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mollslol's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
This book was fascinating to read post-Trump and post-Roe. But it’s incredibly violent and graphic and at times I had to put it down and walk away. I understand why Alderman made the choice to include those descriptions but if you’re sensitive to violence and gore, maybe skip. And definitely check the content warnings.
Graphic: Rape, Violence, and Murder
marykatesbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
for the first third or maybe half of the book i felt like i was reading a good book but not connecting, or maybe missing something. then as the plot started to develop at a faster pace it felt like i couldn’t look away from the car crash that the characters were headed into. i LOVE that alderman didn’t just create a feminine utopia with her work. instead she called into question the belief that power, when wielded by women, is good and positive. the ending was a shocking but oddly perfect end for the characters and their stories, and the emails at the end framing it in a new perspective… just woah. it made me go back and flip through the book with this new view.
my only issue with the book is how graphic some of the violence and rape was. this isn’t a criticism though because i think it added to the strength of the plot and the comparison to modern rape-culture. that being said, it was still difficult to get through some of those moments, probably because it was evoking memories of actual situations that women currently face. it was so easy to visualize the scenes in this book with the genders flipped since that is how it normally is.
overall, i thought this was a phenomenal book because it didn’t just use feminine rage as an outlet for pent up anger about EVERYTHING. alderman took the opportunity to highlight feminine rage while also pointing out the flaws that can accompany power, especially when it’s at the expense of others.
i wish there was more of each character. i want more chapters telling me more about them as people and what their lives are like outside of the snippets in the book. ugh it was so good.
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Incest, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Dysphoria
non graphic depiction of rape of women, graphic depiction of rape of menisabellaizzyj's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and War
Moderate: Death, Torture, and Murder
Minor: Gun violence, Trafficking, and Grief
risaleel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism
lovelymisanthrope's review
- 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
3.5
"The Power" follows a handful of different points of view in a near future world in which women have suddenly developed this electric power. Because of this power, women take charge and start ruling the world. But, with great power some women are finding it difficult to not become corrupted.
For a book about a physical power that can kill someone almost instantly, I thought this book was paced very slowly. It took me so long to get into the story, and it really hindered my enjoyment. While I was reading this story, I thought it was so ludicrous to see that the women were corrupted by power and the men were disgruntled by their new place in the world, but I think that is the point. Whether we like it or not, women are treated as lesser in every aspect of life in our world, and the men do not want to give up the power they wield because they are afraid of the competition and inferiority that may be brought on by having women in power. When you read that women are in charge and causing all of this chaos, it sounds crazy, and I think that says way more about our society than it should.
I did enjoy that one of the perspectives we got was from a male journalist. He was such a great ally to women and did not seek to take their power away. He appeared like a neutral third party and was able to report without bias on the chaos that inevitably ensued because of this power.
Overall, I enjoyed what this book was trying to do, and the message it was trying to convey, but for me it just fell short kind of short in some ways.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Abortion, and Alcohol
ehrycyna's review
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, Murder, and War
Moderate: Child death, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Police brutality, and Kidnapping
i_read_big_boucs's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thoughts:
- Is it weird that this book was very oddly empowering? I was simultaneously shocked in horror by the violence of the things that happened, but I guess I had never experienced myself as a woman as potentially "running the world" or the kind of person one has to fear. Is this why men like all the boom boom military movies? Because they're always the one doing the killing and not the permanent victims in all media? It was really interesting to really experience in my gut the way the female characters were just not afraid anymore. I felt safe, I felt powerful. It made me realize how much I take for granted unconsciously that I am vulnerable to harm in many situations, and that this is just such a default I experience it as the human condition. This was a powerful emotional experience.
- as a feminist, there was this permanent anxiety in me that this book would be used in an anti-feminist way to say "Look! this is what the feminists want!" because we spend so much energy saying we don't want female domination but equality. So there was something that felt incredibly taboo but also exciting and morally complex about running with the opposite narrative, while the cleverness of the gender-flipped details is such that it serves a feminist point as well.
- something I haven't really settled my mind on is the dimension of masochistic sexual excitement experience by Tunde. In some ways, I found the inclusion of how domination becomes eroticised accurate to heterosexism and the way women under patriarchy come to experience things. But it was also extremely disturbing and existed really throughout the whole book. Does it represent the way men write women in flipped? Is it also a way of embracing this moral complexity? Oof.
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Murder
alisonvh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
gabgeh's review
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail