As an avid reader of dystopian fiction, I really wanted to get behind Dalcher's 'Vox' and its premise: American women and girls are limited to 100 spoken words per day or risk electrocution by imposed bracelet/wrist-counters.

First off, there's a scene that alludes to the idea that sign language is also regulated....but yeah, there's some clunky, ableist coverage of how this type of system would be implementated in a relatively short span of time. In fact, Dalcher doesn't work much with world building and what bits the reader receive are mostly pretty derivative...a mix of Handmaid's Tale misogyny and 1984 surveillance.

At the core, the story follows protagonist neurolinguist Jean as she is recruited by the theocratic government to find a cure for a specific type of aphasia. You....can kind of see where this might go.

Anywho! Jean also has to juggle a loveless marriage, 4 kids, and a hot (seemingly) Italian boyfriend. The trouble is, Jean's snark and emotional coldness seem odd here. I had little understanding of her motivations and her angst and apathy seemed strange and misdirected. I ended up not caring much about these characters...

...as they navigated convoluted mishaps and peril. Dalcher opts to present a sort of espionage meets romance plot that drops any exploration of the intriguing dystopian premise and becomes stuck on auto-pilot for a largely plot-driven ride. Told in first person, the reader is stuck with Jean's snark-take on the story, keeping it overly narrow and not very engaging. I would have rather seen a more comprehensive view of this world from many perspectives, instead of dragged through Jean's rambling commentary (Cool...your family had a dog....WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT, JEAN?!)

Better editing or embracing the inherent campiness of this story could have saved it. But, ultimately, it just takes itself too seriously and focuses on the wrong aspects.

I received an advanced reader copy of this novel from Netgalley for a honest review.

I enjoyed the novel, but found it hard to lose myself in the story.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. The subject matter and characters were fascinating and thought-provoking. The second half, not so much. It seemed to me that Gina, Lorenzo and Patrick had plans but didn't really let the reader in on what those plans were to accomplish or how they worked. The ending seemed rushed to me..
This will be a great book for discussion and I'll be interested in what our library patrons think of it.

This book was one I have been so excited about since I first heard about it. With the current state of the world it seemed like it would hit home and boy was I right!! The depth and the scariness of it was amazing. What would you do if you couldn’t speak more than 100 words? What if it was now a modern day handmaids tale? This book will take you on a wild ride and make you think how far would you go for the women in your life?

Vox exemplifies the rise of extremism gone haywire. The world revolves around men as it is. What if women were segregated and reduced to 100 words a day? Could you and your daughter survive it?

Unique story with a scientific and technological influence that intrigues the reader. The initial chapters introduce the reader to Jean, Patrick, and their four children during dinner. An outsider looking in could quickly determine this as normal family enjoying their evening meal; however, upon closer inspection you notice the women don't participate in the conversation. Also, the women wear a unique band around their wrist and the men don't. Vox is a dystopian tale where women are limited to speaking only 100 words a day. You wonder how could this happen in today's society? If you step back for a moment and consider how many people take the time to study and then vote? You learn doing nothing may have devastating consequences and just because you don't think something could happen doesn't mean it won't. This book makes women consider their importance. It reawakens an interest in paying attention to what is happening in our world today. Overall, I found it an engrossing read. I suggest others take a moment to read this book.📚

A dystopian novel is exciting thanks to its plausibility, which comes through a light hand: not too preachy or over-the-top. This book misses the mark, completely. Also, it seems to call out white feminism, but where's the intersectionality? Far too many problematic moments go unaddressed: trans/enby erasure, cisnormativity, racism, ableism. The revolution will be intersectional. Why center a character who is the ultimate white feminist?

This is the type of book that ticked me off from pretty much the first page...but totally sucked me in all the same. Imagine women only being able to speak 100 words a day, not have a job, and having to wear a bracelet so you could be punished if you surpassed your word count. This is a book about that and what they did to get their rights back. I’ll definitely read more by this author.

I got sent this book to review
I was unsure, but started to read it to preview-
I was SHOCKED, appalled, and interested that I could not stop reading!

I think that in our current society and the way that everything is measured
Right/Wrong - this book could be a reality.

NEW AMERICA
half of population is silence, women can only speak 100 words a day/they cannot hold jobs/no longer taught to read or write. The 3 R's are now one- simple arithmetic. No bedtime stories for children (Can't waste the word count). Women's passports are invalidated and young girls will not get one issued to them. At the beginning, women fled to Canada, Mexico, Cuba and the Islands - so government set up checkpoints and The WALL has been built; stopping the women from leaving the U.S..

Society has changed- the straight white man is angry and feels emasculated. He is tired of being told that he must be more sensitive and watch what he says to who and how he says it. Men take control!
Bracelets are placed on females (young and old) with counters. There is no acclimation period- so teach the children quickly. The pain increases with each infraction, 1st word over 100 = a slight shock or jolt. Then every 10 words after that charge increases by a tenth of a microulomb.

In the Acknowledgements Section- the author states to the reader that she hopes we enjoy it, but mostly she hopes it makes us a little bit angry and makes us think.
I know that she has done that for me. I have talked to others already about this book.

Everyone has to read this book

3.5 The Scarlet letter for the near future, but instead of s Puritan society and the red letter A, we have a society where the Christian right has prevailed. Women, even babies are fitted with a leather wristband that limits the words spoken in a day to a hundred. The first time you go over, one receives a small shock, strength of shock is increased with each transgression. 1984, only it is now, cameras are fitted in each house, front door, back door. Books are locked up, only able to be accessed by men. No jobs, home in their new responsibility, duties of a wife and mother. The LGBT community fares even worse. This is the pure movement in the US and no one who transgresses is spared.

I found this chilling because I can actually see this happening, have seen men on TV who I can imagine loving just such a scenario. The importance of language, speech to snow individuals we'll bring, forming personalities. How can you watch your young daughter not able to vocalize, tell you about her day? For Jesn, it is torture, but a situation arises, and unwillingly Jean is temporarily repreived, because the men in charge want something from her. Can she take advantage, make a difference? Well, that is the story, a quick moving one I was fascinated with. History has proven that with the wrong people in charge, anything and everything can happen. Can it happen here?

ARC from Netgalley.

Vox by Christina Dalcher is being touted as a modern Handmaiden's Tale. I read that book when I was younger, watched the movie, and have binge watched the new Hulu series.  It's one of the main reasons I requested Vox from Netgalley.

This book should be able to stand on it's own. I don't think it's fair that it should have to carry the expectations that come with being compared to a classic. So in writing this review, I am going to avoid making any comparisons between the two.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I read it in about four hours. I found the main character flawed but likeable. She was very human. I liked that she had a lot of agency and was proactive. The story was told from her perspective, and the author did a very good job giving this character an inner life. She wasn't a blank slate, and I completely understood her actions and interactions. Some of the things she did could have been off putting, but they were understandable. I was very interested in seeing her succeed or fail.

My one complaint was the world building. I'm not sure how long it took for society to get to this point. The flashbacks didn't do enough to answer that question. It did not seem realistic at all. One year she was a practicing doctor/researcher and the next, a housebound housewife. I wish more had gone into letting the audience experience how everything went down hill.

This is more or less a minor quibble. It didn't detract from my enjoyment. I feel that Vox is wonderfully written with a great protagonist. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Set in a near future United States ruled by an extremely conservative president and his influential clergymen, Vox explores a Handmaid’s-Tale-like world with a slightly different twist: women wear “bracelets” that count not their steps but their words. If you’re a female, you only get 100 words a day. And if you exceed that, you receive a hugely painful electric shock. Jean, a neurolinguist, discovers that the government wants to go even further than that in their disempowerment of women. Vox shows how our world could change drastically in the span of a few months, and it scared me to death. The ending seemed a bit too tidy and rushed, but to be honest, it could be because I was devouring thee pages! Highly recommended for those who like dystopian novels with a bit of science thrown in.

Wonderful book, perfect for those who loved "The Handmaids Tale". Fast-paced and unpredictable. There's a big punch in this short book! Pair it with "The Power".

The description for this book hooked me! I have two daughters ages 4 and 6 and could not imagine them not being allowed to speak, it immediately stirred my "feminist sensibilities". I would not survive in this world.
As I read this book what really got me thinking was that the premise isn't unbelievable. I could picture this scenario happening so easily in the U.S. in the current political climate.
I would highly recommend this book to those that enjoy dystopian, feminist or political stories.

Wow! I couldn't stop reading this compelling, frightening tale. True, the plot exaggerates the pointedly narrow-minded sociopolitical and religious viewpoints of the imagined governing body-- but what a psychological jolt women readers will experience. There's book club discussion written all over this one!

This is so terrifyingly good that I read it in an afternoon! The United States is ruled by conservative men and women's only place is in the home and they are not allowed to read or write and can only speak 100 words a day. Every word spoken over 100 results in a shock that gets more and more powerful. Jean was a neurolinguist before the Pure Movement on the verge of a break thru and now she has to watch her sons begin to go along with the Pure Movement and her daughter strive not to speak. An unexpected opportunity gives her the chance to discover what she will do to save herself, her family and maybe even the women of the United States. Fascinating and terrifying and it will keep you reading long after your bedtime.

I was nervous about reading this book. With everything that is going on, I didn't want to give those in power any ideas.

The extreme religious right has taken over the government. Women are no longer allowed to work, read or speak more than 100 words a day. They wear a counter on their wrists and if they go over 100 words, they receive a very strong electrical shock.

What happens when the president's brother suffers and accident and leaves him unable to speak? What if the only people who can help are 2 women?

The book starts off really good, what has happened and how our main character Dr. Jean McClellan is handling all of these changes are what will she do to change the course of our country. This part of the book is excellent. She spends time reminiscing about her college roommate who was a fierce feminist while she spent her time studying and didn't have time for politics. And for voting. Nice little history lesson there!

The book shifts about halfway through to where a government plot is revealed. I felt the second half of the book was weaker, I enjoyed the more personal stories as opposed to saving the world.

All in all, this was a very good book and it should be read

When I saw the description of this book, I thought I had to read it. I don't regret it in the least. The near-future, extreme conservative America seems close enough to reality to be chilling. Essentially, anyone who doesn't conform to extremely conservative Christian standards is sent to an internment camp to serve a lifetime of hard labor. Either that, or conform. And women and girls of all ages are restricted to 100 words per day, measured by their wrist counters which will shock them for every word beyond the 100. It's a disturbing thought!

There are a couple of minor issues that I hope the publisher addresses in the final, edited copy, to explain a few minor plot holes. Aside from that, I recommend this book and I will be purchasing it for my library.

This dystopian novel is more frightening than most because it is neither futuristic nor implausible. With our country's slogan of "Make America Great Again", the rise of white supremacists and the strengthening of the religious right, this tale is not so much fiction as cautionary. For lovers of The Handmaid's Tale, this one brings us fully into the here and now and the not so distant future.

By chapter five you will want to speak every word and hoard every book! Makes you second guess the words of every man; your boss, the guy at the grocery store, the mailman...everyone...except your partner....or should you look askance at them too? Could it happen...maybe not...but then again, that's how it could happen. The ones like me, a librarian, thinking, right along with everyone else that it could never happen, when I would probably be one of the first with my words taken away. For those that would decry the book because they see similarities behind current politics, then maybe that should tell you something.
I absolutely loved the book, the characters, the plot. Though the end felt a bit rushed, this is probably due to the fact that it's a book that could easily be twice as long and still be just as captivating of a story,
I loved it enough to want to read it a second time. The first time I went through quickly because it pulled me along so fast wanting to see "what happens next" now I want to really "read" the book this second time.
5 stars and 2 thumbs up to Ms. Dalcher for writing a book that compelled me to leave a review.
My sincere thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.