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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Need to think about this one for a bit before I review.
I liked the dystopian setting and it felt all too believable, however I felt that more could have been done with it. The characters and setting were good but the story fell a little flat for me.
Meh.
This is not a bad read, it just doesn't add anything to the fight. I liked some characters more than others, and felt that the story really belonged to Ro. The Explorer's story, imho, added nothing and just distracted. I could not stand Susan or understand where she was coming from (I mean, I get that some people marry and have kids and then find it's not what they wanted after all-but I never understood what SUSAN's problem was. She's tired of cleaning?)
And I wanted more Gin. She, to me, was the most interesting, most pivotal character and we just don't get enough.
This is not a bad read, it just doesn't add anything to the fight. I liked some characters more than others, and felt that the story really belonged to Ro. The Explorer's story, imho, added nothing and just distracted. I could not stand Susan or understand where she was coming from (I mean, I get that some people marry and have kids and then find it's not what they wanted after all-but I never understood what SUSAN's problem was. She's tired of cleaning?)
And I wanted more Gin. She, to me, was the most interesting, most pivotal character and we just don't get enough.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This book was a lot of things, some expected, some not, some good, some not. As a character study, this book is extremely well written. I felt emotionally attached to all of the characters and felt their problems on a personal level. As a novel with a plot, it fell short. There was a meager overarching plot that intertwined the characters, and it didn't even really start until over halfway through the book. The plot also wrapped up too easily. I would have rated this lower for the issues with the plot if I didn't think the characters weren't so well written. I will give a warning: if you dislike slow books, this is not the book for you! Red Clocks is extremely slow. I enjoy reading slow books so it didn't bother me, but most people do not. If you are one of those people, don't start it and then rate it badly because you DNFed it 25% in. If you are are looking for a feminist book, this is probably for you, so check it out.
This is tough. I liked the political snippets. Those were terrifying. I liked the Salem witch trial layer. I liked Ro and her struggles to maintain appropriate teacher boundaries despite her desire for a child. I connected with S and her ambivalence about her kids.
But the book was lacking something. Cohesion? Diversity? Real stakes?
But the book was lacking something. Cohesion? Diversity? Real stakes?
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I chose this book based on title and cover alone and I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed it quite a lot, but I do know I'm a sucker for books with multiple POV's, and it's nice to read about women in different stages of life.
I read this book with some trepidation because I was worried it was going to be another half-baked reproductive rights dystopia like Louise Erdrich’s awful Future Home of the Living God. Fortunately, I enjoyed reading Red Clocks. The universe of the novel is the same as the present aside from a complete lack of reproductive rights (abortion, IVF, adoption for singles). Zumas doesn’t need to imagine a far-off reality for the US; instead she follows Republican lawmakers’ fantasies to their logical conclusions. The story is told from the perspectives of four different women who are each affected by the new laws and their narratives complement each other well.
I expected this to be a plot-driven dystopian near future story, but quickly realized it is something much more meaningful than that - an extremely realistic look at how the implementation of law criminalizing abortion would play out for several different women. One thing I didn't think of was the idea that this one law would spur even more extreme corollary laws or ideas for laws, like preventing single parent adoptions and the death penalty for abortion providers.
This book felt so deftly written, I didn't hear a single jangly note to shake me out of the story. Brief chapters alternate between characters, but it's a small town so all the characters frequently appear in each other's chapters, so we see them all from the inside and the outside. I also liked the occasional rough notes the biographer writes about her subject, a Danish woman explorer in the late 19th century, and am still processing how it relates to the rest of the novel.
I loved this book on a word level too - such clear, unforced writing, and even little throw-away lines hit so close to home, I felt like she was reading my weird little mind:
"She's grown afraid of the toilet brush, damp and rusted in its cup."
And on a more universal level...
"Shut up, she tells her monkey mind. Please shut up, you picker of nits, presser of bruises, counter of losses, fearer of failures, collector of grievances future and past."
This book felt so deftly written, I didn't hear a single jangly note to shake me out of the story. Brief chapters alternate between characters, but it's a small town so all the characters frequently appear in each other's chapters, so we see them all from the inside and the outside. I also liked the occasional rough notes the biographer writes about her subject, a Danish woman explorer in the late 19th century, and am still processing how it relates to the rest of the novel.
I loved this book on a word level too - such clear, unforced writing, and even little throw-away lines hit so close to home, I felt like she was reading my weird little mind:
"She's grown afraid of the toilet brush, damp and rusted in its cup."
And on a more universal level...
"Shut up, she tells her monkey mind. Please shut up, you picker of nits, presser of bruises, counter of losses, fearer of failures, collector of grievances future and past."