So back in June I hit an amazing reading streak and read four books in a month (and 1 that i read a majority of and then a skimmed the end because I was so over it) and I was totally gonna review them later and *cough* *looks at calendar* looks like it’s later! Since it’s been a while since I read those books I’m just gonna do some mini reviews of each of them. 1. The Pisces by Melissa Broder You already know it’s […]
Speculative extremes of women’s futures clearly demonstrate how everyone loses when inequality wins
I’m reviewing these two books together because despite their opposite takes on speculative futures, they use similar storytelling techniques to describe how women’s lives might be different in both the near, and far future. Naomi Alderman’s The Power imagines a future where women develop an ability to physically harm others with electric shocks. Due to the release and dispersion of an environmental hazard, women begin to develop a “skein” within their bodies which allows them to physically overpower people (men) with a jolt of energy. The strength of […]
Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
Buzzfeed’s book reviews have never steered me wrong, so when one of their lists suggested The Power as a must-read Dystopian novel, I felt I should give it a go. And it was WORTH IT. Disturbing, mind-bending, and surprising, The Power feels like this generation’s answer to The Handmaids Tale. I was not surprised to read that Alderman thanks Margaret Atwood in her acknowledgements because the book follows an updated take on the The Handmaid’s Tale structure. Complete with excerpts from fictional archaeological findings to the mind blowing epilogue and […]
Humans Are Monsters
Public figures like Bill Cosby, Bill Clinton, Harvey Weinstein and our (not my) president make the news for being men who use their positions of power and privilege to abuse women; to demean them, to call them sluts and whores, to make them feel weak. The sad state of things though is this isn’t a privilege reserved for men of wealth and power. All men can wield this power, if they choose to (in some circumstances). I think most women can think of a time where […]