WINNER OF THE 2017 BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

This is a really interesting idea well realized. It's the perfect companion to The Handmaid's Tale, and I would really love a third book that lands somewhere in the political middle between those two books.

What a refreshing take on how girls and women have been treated to keep her subordinate to men. Clever analogies show the double standard of how differently men and women are treated and how we judge the acts based on the gender of the perpetrator. I enjoyed the whole book

I chose this rating because it was a page turner. It kept me interested in what was coming up next and surprised me quite a few times. I was able to envision what I was reading in vivid scenes, superb book. Left me wanting more. I wonder if there would be a continuation to this book in the future.

The characters in the book were intriguing. Yes, women in power can be just as cruel as men. Power corrupts!
I felt the ending was incomplete and would love to have further explanations unless it's the authors intent to write a sequel.

Purchased this book as a collage graduation gift for my niece. Her mom supplied me with her wish list and, of course, I went right to the store. My niece actually called to thank me for thinking of her. She's a great kid, and knowing that it was something that she actually wanted, made it so much nicer.

Yup, I get the notion of a women-dominated society. This open the door to a bunch of interesting areas for exploration. Unfortunately the author seems to go for the most obvious "revenge" fantasies, executed bit clumsily, and repeated ad-nauseum. There is precious little nuance or invention here - after a while it is just tedious.

What would happen if women had the power and privilege men had? Would they wield it any differently?

Women around the world are treated as the men is this book are daily, yet this book shocks me. This book is an excellent thought experiment and might be a good way to introduce the topic to a person who denies the continuing abuse that women suffer on a daily basis.

The beginning of the book was immediately engaging and the correspondence between the professor and author. However, the violence and cruelty were very hard to take. I realise it was to parallel current time, but I did not enjoy reading it. Otherwise the book was thought provoking and engrossing.

Alderman beautifully dissects long-held notions about women and men and power. What would women do if they suddenly all became stronger than men? This story demands that we confront our assumptions. And it is an engrossing, well-written tale.

The beginning of the book was immediately engaging and the correspondence between the professor and author. However, the violence and cruelty were very hard to take. I realise it was to parallel current time, but I did not enjoy reading it. Otherwise the book was thought provoking and engrossing.

Alderman beautifully dissects long-held notions about women and men and power. What would women do if they suddenly all became stronger than men? This story demands that we confront our assumptions. And it is an engrossing, well-written tale.

Highly recommended! Beautifully written exploration of a future where women are the ones with the power to kill at will and men become the carers and nurturers. This book has lived on in my thoughts ever since I read it.

Just finished this compelling book. As a woman in today’s ugly political climate in the US, it definitely gave me a lot to think about. This book is pretty amazing, I am already feeling the effects of the story and characters, and thinking about power, women, and gender. But I don’t want to spoil it for you. Just read it, and you will see what I mean.

A page-turner that is chilling, thought-provoking, and dialogs in fascinating ways with a long tradition of science fiction written by women. The central sci-fi concept, the novum, is brilliant and elegant and handled in the smartest possible ways.

I loved this book! It was well-crafted, plausibly constructed and thoughtfully written. It was neither a screed nor a utopian vision about a world where gender roles are realigned suddenly in the near future. I cared about the characters, admired the author’s insights into the nature and corruptions of power and, when it ended, I was left wanting for more. Highly recommended no matter your gender!

I am really impressed with this novel. It's clever and well written, and difficult to swallow in the way good, meaningful books should be. Excellent, excellent read for any feminist, literary fiction, or Margaret Atwood fan!

This book is like an enjoyable trip abroad that inspires me to look at my home country differently after I return. It matches well with the MeToo movement and the general tenor of recent news. But its reflection on the nature of power and its effect on individuals and how societies are structured feels timeless. Alderman is a great story teller.

Interesting take gender roles and asks of the audience to go along for the ride. What if women were all the sudden more powerful physically than men? Would the world or those in it want to exploit that power or use it to create a more peaceful world?

What if male and female roles were reversed suddenly? How would that affect society? Very interesting and thought-provoking. Warning: sex and violence. But then that is the male/female world now.

What would the world be like if women had physical power and reproductive power? Would benevolence & a mothering instinct rule? Or would power be abused? Is women’s “gentle nature” a characteristic of their sex or the fact that they lack physical power? Read and find out.

Alderman pulled me into the story quickly with an interesting premise and excellent character development. It didn't end with quite the happily-ever-after message I was hoping for. Perhaps her ending was more realistic; I'd like to think not.

no wonder Margaret Atwood provided encouragement. She's probably still kicking herself for not having thought up the plot herself. Why did I only find this book by chance? Why are there only nine reviews? This should be as seminal a novel as any seminal novel has ever been!
All I can say is read it. Share it. With male and female friends. And talk about it. And learn something from it about how we should stop thinking about 'gender' issues and start thinking about human issues.

The most instantly thrilling, provocative novel I’ve read in ... I don’t know, ever? I’m almost 40. It doesn’t get much more revelatory than this; or at least, for me, it hadn’t until now. As Alderman was inspired by kickass women before her time, I hope this work in turn inspires new generations.

**Minor spoilers**

My biggest thing: don’t read this book if sexual, physical, or psychological violence make you uncomfortable or squeamish. It’s a tough read if so. I made myself keep reading, but it was disturbing at times.

The events in this book take place in an exact mirror image of our world today. Women take over the world, many of them turning to murder and rape in order to exert their power. Men become the victims in this new order. However, don’t be fooled because, by no stretch of the imagination is this scenario the hope or goal of feminism. At all.

The book almost lost me because I wasn’t sure what Alderman wanted to accomplish. I thought, is she really saying this world would be better? A world in which women have stooped to the level of oppression they used to hate and rage against? Thankfully, this is not the case. The book takes a loooooong time of getting around to it, but the message becomes clear eventually. It’s not justice for women to rule over men or men over women. People, humans, should strive to work and rule together. There are bad people across both genders, and we needn’t divide ourselves between “male” and “female” any longer.

Believe me, you have to read through two handfuls of rape, murder, torture, etc. scenes to get to the book’s message, but it’s a strong message nonetheless. Overdone, but solid and well supported.

As far as book elements go, suspense and plot and character are all very strong. Roxy, Jocelyn, and Tunde’s POVs were the most interesting to me. They were all really well developed characters and their roles in the new world are interesting to watch as the characters grow and change.

There are lots of other things Alderman wrote that I thought were wonderful, but this book is definitely one you have to read yourself if you want to understand the feelings and thoughts it conveys.

What does a world where women suddenly become more powerful than men look like? Are the oppressed the worse oppressors? Is violence rampant? Does that really look different than our current world? The Power will consistently make you question everything you think about gender roles in society.

I loved this book! Why? Readable, thought provoking, great characters, has me thinking about life differently as I walk around, makes me question the status quo and solutions to current social problems. Yes yes yes! Read the book!

Recently read this in our book club. It started some good conversations and the overall idea is interesting, but overall the whole team struggled to get engaged in the story, and reading it felt more like a chore than a pleasure.

This book was an excellent thought experiment on the social construct of gender. It flips ideas of power and gender on its head, which was thought provoking about the ways we validate those social constructs in daily life. I’m giving it 4 Stars only for the graphic rape scenes. While rape is definitely a tool of power, I would have liked to have seen that re-thought as well.

I originally thought that I wasn't going to like (one of) the author's premise(s) -- that people do bad things to each other if and because they can, independent of gender, that the nature of humanity is what it is, and power in the hands of nearly anyone will inevitably be power used to crush, but...

Well, I'm weak for authors who run with their ideas, and back their ideas up with good, old-fashioned storytelling and beautiful writing. This book has all of the above. It's an engrossing read -- I barely managed to put it down to get a few hours of sleep last night, and picked it up again today nearly as soon as I got up -- and it's a convincing one, even with four main characters who are all, in their own ways, stark raving mad.

Highly recommended -- and watch out for an absolutely killer last line.