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bookmaddie 's review for:
Red Clocks
by Leni Zumas
This story took awhile to get my attention, and even at the end I'm not sure if I really connected that much to any of the characters. I think Gin and Mattie were the most interesting to me, while Ro and Susan just got on my nerves by the end.
Even so, I really enjoyed the way Zumas writes, especially about thoughts and fantasies. She inhabited the minds of each of these women so well and I felt a poetic immediacy that was fascinating. Some lines are just absolutely lovely to read, and really capture a certain feeling or mood.
What I think of when I think of this book are our narrators, the women whose lives we caught a brief glimpse into. The plot seemed secondhand, and even the restrictions placed upon women who wish to have, or not have, children, didn't impact me as much as I thought they would. I think maybe this was because this all seemed so normal to each of the characters. While Ro offered the strongest rebuttal against such laws, no one really had a fiery reaction. And I think that is likely part of the point—we all get used to it, and get wrapped up in our own lives and our own concerns that we don't bother to think of what other people might be experiencing until we have to deal with it ourselves.
So in that sense, I do think Zumas did a smart thing by writing this story in that manner. I do wish I had a stronger emotional connection to this story and these women. I'm not sure what really stood in the way of me connecting with anyone, but there was some thin wall that kept us apart. Even so, I think this is a valuable story to read and think about, even if it wasn't the most thrilling thing I've ever read. I would definitely recommend.
Even so, I really enjoyed the way Zumas writes, especially about thoughts and fantasies. She inhabited the minds of each of these women so well and I felt a poetic immediacy that was fascinating. Some lines are just absolutely lovely to read, and really capture a certain feeling or mood.
What I think of when I think of this book are our narrators, the women whose lives we caught a brief glimpse into. The plot seemed secondhand, and even the restrictions placed upon women who wish to have, or not have, children, didn't impact me as much as I thought they would. I think maybe this was because this all seemed so normal to each of the characters. While Ro offered the strongest rebuttal against such laws, no one really had a fiery reaction. And I think that is likely part of the point—we all get used to it, and get wrapped up in our own lives and our own concerns that we don't bother to think of what other people might be experiencing until we have to deal with it ourselves.
So in that sense, I do think Zumas did a smart thing by writing this story in that manner. I do wish I had a stronger emotional connection to this story and these women. I'm not sure what really stood in the way of me connecting with anyone, but there was some thin wall that kept us apart. Even so, I think this is a valuable story to read and think about, even if it wasn't the most thrilling thing I've ever read. I would definitely recommend.