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A review by pascalthehoff
The Power by Naomi Alderman
2.0
First of all: The whole premise of this novel is terrifyingly good in theory. I was so much looking forward to reading this book once I found about its existence and expected something like... I don't really know what I expected, but not quite this, to say the least.
There is so much potential in here for a truly groundbreaking dystopic novel. In the accolades on its cover, the book is described as a pageturner, containing a "thrill-a-minute". I didn't stop the clock, but most of the thrills I got from this novel were rather cheap. Most of the things that could have made the novel really stand out, unfortunately, defied the golden rule of "show don't tell".
All the social and political circumstances - aka the things I really cared about - played out way too fast and felt rather shallow and implausible. In the beginning, it was still a lot better than in the end (the last 100 pages must have been the most dreadful thing I've read in a while), but even then it wasn't enough.
Maybe it's just because I'm too tied-up or something, but the entire concept of the female power in this book was handled way too much like some super power from a Marvel film. Miracle healings, stealing each others powers, drugs that enhance the powers in ridiculous ways...? Come on.
I know the novel is taking place over the span of multiple years, but it doesn't feel like that at all. And even then, the stuff that is happening here would be pretty far-fetched, even if the book showed us 100 years of female rule.
The final nail in the coffin - at least to me - is the novel's stern focus on just a handful of flat and tropey characters. I couldn't have cared any less about what happened to these people, although some of the things they witnessed really made an impression that will (hopefully) last - I gotta give the novel that.
But even those genuinely thought-provoking, sometimes terrifying scenes felt off as soon as the torture and violence went completely over the top in the end. I guess its not completely unbelievable for society to evolve in such a way (if one really wants to suspend one's disbelief). But I feel like the author could have toned down on all the extreme stuff (which there is A LOT of) and a more plausible and more immersive novel could have come out of that as a result.
Maybe it's just my expectations. This novel is probably a really great thriller with an incredibly interesting premise and maybe, if I'd have tackled the book with a mindset, I'd tackle, for example, a Stephen King book with, maybe I'd have found some joy in it. But somehow, I really don't like these kind of books anymore that try to emulate the excitement of movies. Pagelong action scenes, new chapters every five pages and stuff like that might engage some readers, but I kinda expected something with more depth.
There is so much potential in here for a truly groundbreaking dystopic novel. In the accolades on its cover, the book is described as a pageturner, containing a "thrill-a-minute". I didn't stop the clock, but most of the thrills I got from this novel were rather cheap. Most of the things that could have made the novel really stand out, unfortunately, defied the golden rule of "show don't tell".
All the social and political circumstances - aka the things I really cared about - played out way too fast and felt rather shallow and implausible. In the beginning, it was still a lot better than in the end (the last 100 pages must have been the most dreadful thing I've read in a while), but even then it wasn't enough.
Maybe it's just because I'm too tied-up or something, but the entire concept of the female power in this book was handled way too much like some super power from a Marvel film. Miracle healings, stealing each others powers, drugs that enhance the powers in ridiculous ways...? Come on.
I know the novel is taking place over the span of multiple years, but it doesn't feel like that at all. And even then, the stuff that is happening here would be pretty far-fetched, even if the book showed us 100 years of female rule.
The final nail in the coffin - at least to me - is the novel's stern focus on just a handful of flat and tropey characters. I couldn't have cared any less about what happened to these people, although some of the things they witnessed really made an impression that will (hopefully) last - I gotta give the novel that.
But even those genuinely thought-provoking, sometimes terrifying scenes felt off as soon as the torture and violence went completely over the top in the end. I guess its not completely unbelievable for society to evolve in such a way (if one really wants to suspend one's disbelief). But I feel like the author could have toned down on all the extreme stuff (which there is A LOT of) and a more plausible and more immersive novel could have come out of that as a result.
Maybe it's just my expectations. This novel is probably a really great thriller with an incredibly interesting premise and maybe, if I'd have tackled the book with a mindset, I'd tackle, for example, a Stephen King book with, maybe I'd have found some joy in it. But somehow, I really don't like these kind of books anymore that try to emulate the excitement of movies. Pagelong action scenes, new chapters every five pages and stuff like that might engage some readers, but I kinda expected something with more depth.