A review by quickermorequickly
The Power by Naomi Alderman

adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I feel like I read this novel about 5 years too late into my understanding of gender and power to be the target audience. The storytelling itself is gripping and compelling, but I feel a little queasy about the rigidly binary vision of gender that the author presents here. So much of the plot is in fact about biological function: who has the skein with the power (women), and who doesn't (men). The introduction of
a few men who have the skein
could have gone somewhere interesting, but didn't, since
the text reduces them to people with hormone irregularities or whatever
. 
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