A review by mtnofbooks
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas

3.0

This was an odd book. It was kind of hard to get into at first because of the introduction of 5 characters throughout the first 4 chapters and corresponding interludes, we'll call them. Eventually, their stories started intertwining, but I never really got the purpose of the interludes, so I started skipping them. As though the 4 other characters' chapters didn't halt the story enough, the interludes kind of slammed the breaks after each chapter. In addition, the author's decision to refer to each by their "role" made it hard to follow - the daughter, the biographer, the wife, the mender. The only one I kept straight was the daggone lady the biographer was writing about in the interludes!

The story concept was intriguing. A near-future in which abortion is criminalized; IVF treatments too. Single parent adoptions are soon to be abolished. This is a storyline which could appeal to both sides of the argument, but I think it was poorly executed, as mentioned above. Plus that cover... no subtlety there!