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Barbara C. (Riverside, CA)
Wow!
Really woke me up. Good on many levels: technothriller, love story, family tale, suspense . I couldn't put it down. Had to see what would happen next. I like author's writing style. Not many extra words (just like plot itself). I have spent much of my life studying linguistics, so that part called me. I could put myself in Jean's shoes about ignoring important things. The ending was a little predictable, but it turned out best for most of the characters. Whoops, I almost ran out of words. Only get 100.
Sandi W.
Possible - maybe...
Now this is my type of science fiction. There were no aliens, no grotesque monsters, other world planets or space travel. Just a super unnatural futuristic twist on every day life. What can happen in the years to come? What happens when you ignore what is happening? When you refuse to become involved? When you don't add your voice and ideas and you just take things as they come? This is the science fiction that gets in your mind and sits there and brews, and bubbles, and makes you wonder ... is this possible? Unrealistic, maybe. Possible, maybe.
Thanks to the wrong people being in power, there is a divide between
…more men and women, male and female. Striving to put the men of the family back in power, all females are required to wear a wrist band. This band counts the words that are spoken. The total amount allotted is 100 words a day. If you go over your allotment you receive a shock - a shock that gets stronger the longer you speak, with all additional words spoken.
Women who worked outside the home are now not allowed to do that - they must be homemakers. Men have no such restrictions. Men are being put back in power to run their families, to run their cities, to run the United States. There is security and cameras everywhere. It is called the Pure Movement.
Jean McClellan was a scientist. Married to Patrick with four children. She was angry, as most women were. She wanted better for her daughter, better for herself. Then the call came that changed everything. The men in power wanted her back in her lab, at any cost.
So what happens when we do not get involved? How difficult can our world become, the world of the ones we love? Do we go along to get along, or are we caving in to a power that we might not want?
Unrealistic, maybe. Possible.... (less)If you could only speak 100 words a day, how would you decide when and where to use them?
That is the all-too-realistic future where Christina Dalcher has set her debut novel, “Vox.” The election of a conservative president and his psychotic religious advisor causes all women to lose their jobs, “cleave unto their husbands,” and speak no more than 100 words a day. Women and girls are fitted with counters, or “bracelets,” which administer a paralyzing shock if the wearer goes over 100 words.
Dr. Jean McClellan is a cognitive linguist who spent her college days immersed in getting her degree, rather than being
…more politically active. Now, she is regretting that choice, and she fears for her six-year old daughter, Sonia, who is growing up where choosing your words carefully is a normal way of life.
When the president’s brother suffers an accident that involves his brain, she is called upon to help by completing a treatment she had started before the “Pure Movement” came into office.
By doing this, her counter will be removed for the time it takes for her to complete the treatment.
McClellan agrees to help if she can have her original team on board, which includes her former lover, Lorenzo.
How she decides to upend the status quo makes for an exciting read, even if the ending is a bit over-the-top, I thought. “Vox” reads like a thriller and kept me turning pages long after my normal “lights out” time. Each chapter ended like a cliff hanger.
Dalcher has written a book that will, no doubt, draw comparisons with Margaret Atwood’s, “A Handmaid’s Tale,” the difference being is that the possibility seems more real in these times. (less)With shades of Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's tale lingering around the verbiage, Vox is an easier read than Atwood's tome. But many of the same themes are threaded throughout this book. With our current administration and Congress attempting to take away women's rights on a regular basis, this story is almost too close to being truth and it is frightening. All females are limited to 100 words a day and if they surpass this restriction they are jolted with an electronic charge. Even little babies are given these horrible torture bracelets. As we see Jean face these difficult constraints while trying to raise her
…more family with her husband Patrick, it is hard to imagine how I would deal with a similar situation. Very pertinent to our country. May we all work to defeat such horrific injustices. (less)I found the book interesting and couldn't wait to see how it would end. The story felt very real and believable to me as there have always been those in our country that others have wanted to silence, especially given the current climate in our nation. I also liked Jean as a narrator and to see her historical progression from someone so wrapped up in her work she didn't have time to deal with issues in the world around her to finding her "voice" as she thought about her daughter and unborn child. It is interesting that in the book it only seems to be happening in the US, not in other countries. I think this book
…more might not be for everyone, but anyone who reads it should come away with a better understanding of how an idea can take over and change things without people even realizing initially what is happening. (less)When I started the book, I sniffed a bit and thought, "Hmmph, a twisted future takeoff on Handmaiden's Tale," because I wasn't buying into the premise. The further into the book I read, however, as the history and the background of the status of the country was revealed...I have to admit...I looked up at the news on TV, shook my head, and wondered if I should move to Canada now. It's a good thought provoking read!
Dorothy L. (Manalapan, NJ)
Chilling Tale and Mesmerizing
I loved the premise of this book and it definitely was a page turner. If I could I would give it a 4.5 rating. I would have preferred that the author had not given away the ending in the first sentence. I did think the first half of the book was better than the second half. I found some of the medical/techno jargon at the end too complicated and the ending felt rushed. I agree with some of the other readers who felt that it would have been good to spend more time on how this scenario came to pass, more background on the events leading up to the election of the President. But I am very glad I read Vox. It makes
…more you think and want to be more active politically, especially in our current climate. In the novel, I would have liked to know how the press was silenced. Today we see freedom of the press in great jeopardy. (less)In Vox, Christina Dalcher imagines a world in which the US government has imposed a restriction limiting females (including small girls) to 100 words per day. They wear "bracelets" (pick your own color!) that monitor their outtake and receive electric shocks if they exceed the limit. Cameras have been installed in homes and in the outside world to prevent cheating through note writing or sign language. Needless to say, the work force is comprised totally of men. And education for girls is limited to developing the skills required to run a household. People who violate the new world order face even more draconian
…more consequences.
Our protagonist is Jean, a cognitive linguist in her former life. Jean is conscripted back into service when the President's brother has a brain injury affecting his ability to understand language. But the situation is more complicated than that.
The book has its weaknesses. At times it seemed slightly derivative and the ending felt rushed. But for anyone who enjoys a dystopian read, this is a book not to miss. Dalcher vividly envisions what this world would be like. Vox also plugs into the #MeToo movement and the popularity of The Handmaid's Tale. Perhaps most importantly, it makes a point relevant to today.
When Jean is told the situation isn't her fault, she thinks to herself, "But it is....My fault started two decades ago, the first time I didn't vote, the umpteen times I told Jackie I was too busy to go on one of her marches or make posters or call my congressmen."
And, ultimately, that's my takeaway from Vox. We are all responsible for the world in which we live. (less)
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