give women any power at all? It means there are no false alibis, I suppose, but that's not helpful to the woman who's been attacked in a car park, or who's been beaten to death in her own home.
Apart from that; all the men here are horrible. The only one I feel at all bad for is Billy; we're told once that his Male Temper came out, but that's after literal weeks of Cass torturing him, and there's still no implication that he hit her or touched her at all. I think some shouting is the least she deserved. Everyone is is a violent, bullying, abusive mess of a man. I know that there are men like that out there, but there are also some men who are perfectly normal and nice. Where are they in this novel?
All in all, I liked the idea of this novel, but I think the execution leaves something to be desired.
This was such an intriguing take on a basically dystopian Britain where men have been given a curfew and are electronically tagged, and women make up most of the workforce. I did have my reservations when picking up this book, but I really didn't need to!
We get the story written from different perspectives who also have differing opinions on the curfew and how men are now treated. We have Sarah whose husband is in prison for breaking curfew, her daughter Cass and then her teacher, Helen who has just got a new boyfriend Tom. Through these characters, we were really opened to every experience of this world. Helen and Tom have to go through sessions before they can be granted to live together and we see their relationship evolve. Sarah works at a tagging centre where she has to check and fit the tags that the men have and she's also dealing with the fact that her husband will be released from prison pretty soon. Cass is your typical angsty teen who isn't sure that the curfew is a good idea and thinks that it should be reconsidered.
And in the midst of all the above, a womans body is found at the start of the story and we get to also follow along with the Detective who has this case, Pamela whilst she tried to figure who could have killed this woman and what she is hit with, when she dare suggest that it may be a man who has killed the woman, despite the curfew.
This really was a fantastic book and is such a good spin on a 'dystopian' future that people may have considered.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for the advanced copy.
We get the story written from different perspectives who also have differing opinions on the curfew and how men are now treated. We have Sarah whose husband is in prison for breaking curfew, her daughter Cass and then her teacher, Helen who has just got a new boyfriend Tom. Through these characters, we were really opened to every experience of this world. Helen and Tom have to go through sessions before they can be granted to live together and we see their relationship evolve. Sarah works at a tagging centre where she has to check and fit the tags that the men have and she's also dealing with the fact that her husband will be released from prison pretty soon. Cass is your typical angsty teen who isn't sure that the curfew is a good idea and thinks that it should be reconsidered.
And in the midst of all the above, a womans body is found at the start of the story and we get to also follow along with the Detective who has this case, Pamela whilst she tried to figure who could have killed this woman and what she is hit with, when she dare suggest that it may be a man who has killed the woman, despite the curfew.
This really was a fantastic book and is such a good spin on a 'dystopian' future that people may have considered.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for the advanced copy.