Book review: Vox by Christina Dalcher

Book review of Vox by Christina Dalcher, a dystopian novel about the not so distant future.

Book review of Vox by Christina Dalcher

Summary of the book 

This blurp is borrowed from the back of the book:

“Jean McClellan spends her time in almost complete silence, limited to just one hundred words a day. Any more, and a thousand volts of electricity will course through her veins. Now the new government is in power, everything has changed. But only if you’re a woman.

Almost overnight, bank accounts are frozen, passports are taken away and seventy million women lose their jobs. Even more terrifyingly, young girls are no longer taught to read or write.

For herself, her daughter, and for every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice. This is only the beginning…”

Get the book right here through Book Depository or Amazon [affiliate links]

Verdict

This book was GOOD. Seriously. I picked it up in the airport and by the time I was home, I had almost finished it. It was the perfect dystopian suspense read. Let me tell you why.

It was well written and had a good pace with lots of action and great dialogue. All the relationships between the main character and her family and colleagues and neighbors were nuanced and believable and so complex. Especially the bond she had with her daughter as well as the complexity of her marriage with a husband who was just complacent and how it frustrated her. But the best had to be the (spoiler alert) heart wrenching ups and downs with her eldest son. It was told beautifully and I felt such a heart ache on Jeans behalf. So good!

The plot, the feminism and the ending

Okay, I admit it might be a lot like Handmaids Tale, insofar as it is a story about how the female part of an entire nation is practically enslaved, dumbed down and abused. I haven’t read Handmaids Tale (yet) or seen the series, but I am aware that these might be similar. So if you like Handmaids Tale you’re probably going to enjoy this one too!

Jean is a highly skilled and respected professional within her field and it’s badass. What adds to the plot is, that the new society doesn’t care about her merits. All women are subjugated. It drives Jean crazy to not be able to stimulate her mind and to see her daughter under that same influence. After some time, following the demise of society and the women in it, it appears that Jean is the only one with the skills to save someone important to the government. Action happens (I’m not going to spoil it) and we reach the end of the book.

I have to talk about the ending because it was a bit far fetched for me. The plot had progressed slowly and been so well woven together that it made the entire thing seem believable and plausible. But then the ending was like something taken out of a crime novel, which didn’t at all fit in, in my eyes.

But that’s it though, I really liked the book and some day I’ll read it again, when I’m in the mood for a current dystopian novel on how women are being silenced. Literally.

Because surely this doesn’t happen in real life, right? We’d do something about it, wouldn’t we?

Would you?

I hope you enjoyed my book review of Vox by Christina Dalcher. If you’re curious and want to browse through other book reviews on this page, feel free to have a look at my collection of book reviews right here>>