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A review by thebookboy
Q by Christina Dalcher
2.0
Normally when writing a dystopia, an author has to choose something that is eerily credible or something so bizarre and wacky that it is insane enough to work. The problem with Q is that in so many ways this concept is flawed from the get go and doesn't commit to itself enough to be convincing. I highly doubt that a society would ever value intelligence and doctorate level work as a standard for a whole set of school children and use this to form a system that dictates the whole country. Even if this system were believable, we have to admit that corruption and other facts would definitely come into play, something which is wilfully ignored in this - a strange missed opportunity considering the main character is in a very privileged position and apparently incredibly intelligent herself (though I must say her apparent intelligence does struggle to make an appearance throughout the course of this book).
I really tried to accept this concept as a given and enjoy it for what it is (I've had to do this with other dystopia novels too, sometimes with success, sometimes without.) But unfortunately there are too many parts of this book that just didn't work. I really struggled to see how the system impacted adults and I also found the whole bottom 80% of children being sent to the worst schools thing a bit tricky to understand too in terms of how it would even be supportable, especially as there only seem to be a finite amount of these yellow schools in the country (plus if these are boarding schools/ farms or whatever, then there's still living costs, food, all of these things which would have to be managed by the state - it just didn't really work on a financial front). It's likely that some of these points were explained, so please forgive me if they were and I missed them - but they should've been set out more clearly, or the author should've explored a more ambiguous route a la The Handmaid's Tale and concentrated on the atmosphere instead.
The characters were mostly bland cliches and despite being a fast read, I do think the pacing was off. It took almost 200 pages for a certain step plot point to take place, and I just felt that it should've been more of a focus, especially as the remaining 100 or so pages felt rushed and unfulfilling. There is a bit of an on the nose subplot here about Hitler Youth and the echoes of history etc. where Dalcher even throws out the old frog getting boiled in water story (sigh). What was more annoying to me is that Dalcher is obviously a huge fan of her own studies in linguistics etc. - totally fine, except it doesn't really tie into her main character very well to suddenly go on little segues about mimesis and word structure and meaning - it really jarred and unfortunately just made Elena ring untrue.
My last criticism is one that another reviewer on here pointed out - the impact this system is having on disabled, LGBT+ immigrants etc - all sort of seems quite shoved in, especially as we never hear from any voices who are part of these minorities. It all just seems glossed over and not well developed.
This may seem like a pretty damning review, but there were things to like in here too. The writing itself is quite nice in places, and it was easy to visualise certain scenes. I enjoyed the flashback parts where Elena thinks back to the smug girl she was at school, and the more real human parts like her memories of her lover when she was growing up. I do think that there are some great points here too - the dangers of history repeating, the evil behind eugenics, the control a system like this can place over women. I can definitely see why some people found this a harrowing read, but for me the emotion just wasn't there.
At the end of the day, I really think it's a book that will either really appeal to you or not. It's zippy, insightful in places and an interesting concept, but for me the writing style, dull characters and lack of credibility really let it down.
2 stars
I really tried to accept this concept as a given and enjoy it for what it is (I've had to do this with other dystopia novels too, sometimes with success, sometimes without.) But unfortunately there are too many parts of this book that just didn't work. I really struggled to see how the system impacted adults and I also found the whole bottom 80% of children being sent to the worst schools thing a bit tricky to understand too in terms of how it would even be supportable, especially as there only seem to be a finite amount of these yellow schools in the country (plus if these are boarding schools/ farms or whatever, then there's still living costs, food, all of these things which would have to be managed by the state - it just didn't really work on a financial front). It's likely that some of these points were explained, so please forgive me if they were and I missed them - but they should've been set out more clearly, or the author should've explored a more ambiguous route a la The Handmaid's Tale and concentrated on the atmosphere instead.
The characters were mostly bland cliches and despite being a fast read, I do think the pacing was off. It took almost 200 pages for a certain step plot point to take place, and I just felt that it should've been more of a focus, especially as the remaining 100 or so pages felt rushed and unfulfilling. There is a bit of an on the nose subplot here about Hitler Youth and the echoes of history etc. where Dalcher even throws out the old frog getting boiled in water story (sigh). What was more annoying to me is that Dalcher is obviously a huge fan of her own studies in linguistics etc. - totally fine, except it doesn't really tie into her main character very well to suddenly go on little segues about mimesis and word structure and meaning - it really jarred and unfortunately just made Elena ring untrue.
My last criticism is one that another reviewer on here pointed out - the impact this system is having on disabled, LGBT+ immigrants etc - all sort of seems quite shoved in, especially as we never hear from any voices who are part of these minorities. It all just seems glossed over and not well developed.
This may seem like a pretty damning review, but there were things to like in here too. The writing itself is quite nice in places, and it was easy to visualise certain scenes. I enjoyed the flashback parts where Elena thinks back to the smug girl she was at school, and the more real human parts like her memories of her lover when she was growing up. I do think that there are some great points here too - the dangers of history repeating, the evil behind eugenics, the control a system like this can place over women. I can definitely see why some people found this a harrowing read, but for me the emotion just wasn't there.
At the end of the day, I really think it's a book that will either really appeal to you or not. It's zippy, insightful in places and an interesting concept, but for me the writing style, dull characters and lack of credibility really let it down.
2 stars