Zox by Christine Dalcher I loved this book. I'm surprised it has only a 3.5 star rating. I considered it in a category with something George Orwell or Margaret Atwood would write. I gave it a 4.5 star rating. ( )

In a world where women have been silenced, their speech limited to 100 words in a day, one woman is given an opportunity to change things.

I read this book in a day. The world she describes is terrifying. I had a visceral reaction to it. The main character is interesting, so I got on board with the whole thing. I wanted to see what happens with her.

However, there is one major problem that perpetuates this novel: it is not believable. Sorry, even for a dystopia, you can't just shut down your logic muscles and go along with whatever the writer comes up with. The background story of how this world came to be is very weak. I cannot imagine this happening under any conditions in a world which is deliberately very much like our own.

There are inevitable similarities with Atwood's Handmaid's Tale, the TV show even more than the novel. This is not a bad thing. This novel is fresh enough in its own way and it is a good, quick read. At least if you're not digging into it too deep.

But, I wonder, why did Christina Dalcher picked such an important, difficult topic and decided to give it such a superficial treatment? This is not a breezy summer read. I just can't judge it as such.

Although for me this was more a 2 than a 3, I enjoyed parts of this book. It makes for a good book club discussion, despite being so flawed.

SPOILER
The resolution was so unbelievable to me, almost fairy-tale-like. All the characters just manage to conveniently show up in one place? It was laughable.
And the hero of the story of female subjugation is - a man! A man that the main character is cheating on. He even gives her his blessing to go live with her lover.

Also, I wanted to see what exactly happened when Patrick came to that meeting, the reaction of the public, the aftermath... We are given crumbs about the changes that happen after, but it is all very weak and unsatisfying. ( )

Vox is set in America where it has been decreed by the government that women are limited to 100 words per day, must only be homemakers and girls are not taught to read.

I enjoyed this book but wanted more. I feel like this could have been truly heartbreaking and terrifying if the story delved a little deeper. I was sad but I could have been sobbing my eyes out. I was reading to see what would happen next but it could have been nerve wracking. There were some interesting points on feminism but it could have been a strong social commentary on the perception of women.

This isn't to say I didn't like the book, because I did. It was sad and tense and thought provoking, I just wouldn't add it to my 4 star reviews. ( )

A great read. All too easy to see this happening. ( )

Not a fan.

Got this one after a bookseller suggested it even though this type of opppressed woman dystopia book is not really my thing. She swore it was great so I decided to try it and as I suspected I found it irritating. I don't need my fiction to tell me that lots of men (not all men but lots of men) don't have a lot of respect for women and would prefer to go back in time.

I found the writing choppy and the vocabulary of the protagonist kind of lame considering that she's a linguist. I gave up on really paying good attention to detail about halfway through and then a headcold attacked me and my attention span disappeared and I skimmed through most of the action towards the end. I found it hard to follow but I suspect that is more my fault than the author's.

Just not my cup of tea and I knew it going in.

( )