FIVE HUGE "OPEN YOUR EYES!" STARS!

Do you live in a free world?

ARE YOU SURE?
FOR HOW LONG?

This is a "Must Read"!
One of the best books about equality I've read.
We often live in bubbles and when they burst it's probably too late.

Open your eyes and burst your bubble! Read this relevant book and see what is sadly SO possible!
Read this relevant book and see what is sadly SO possible!

Prophetic premise
Fabulously written
Twisted plot
Gripping tension
Suspense! Action!
Characters you’ll hate to love deliciously flawed and real.

Yup! ALL THAT! THAT GOOD!

The premise of 'Vox' is absolutely fascinating. It has been compared to "The Handmaid's Tale', and it did remind me of that as well; this is a world where women have become subjugated and powerless. I love a good dystopian book that speculates about what could happen to society in the future because of disease, war, extremist groups, etc.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. As I said, the premise is great. However, the execution of the story fell short for me. The characters seemed flat and stereotyped; I just couldn't quite get past the dialogue and the stilted relationships.

Still, it is thought-provoking. It raises the specter of a future that is, horrifyingly, not impossible to imagine. It would be good to pair this book with 'The Power' and 'The Handmaid's Tale' for discussion of women's rights in our current political climate.

I recommended this book as a top 3 episode favorite on Episode 143 of What Should I Read Next: The quest for the perfect coffee shop read, with guest Patience Randle.

I have tried to pick up this title twice, but have been unable to get very far. I believe part of the reason has nothing to do with the book, but rather as a reader, I am burnt out on dystopian novels that have a strong female character trying to change the world she lives in. A theme that has become very popular; thus, many YA authors are focusing on lately. I will try it in a few more months after I have cleansed my pallete. I hope that third time is that harm because the theme of this book does sound super interesting and I have heard wonderful things about it.

A divisive book sure to engage readers in discussion of topics such as, religion in politics, gender roles, discrimination, ethics in science and more. The story would appeal to readers of dystopian novels, especially those with sharp societal commentary, such as Atwood's novels. The writing paints a vivid picture of an America lead by a conservative Christian president, where women are reduced to non-voting, non-rights holding citizens and any dissenters or others who don't fit the vision of 'proper' American citizens, such as LGBTQ folks, people with mental illness or those with different abilities, are forced into labor camps or killed. While the characters are not always sympathetic, the story is faced-paced and readers will be held in suspense waiting to find out what happens to a family caught between staying safe and being free.

I will say I am disappointed in the neat and tidy ending this book delivered, but everything up until then was so painfully frightening as it becomes more and more like what the real world seems to want. This was an excellent book I still think about months later.

Ok, I put this book off for a bit because honestly, political fiction is the last thing I want to read right now. So what made me choose to read it? I was given an early review copy of it and had seen it all over my Instagram feed so I decided to give it a shot. I am really glad I did!
I thought VOX was extremely well written, and exciting at every turn. I put myself in the shoes of Jean, and other women in the novel and tried to picture what my life would look like if I could only use 100 words per day. Could you imagine? Not only that, but books were locked up, and only men had the keys!! I would die! I asked my husband what he would think if the government only allowed me to speak 100 words per day, and he jokingly said, sign me up! Haha!
This book was awesome because you really don’t know who is on which side. You assume that the men are all in agreement, and while some sympathize with the women, you know they are secretly pleased with the new government regulations. But really, you don’t know where they all stand. In crucial moments of the story, some of them men step it up BIG TIME to help the women of the United States in this story.
I am sure by now you are thinking that this sounds like a clone of The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Attwood. In a sense, you are correct. This story is very similar. I think that in this case though, it works. Even though the stories are alike, they are both very interesting twists on how men of the world think that women are meant to be quiet, obeying, and used for one purpose only. To bear their children. If you read both books you will be angry, but not because they are the same story, because there is yet another idea on how the men of this world could potentially take over. One of the scariest parts of the book for me is reading scenes with Jean’s oldest son. He has been brainwashed by his school to believe that women really are inferior, and that the governments limitations on them are just. His own mother is a Doctor, and even that paired with the fact that she is his mother isn’t enough for him to believe she deserves respect even in their family home.
Read this wonderful thriller with a grain of salt. It is a fictional story. While I hope we never face a world that becomes insane like this. I am not a believer that we are there yet unlike many women who have, or will read VOX and my review. I’m sure this puts me in the minority…but oh well. I see this book purely as fictional entertainment.

Amazing! For those who love The Handmaid's Tale. I know several students who will enjoy this book! I highly recommend.

This book did a good job of keeping me interested enough to finish but I wasn't exactly having a good time. I am still trying to decide if the author meant to write an unlikable main character or if it was just me. I did like the involvement of the oldest child and the daughter but didn't she have four children? Where were the other two? The science jargon was incredible boring and I didn't care about any of it. Unfortunately I didn't feel like the ending was that great either.

I am not sure if I would give this author another try or not. It depends on how extreme she decides to go.

WOW! I want to see this book turned into a movie!!!! Chilling! Felt like it could really happen. This book kept my attention from cover to cover.

3.5 stars

Christina Dalcher writes about a woman not unlike herself in her debut novel, Vox. Her main character, Dr. Jean McClellan is a PhD neurolinguist working on research about aphasia. Well, she formerly researched language changes after brain injury. But in Dalcher’s speculative fiction world, an extreme right-wing political and social movement silences women and takes away their jobs.

So, Jean tries to manage life without many of those things that previously structured her life. She becomes a stay-at-home mother of her four kids, three sons and one daughter. And she—mostly—speaks the allotted 100 words each day. Every time one of the kids acts out or hurts themselves, Jean must measure her words of censure or comfort. Not to mention how it changes her communication with Patrick, her husband.

Jean and her young daughter, along with every other woman in the U.S., are limited by a counter on their wrists. At word 101, the counter begins to shock the female wearing it. It’s been this way for some time, but Jean still isn’t adjusted. She yearns for her old life, her colleagues, and her scientific research.

And then, there’s a twist of fate. The life she’s been leading shifts again, and Jean is thrown into something new. Too much more down this path and I’ll spill all the spoilers!

My conclusions
As I started this book, all I could think about was Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Vox felt derivative, which did not enhance the reading experience. And then, all of a sudden, Dalcher stepped up her game. Jean became more fully formed, and less like Serena Joy. Plus, the plot intensified. By the book’s end I wanted more and wished for an adaptation to the screen.

Dalcher portrays Jean as both a scientific woman, and a rapid-fire thinker. This first-person account certainly doesn’t limit Jean’s internal dialogue. She is clearly not a meditator, as every moment in her life is full of busy thoughts. It felt mildly overwhelming and even annoying at times. But imagine having to silence yourself, when so much is happening in your thoughts!

Just when I thought I’d grasped the trajectory of Vox’s plot, Dalcher threw me a curve ball or three. So I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. I appreciated the balance between social commentary and action, with emphasis on the latter. Dalcher lets the reader create their own interpretations of this speculative world, and never inserts herself. But her heroine is clearly on the side of “how things used to be,” creating existential and practical conflict.

My 2017 reading year is certainly a “Year of the Woman,” as I’ve chosen many fiction and nonfiction books about women’s issues. This is the perfect book to close that trend for the year!

Acknowledgements
Many thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and the author for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Vox

by Christina Dalcher


Rating: ♥♥♥♥

Pages: 346

Publisher: Fischer

Publishing Date:  August 1st 2018

Synopsis: 

"In einer Welt, in der Frauen nur hundert Wörter am Tag sprechen dürfen, bricht eine das Gesetz. Das provozierende Überraschungsdebüt aus den USA, über das niemand schweigen wird! Als die neue Regierung anordnet, dass Frauen ab sofort nicht mehr als hundert Worte am Tag sprechen dürfen, will Jean McClellan diese wahnwitzige Nachricht nicht wahrhaben – das kann nicht passieren. Nicht im 21. Jahrhundert. Nicht in Amerika. Nicht ihr. Das ist der Anfang. Schon bald kann Jean ihren Beruf als Wissenschaftlerin nicht länger ausüben. Schon bald wird ihrer Tochter Sonia in der Schule nicht länger Lesen und Schreiben beigebracht. Sie und alle Mädchen und Frauen werden ihres Stimmrechts, ihres Lebensmuts, ihrer Träume beraubt. Aber das ist nicht das Ende. Für Sonia und alle entmündigten Frauen will Jean sich ihre Stimme zurückerkämpfen."

Meine Meinung:

Nachdem ich das Buch so oft und viel auf alle Social Media Kanälen beobachtet habe, wollte ich endlich wissen worum es geht. Der Hype war real und ich konnte es nicht abwarten in dieses dystopische und dennoch schrecklich real wirkende Geschichte einzutauchen.

Dieser Roman war absolut fantastisch. Er war furchteinflößend, real, spannend und wirklich gut gedacht. Man konnte kaum etwas voraus sagen und die Grundidee war einfach genial. Denn wer sagt uns, das dies in unserer Welt, in der ohnehin Hass und Angst regieren, nicht passieren könnte?

Die Charaktere waren einzigartig und obwohl es in dem Buch um die Unterdrückung der Frauen im 21. Jhd. geht ist es doch ein höchst feministischer und politischer Roman gewesen, der einem aufzeigt, welche Privilegien wir alle genießen und wie schnell sich dies ändern kann. Er ruft dazu auf nachzudenken und niemals aufzugeben - auch wenn die Welt in der wir leben nicht die ist, in der wir leben wollen. Auf jeden Fall wurde ich zum Nachdenken angeregt und fand die Geschichte mehr als unterhaltsam!

Interesting premise and storyline. I think many will enjoy this story that looks at how bad things can happen when we stand by and do nothing. I personally was not a huge fan of this, the story just couldn't keep me interested. Took me awhile because I kept putting it down and coming back.

Vox was simply stunning. It infuriated me from the very first page, igniting my feminist qualities and making me want to fight. It made me afraid of what a world like the one Jean or "Gianna" lived in, a world where women are limited in the number of words they can say a day and in having any control over their own lives. A world where men are in control of everything, based on the theory of a power-crazed doctor who has the new president on puppet strings. The scariest part about the whole book is the fact this could be something that happens in America now, in 2018.

Upon hearing the premise of this book, I thought it was going to be an entertaining read albeit terrifying considering the USA's current political climate. Instead, I found myself bored and frustrated throughout.

Vox brings the reader to a world where women are limited to 100 words a day and forced to be stay at home mothers whose sole purpose is to cook and clean. Girls no longer learn to read and write, instead, they learn to cook, garden, etc. Boys get the more traditional schooling along with the new religious extremes that have lead the country to where it is.

There is not a lot of backstory here. It starts a year after women are limited to their 100 daily words. When we do get some of the backstory of how everything came to happen, it almost feels out of place. There were times it took me a while to figure out if this was current or before everything started.

The writing was also dry. It was straight and to the point which left some of the characters not feeling as developed as they could have been.

Everything about the ending was too easy and it felt rushed which left me feeling more disappointed.

Vox has a wonderful premise, but I feel like the execution of it wasn't there.

Set in a society (in the not so distant future) where women are only allowed to speak 100 words each day, the main character, Dr. Jean McClellan, is given an opportunity to return to her career and life, but it comes with risks for herself and her family. A thought-provoking read — uncomfortable and unputdownable.

Dr. Jean McClellan lives in a United States that drastically limits the words women can speak in a day. Severe consequences are levied when you exceed your limit. However, Dr. McClellan is having a hard time following the new rules of the land.
The author did a great job telling Jean's story and how she kept her voice and challenged the new laws.

Oh wow. Put some time away for this book. It has all the ingredients for a terrific psychological thriller.

No spoilers from me. Book is great with lots of lies, deception, tragedy, and twists. Also, loved the unpredictable ending. Can't say enough great about this. Read it today!!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this fabulous book.

Well written but not very original. Seemed like well done Handmaid's Tale fan fiction.

I received a free e-galley from netgalley.com.

Dalcher does excellent world-building, creating a dystopian future where women are only allowed to speak 100 words a day. Sadly, the plot doesn't quite live up to the world-building, demolishing the misogynistic system in a way that seems too easy.