November 2018 Book Club: The Power

The Power by Naomi Alderman

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong Language, Rape, Attempted Rape, Sex



Suddenly - tomorrow or the day after - girls find that with a flick of their fingers, they can inflict agonizing pain and even death. With this single twist, the four lives at the heart of Naomi Alderman's extraordinary, visceral novel are utterly transformed, and we look at the world in an entirely new light.

What if the power to hurt were in women's hands?

The Power was our book club book this month. It's set in an alternate world where suddenly women get this power to shock other people. The explanation behind how and why this happens is flimsy at best. This book didn't work for me for more than one reason. First I disliked the fact that this book feels like reading snippets from the news instead of being one continual story. I didn't care for any of the characters either, and I also don't enjoy revenge type stories and I feel like this is that type of story. Honestly I feel like this book is just incredibly silly, and that's sad because I think the author could have written something on the subject in a much better way.

My Goodreads friend Scott echoes a lot of what I think about this book in his review, especially when it comes to how men are portrayed in the book. You can read his review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2509607340?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1 .

Needless to say, I will probably not be reading anything else by this author.