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mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
Welcome to a world where it matters how smart you are… but there are dark secrets..
I absolutely love LOVED Vox which was the author’s first book and so when I saw she had a new book out with another dystopian setting… I knew I had to get it. And holy wow this one was just amazing in many ways.
At first we see just the Q and what it is, but later on with events happening we see that it all really parallels to Nazi Germany and how they wanted to eradicate everyone who didn’t fit their correct image (so people with mental health problems, LGBT, diverse people, and others). It was a really interesting and WOW read though at times I was shaking my head. I do love that this all takes place in the US, though I would have loved seeing some more reactions from outside as it seems Q doesn’t exist there. Q was quite interesting and also how it affected all the various aspects in life. It didn’t just affect things like buying items at a supermarket, but also school, family life, and more. If one of your family got less points it would affect the whole family.
Things seem to go OK at first (well, as OK as you would call the whole Q program I guess), but quite soon things go strange when kids that previously did well at school are dumped to the yellow school busses, which means… a school far far away from everyone and everything. And the things that happen there.. OH MAN.
I did feel for our MC, though I wish she had picked the right road earlier. Her husband is such a URGHHH character and while I can understand that the consequences for leaving are big… I still wanted her to do the right thing. Not just for her, but also for her daughters.
I loved that our MC wasn’t pure or OK at times, like so many protagonists do in books. We see she has quite a bit to do with the system, though mostly stems from her high school years. I love that the author shows us this and gives us an insight on how it all started.
Oma (LOVE THAT as that is what I call my grandparents) was an amazing character, poor lady that she sees things happening again, and I can imagine given all that she wants to be on the right side this time. I do feel for her that no one believes her, then again, given that we do read that she has changed stuff about the stories before (though probably to protect herself) I can imagine people wondering if she is ranting or telling the truth.
Things get really hairy nearer to the end, while I found her decision to that dumb… I can also see why she did it.
The ending felt a bit short, a bit rushed, a bit too soon, but I am still happy with it as we do get some sort of conclusion to the story and to the situation in America.
All in all, a fantastic read, I am glad that this book exists and I do hope that the author will keep on writing stories like this.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I absolutely love LOVED Vox which was the author’s first book and so when I saw she had a new book out with another dystopian setting… I knew I had to get it. And holy wow this one was just amazing in many ways.
At first we see just the Q and what it is, but later on with events happening we see that it all really parallels to Nazi Germany and how they wanted to eradicate everyone who didn’t fit their correct image (so people with mental health problems, LGBT, diverse people, and others). It was a really interesting and WOW read though at times I was shaking my head. I do love that this all takes place in the US, though I would have loved seeing some more reactions from outside as it seems Q doesn’t exist there. Q was quite interesting and also how it affected all the various aspects in life. It didn’t just affect things like buying items at a supermarket, but also school, family life, and more. If one of your family got less points it would affect the whole family.
Things seem to go OK at first (well, as OK as you would call the whole Q program I guess), but quite soon things go strange when kids that previously did well at school are dumped to the yellow school busses, which means… a school far far away from everyone and everything. And the things that happen there.. OH MAN.
I did feel for our MC, though I wish she had picked the right road earlier. Her husband is such a URGHHH character and while I can understand that the consequences for leaving are big… I still wanted her to do the right thing. Not just for her, but also for her daughters.
I loved that our MC wasn’t pure or OK at times, like so many protagonists do in books. We see she has quite a bit to do with the system, though mostly stems from her high school years. I love that the author shows us this and gives us an insight on how it all started.
Oma (LOVE THAT as that is what I call my grandparents) was an amazing character, poor lady that she sees things happening again, and I can imagine given all that she wants to be on the right side this time. I do feel for her that no one believes her, then again, given that we do read that she has changed stuff about the stories before (though probably to protect herself) I can imagine people wondering if she is ranting or telling the truth.
Things get really hairy nearer to the end, while I found her decision to that dumb… I can also see why she did it.
The ending felt a bit short, a bit rushed, a bit too soon, but I am still happy with it as we do get some sort of conclusion to the story and to the situation in America.
All in all, a fantastic read, I am glad that this book exists and I do hope that the author will keep on writing stories like this.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
saracox's review against another edition
4.0
I think at some point (probably as a teenager) everyone has thought "what if we just got rid of all the stupid people?" This book takes that thought and makes it a distopian reality. Based not too far into the future, society has become a hierarchical system based on Q scores. What you can do and have depends purely on this score. A woman who helped develop this system finds herself stuck when her youngest daughter gets a score so low that she gets shipped off to a boarding school. This is a really interesting read, that I really enjoyed. It was scaringly close to home, and seemed completely feesible if the wrong people came into power. The reason this was given only 4 and not 5 stars was because if kind the beginnings of this system infeesible. It began with a groups of pupils putting it within the school system, which other schools adopted. Working in a school myself, I can't believe that such obvious discrimination would be allowed and then become national school policy. Other than this one aspect of the narrative, I found it all very interesting. Including all the scientific and historic referneces.
lindsirae's review against another edition
3.0
Fun read but ultimately a typical BS liberal fantasy - one Very Special White Woman brings down an entire corrupt system through the magic of…the Washington Post? It was weirdly paced, too, and the ending didn’t punch nearly hard enough. Oh well!
carter84's review against another edition
4.0
I'm a sucker for dystopian books and Q gripped me from the very beginning. I find interesting that in reviews a lot of users found the story a bit too far fetched, when in my personal opinion this actually sounds far too plausible. In certain countries people from specific backgrounds (cultural and economical) are already at huge disadvantage when it comes to education and eugenics is a nasty idea that keeps reappearing through history.
If I were to complain I'd say that the setting in the mid-part of the book is perhaps a bit wasted, but it's a minor blemish on an otherwise really solid book.
If I were to complain I'd say that the setting in the mid-part of the book is perhaps a bit wasted, but it's a minor blemish on an otherwise really solid book.
abiimay's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
isobela0101's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rachel2408's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Very thought provoking, could this be our future?!
richter10's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25