By Christina Dalcher.
Vox is based in a modern, dystopian world. A world where women lose all of their rights and can only speak 100 words a day. They must wear wrist counters and when they go over 100 words, they would have to endure ‘a thousand volts of electricity coursing through their veins’.
Taking a woman’s power and voices is all well and good until they need help from Jean McClellan; a scientist who’s research and knowledge is needed to save a very important life.
I love the idea of this book, I think the concept is really interesting. It makes you-
[100 word limit reach]
That’s just how little 100 words is and how much of a restriction it would be for a person.
Imagine…
It makes you realise just how important it is to have a voice and use it. What is really great about this book is that is that you get to see the comparison of Jean’s life before compared to her present reality and how much she has lost. It’s crazy to think after just a couple of generations, the memory of a women’s right, their old lives, would disappear and leave this new world as the new norm for women.
The book is set in America, with these rules taking over the whole country. The rest of the world watches in shock as women’s voices are stolen from them. Jean’s parents live in Italy, where they had to witness what was happening to their daughter and only being allowed a few words from her at a time. It’s crazy to think about, imagine having a friend or a family member enduring something so awful and not being able to do anything about it. Almost overnight, women’s passports were taken off them, their bank accounts were frozen, they lost their jobs and everything they ever worked for was taken away from them.
The first person narrative allows you not only see her speech but her thoughts too, showing how little she can actually say and the frustration of not being able to voice her thoughts and being stuck in her own head. It’s especially annoying when she can’t disagree with her (knobhead of a) husband because there just simply aren’t enough words for it.
What I found really interesting in this book was the male characters and how they reacted to what was happening. For example, Jean’s husband was very sympathetic towards his wife but did nothing about it, showed no issue with what was going on. It really brought out the true colours especially in her husband and her oldest son. I think it’s fascinating to see how these characters reacted to what was going on and how it didn’t have much of an impact on them and that they were able to thrive from it. It shows you the difference between supporting a cause and standing up for it.
I think the scary thing about dystopian fiction is how possible it could be and how a lot of time it’s an exaggerated and more of a modern retelling of our past; for example a few hundred years ago, women were seen not heard.
This book has a bit of everything; from romance to action. I am aware of how late I am to this party, but I read this book in the first lockdown when I wasn’t blogging, therefore thought this was a great time to reminisce. It’s a great and easy read and if you liked Atwood’s A Handmaids Tale, then this book would be right up your street.
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