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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
3.5
Overall liked it but didn't love it. I didn't really care for the ending but enjoyed the overall idea of the book.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Death, Pedophilia, Torture, Blood, Gore, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Sexism, and Child abuse
Moderate: Confinement
penguins_save_lives's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, and Rape
Moderate: Medical trauma, War, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Stalking
vninny's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Bullying, Death, Incest, Rape, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Blood, Gore, Sexism, Sexual violence, and War
oddpilot97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
*Be aware that this book contains DETAILED depictions of rape.*
It quickly devolved into “won’t someone think of the poor men??” And my heart broke at the horrible stories. Until I remembered: this is OUR narrative, just flipped. Why should we have to flip it for people to care? And why should i read something that makes me cry for imaginary people when this happens to real people every day. I have empathy fatigue for imaginary situations now, when that empathy could be directed towards real suffering.
Finally, you have to ask, are women better than men? They’re not. People are people. You don’t have to think that all men are horrible to know there are some men who abuse their strength. Why wouldn’t the same hold true for women? -Naomi Alderman (The New York Times).
Would women sexually abused men at the same rates if the roles were reversed? I have to fundamentally disagree, and the notion makes me queasy. There were several times this book made me feel sick to my stomach (specifically the scenes of assault and justifications of it).
Even if that were true, what was the point of writing this? Egalitarianism is the goal, not enacting a matriarchy. I don't think this book needed to be written and it negatively impacted me to read. I do believe that power corrupts. But at the end of the day, I have to ask myself what stories are worth our energy and which ones we should be platforming. And a book that asks “what If the real life victims were the abusers” helps no one, in my opinion.
Many have compared this to “A Handmaid’s Tale”. That parallel couldn’t be further from the truth, in my opinion. Margret Atwood did what good dystopian stories do: she took an idea present in our society and pushed it to the limit. That’s not the case with “The Power”. Alderman was apparently mentored by Atwood, and I'm genuinely curious what her perspective would be on this book.
Graphic: Pedophilia, Incest, War, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Sexism
savazelena's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
As so many have said: good idea, bad execution.
As far as content goes, I'm relatively okay with it. It's an interesting premise that shifts the perspective on patriarchy and gender and boy do we need those. The only thing that is missing, for me, is the question of trans characters - we have a minor intersex character and that's it? It would be a really interesting topic to explore in the context of this dystopia, so I missed it.
For the style... I thought it was just dramatic for the beginning of the story, but it doesn't. End. All throughout the book. We have these. Short. Intense. Sentences. That are sometimes deep and pseudointelectual. And sometimes. Just descriptions. To me, it's bad writing. There's no versatility, no changes in narration considering the context.
And because of this fake deep style, the second half of the book is almost incoherent. There is a lot of political themes and complex storyline, but we never get any actual explanations, there are no motives for what the characters are doing, they are all just a cardboard cutout of an archetype.
The letter story was interesting and I liked it. I would've liked to see more of this dynamics, as it also feels more realistic and would be harder to complicate with style.
Since Atwood is mentioned in acknowledgment, I feel comfortable comparing this to Handmaid's Tale and The Testament: books with very dystopian and VERY complex plots, seen through a few of the characters, well written and understandable, with dimensional characters. This was, in comparison, a college essay.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Sexism, Rape, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Child abuse
leaknezevic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Death, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Sexual violence, Child death, Blood, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Torture, Stalking, Drug use, Slavery, War, Violence, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, Hate crime, Gore, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Grief, Vomit, and Excrement
raventomes's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Sexism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and War
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity and Bullying
jadehusdanhicks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It was political, a world in crisis. Gender wars like never seen before yet in its writing reflections to past global crisis and breaks in a light I’ve not read before.
It has conversations of Zionism, UN conflict, gangs/militia , war zones, media in war and more.
It also has religious crisis, drugs crisis and family betrayal, leading some of our main characters jos, Roxy and allie on crazy pathways over the years this book takes place.
One becomes a warrior of state, another like a new Jesus known as “mother eve”, and another with huge family gang affiliations.
This was such an interesting read, set out like a transcript exchanged between two friends/authors, riddle with religious/historic artefacts as if this tale is a break from history trying to be understood.
I picked it up due to intrigue of the women having power and the men not but besides the expected misogyny from the men unhappy they don’t have power I couldn’t have predicted anything that was going to happen in this book and was thoroughly wrapped up by it.
I would most definitely reccomend this to anyone looking for a unique, intriguing read and look forward to trying out Naomi’s amazing writing again in future.
Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gore, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death, Trafficking, Blood, Confinement, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and War
surelyyoujess's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Genocide, Murder, Sexual assault, Confinement, Cursing, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death, Drug use, Gore, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and War
oksanagold's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Rape, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail