Vox

I really, REALLY wanted to love this book. I am a huge fan of The Handmaidens Tale and thought this would be on a similar plane. It is and isn’t. The plot and build up are superb in an awful Handmaiden-y way….and then all of a sudden it’s like the author got tired of writing. The whole ending was just to convenient in a “girl being chased through the woods by a killer and just *happens* to find a hunting knife she uses to kill her attacker” kind of way. Vox is still a good story, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really disappointed.

Christina Dalcher. “Vox” is a thought provoking, scary at times, look into what could theoretically happen in America.

Imagine you only had 100 words a day? If you speak more, the pain you would feel would be unbearable agony? Welcome to the life of all girls and women in the United States of America. Thanks to a radical madman wanting things to become “Pure” again and men that follow along like sheep, girls/women across the country are silenced to be the obidenent people they should be.

The storyline for the book is scary as in this could become true life very easily in today’s society. The characters are well written, though, I would have liked a little more back story in some areas. Also, the story felt a little rushed. I felt the ending could have had a little more detail and explained more. Otherwise, a very good first novel by Christina Dalcher. A solid four out of five stars.

This story is an updated The Handmaiden’s Tale and then some. When you finish the book, try very very hard not to hide under the covers for the next day or whatever.
As a female, what is your voice, your speaking voice to you? Just a means to talk? Or does it mean your essence, your being? What if you couldn’t use your voice due to politics and policies? And worst, what if you watched your daughter accept the 100 words per day allotted to her if she followed all the rules?
I recommend this book for every person you know who wondered about any or all of the questions above. Better yet, buy one for all of them.

Terrifyingly possible

Somewhere along the line, what was known as the Bible Belt, that swath of Southern states where religion ruled, started expanding. It morphed from belt to corset, covering all but the country’s limbs—the democratic utopias of California, New England, the Pacific Northwest, DC, the southern jurisdictions of Texas and Florida—places so far on the blue end of the spectrum they seemed untouchable. But the corset turned into a full bodysuit, eventually reaching all the way to Hawaii. And we never saw it coming.

This book made me so ANGRY. I read it in a flurry of outrage in less than 24 hours because I just.could.not.stop.

It’s the very near future, and the religious right has (seemingly) won in the United States. Women no longer hold jobs, are no longer allowed to read or write, and are limited to speaking 100 words per day, enforced by an electric-shock “bracelet” counter, their voices effectively silenced, their rights taken away. A religious zealot is pulling the strings of the puppet-President. School textbooks are replaced with religious tomes. The LGBTQ community is forced into prison/work camps for “conversion” to the “normal” way (read: man/woman). Engage in premarital or extramarital sex? Work camp in the Black Hills of South Dakota for the rest of your life, with a counter on your wrist set to ZERO. You may think “none of this would ever happen!” …..wouldn’t it, though? Consider the current political climate and treatment of women, folks. Maybe it’s not that far off the mark.

“Whose fault do you think it was?” he said. I stood in my kitchen, wanting to explain, careful not to, while he told me we’d marched one too many times, written one too many letters, screamed one too many words. “You women. You need to be taught a lesson.”

There will be the inevitable comparisons to The Handmaid’s Tale, of course. I personally could not slog my way through The Handmaid’s Tale,, so I can’t speak to those comparisons. I can only tell you that if you aren’t outraged by the very IDEA that this could happen, there may be something wrong with you.

I did feel like the ending was slightly rushed, but not to the point that it took away from the rest of the story. It was a satisfying, hopeful ending.

What would you do to be free?

I was angry from the get go with this book. Not with the book itself, but the government in the story and the men. But what a powerful message to be told. This is an excellent way to show women and girls growing up how important it is to use our voices. And a lesson in how vital it is to use our votes.

There are parts that I definitely disagree with in the book, on both sides, but on the whole I was very impressed with the writing, the development, and the ending. I had very powerful emotions throughout the entire book.

I find it very difficult to write a review that shows accurately how I felt about this book without giving spoilers…so, if you enjoyed novels like The Handmaid’s Tale, or other powerful Dystopian novels, you are going to love this book.

Hopefully, this will never come to pass!

In the near future, a crazy president and his Bible – thumper right hand man are taking action against women. Their freedoms are limited and they are fitted with a wrist band that will give a jolt if they speak more than 100 word per day.
If you are a fan of The Handmaid’s Tale, you’ll like this book. I can’t recommend it enough.

This work of science fiction suggests a scary view of the role of women in the future!

Much as Margaret Atwood pulled together disparate pieces of history and current events when writing The Handmaid’s Tale, Ms. Dalcher weaves a terrifying tale of what could be, here, in America.