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A review by janettedv
After Dark by Jayne Cowie
3.0
I’m not entirely sure if I enjoyed reading this book or not. What I am certain about is that I found myself thinking about it and the society portrayed in it which means that at the very least, it has grabbed my attention.
Set in a not too distant future, to stop violence against women, all men over the age of 10 are tagged and are subject to a 12 hour curfew. Despite this, a women’s body is found showing that she has been battered to death.
The book has two timelines, the actual murder investigation carried out in real time and then a timeline four weeks earlier where we meet our cast of characters in the weeks prior to the murder. The murder mystery itself was interesting and I liked the fact that there are different possibilities.
The idea of men being subject to tags and a curfew to keep women safe felt very uncomfortable to me but fiction has a role in exploring ideas that might disturb us. However, what I really disliked about the novel is that there is not a single sympathetic male character. I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoiling anyone’s reading but I felt that there needed to be much more of a balance in how men were portrayed in the book.
I feel that this is book that will definitely divide opinions. I thought it was interesting and will certainly read more by this author.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Set in a not too distant future, to stop violence against women, all men over the age of 10 are tagged and are subject to a 12 hour curfew. Despite this, a women’s body is found showing that she has been battered to death.
The book has two timelines, the actual murder investigation carried out in real time and then a timeline four weeks earlier where we meet our cast of characters in the weeks prior to the murder. The murder mystery itself was interesting and I liked the fact that there are different possibilities.
The idea of men being subject to tags and a curfew to keep women safe felt very uncomfortable to me but fiction has a role in exploring ideas that might disturb us. However, what I really disliked about the novel is that there is not a single sympathetic male character. I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoiling anyone’s reading but I felt that there needed to be much more of a balance in how men were portrayed in the book.
I feel that this is book that will definitely divide opinions. I thought it was interesting and will certainly read more by this author.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.