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A review by madelinedalton
The Power by Naomi Alderman
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Oof, this book is a total clusterfuck.
The characters are very hollow. They’re just props for carrying out the plot, which made it hard for me to get emotionally invested in them. The constant shifting of perspectives between the characters also contributed to my emotional detachment. As soon as I felt excited to see what happened next to a character, their chapter would abruptly end. Giving each character roughly one chapter per year over a ten year time span was also jarring. They each lived so much life between those chapters, and we didn’t get to see any of it.
My perception of this book's “thesis” is: disproportionate power in anyone’s hands can be deadly. While I agree on the whole, the execution was sloppy. Starting the story in our current patriarchal society led to thematic inconsistencies. It would have been more interesting to deeply examine how the remnants of misogyny and patriarchy hung around during the shift to violent matriarchy over time. There were glimmers of this—the UrbanDox guy, and the line towards the end talking about how there are still a handful of men with power and money out there. But I think those moments fell flat because they weren’t properly connected to the overall thesis of the book.
The characters are very hollow. They’re just props for carrying out the plot, which made it hard for me to get emotionally invested in them. The constant shifting of perspectives between the characters also contributed to my emotional detachment. As soon as I felt excited to see what happened next to a character, their chapter would abruptly end. Giving each character roughly one chapter per year over a ten year time span was also jarring. They each lived so much life between those chapters, and we didn’t get to see any of it.
My perception of this book's “thesis” is: disproportionate power in anyone’s hands can be deadly. While I agree on the whole, the execution was sloppy. Starting the story in our current patriarchal society led to thematic inconsistencies. It would have been more interesting to deeply examine how the remnants of misogyny and patriarchy hung around during the shift to violent matriarchy over time. There were glimmers of this—the UrbanDox guy, and the line towards the end talking about how there are still a handful of men with power and money out there. But I think those moments fell flat because they weren’t properly connected to the overall thesis of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, War, Rape, and Violence
Moderate: Blood