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A review by radella_hardwick
The Power by Naomi Alderman
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I certainly needed that closing bookend to relieve some of the fear, disgust and sorrow this book provoked. That last epistolary exchange returned it to the realm of bitter satire, rather than leaving us in the bleak despair of Alderman's utopia.
This book is framed as the manuscript for a novel written in a world where the gender imbalance is inverted, a world 5000 years in our future.
It charts how women, upon developing disproportionate power, don't set about building a balanced society but instead make themselves "the winners".
It is sickening in its portrayal of how quickly women lose compassion for the weaker sex. What's utterly heart-breaking is that, with the example of the Israeli state fresh in my mind, it's all too believable.
Alderman has some representation of what could be intersex characters and there's one person who tries to appropriate feminity for the power it gives him. However, I'd be fascinated to read how the author might write this now, when genderfluidity is more part of the general discourse. It's not as badly dated as the Left Behind series but it's obvious this was written when the mainstream conflated gender and sex without criticism.
This book is framed as the manuscript for a novel written in a world where the gender imbalance is inverted, a world 5000 years in our future.
It charts how women, upon developing disproportionate power, don't set about building a balanced society but instead make themselves "the winners".
It is sickening in its portrayal of how quickly women lose compassion for the weaker sex. What's utterly heart-breaking is that, with the example of the Israeli state fresh in my mind, it's all too believable.
Alderman has some representation of what could be intersex characters and there's one person who tries to appropriate feminity for the power it gives him. However, I'd be fascinated to read how the author might write this now, when genderfluidity is more part of the general discourse. It's not as badly dated as the Left Behind series but it's obvious this was written when the mainstream conflated gender and sex without criticism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence