Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Power by Naomi Alderman

135 reviews

paigerini's review

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

4.5

I read this for class as a part of a book club with some of my classmates.

This book has multi-faceted, dynamic characters, a captivating plot, and an interesting concept of "What if only women had electricity powers?" This story shows how society would change (and fall apart) if women became the "stronger" sex, with all the political, social, and religious turmoil that comes along with it.

I've heard that some people criticize this book for being too pessimistic or portraying women as too destructive, but I believe that is the point. This portrayal is supposed to be exaggerated to further enhance how sexism plays a part in both our society and this apocalyptic one.

For me, this was an amazing read. I like that it is abrasive and controversial, as some of the best books strike up the best conversations. I should check out some of Alderman's other books.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Violence, Drug use, Murder, Sexual assault, and War

Moderate: Sexism and Trafficking

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.5

Check out content/trigger warnings (I don't think the ones I chose are all inclusive of what is in the book so look up all the reviews that have the warnings) because some stuff can be quite graphic. 
Overall liked it but didn't love it. I didn't really care for the ending but enjoyed the overall idea of the book.

---

Content Warnings

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

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

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

leaknezevic's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

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

p_ttyb_tch's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

• 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? No

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Rape

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Trafficking

charlielizabethm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Confinement, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Death, War, Drug abuse, Trafficking, Violence, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Rape, Slavery, and Sexual violence

jadehusdanhicks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• 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

This book was truly mind numbing.  
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.  

---

Content Warnings

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

adventurous challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

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

ljp817's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, Death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Misogyny, Trafficking, and Transphobia

Minor: Drug use, War, and Religious bigotry

leah_alexandra's review against another edition

fast-paced

2.5

This was pretty bad, overall. There’s so much going on that it leaves absolutely no room for nuanced explorations of some of the more interesting ideas that undergird the book. It’s pretty violent, and I really had a hard time getting behind the idea that in just a few short years of development this “power,” hordes of women would just flip to exacting the same kind of violence against men as men do against women in patriarchal societies. The book relies on a gender binary in a pretty problematic way, and religion (theoretically all religions, but in actuality Christianity) is very centered in a way I did not expect. I didn’t feel like I was able to connect with any of the characters, and they were written pretty unrealistically, powers aside. The writing itself was also quite juvenile. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Drug use, Murder, Rape, and Violence