Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Power by Naomi Alderman

367 reviews

reailtin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Violence

savazelena's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• 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

Sigh. What?

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Sexism, Rape, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Child abuse

nataliegoodman13's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

My feelings on this book were pretty complicated. I originally picked it up somewhat out of spite - I love feminist dystopias - and while there were parts I enjoyed, I definitely struggled with some of the concepts in the book. Yes, “absolute power corrupts absolutely”, but not every single woman would be corrupt, just like not every single man is corrupt. Margot was my favorite character, but I felt like she didn’t have as much “screentime” as some of the other characters. The religion sections got a bit heavy handed for me as well even though I am religious. I might revisit it later.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Sexual violence

knupselmaus's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexism, Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Slavery, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, and Child death

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

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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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Rape

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Trafficking

stephdavis's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Such an interesting book. It’s a very dark read which I naively didn’t expect, but for a dystopian novel it feels scarily accurate to what might happen were the original event to occur.

I’ve seen comparisons to Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and can definitely understand the link. I would be interested to know how much of the novel has any historical standing (again, like Atwood) other than the obvious flip in male and female power dynamics. 

Finally, I think the email correspondance in the start and end of the novel are genius. I’d love to find more books with a similar ‘breaking of the fourth wall’ type narrative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Sexual violence and Violence

daja123's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Blood, Sexual harassment, Rape, Violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: War

avkleeck's review

adventurous dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Really fast paced feeling, liked the writing style. Love the commentary on power and its corruptbess regardless of gender. Desconstructing gender norms as well

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, War, and Rape

bookmarked_by_kate's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, and Violence