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aasplund 's review for:

Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
3.0

3.5 stars.

It's been awhile since I stayed up until 2 am to finish a book, so you have to know that I enjoyed this one because it kept me reading long past my bedtime.

But I've been hearing that this book is the new [b:The Handmaid's Tale|38447|The Handmaid's Tale|Margaret Atwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498057733s/38447.jpg|1119185] and that everyone needs to read it and I don't quite feel like it lived up to the hype.

So I'm torn. Did I thoroughly enjoy this book? Absolutely. Do I feel like it was overhyped? Absolutely.

It could be that I'm missing a lot of the messages in this book and I'll need to read it again. That's possible.

But I mostly think that I'm just not as taken with these dystopian cautionary tales as a lot of people are.

It also could be that I read this book at a time when it doesn't really feel like a cautionary tale anymore. Especially in light of all the insane Supreme Court things that happened this week, I don't feel like this book is that far from anything that could happen. We're already seeing gag rules put in place to limit abortions and cries from right-wing politicians that we need to care about family values. So it isn't that far-fetched to think abortion could be outlawed and only two-parents families could be allowed to adopt children.

The implications of possibly political actions are both far more terrifying and a lot less terrifying when they aren't so difficult to imagine actually happening. This book was both a wonderful and fascinating look at what this country could become and also a bit of a look at women's place in the world we already occupy.

So it this worth reading? Absolutely. But am I really tired of speculation on what's going to happen next, especially when it feels like reality couldn't get any more insane? Yeah.

Highly recommended if you loved [b:The Handmaid's Tale|38447|The Handmaid's Tale|Margaret Atwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498057733s/38447.jpg|1119185] and enjoy other political and feminist books. Wait to read it if you can't handle any more political crises at the moment.