Gather the Daughters

 Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed  341 pages

Where Janey Solomon lives, their island of families is isolated but protected from the outside country, where everything was incinerated to wasteland. Years before, 10 men and their families colonized the island and their radical society built on ancestor worship, controlled breeding and strict rationing of knowledge has kept them safe. The daughters of men are wives-in-training and at the first sign of puberty, face their "Summer of Fruition," after which they marry. They have children and the cycle keeps repeating.  The only freedom they have is during the summer, where children run free and reign supreme on the island. However, something dark and nasty is happening and when one little girl sees something absolutely horrifying and contradictory to the laws of the island, things start to unravel for everyone. Janey Solomon has been holding off her fruition by starving herself and at 17, is a natural leader. Burning to discover the truth, Janey is desperate to save herself and her sister, attempting to lead an uprising of girls that may have deadly consequences.

I liked this book, but there are some things hinted at here that are truly quite unpleasant. In fact, the entire story is unpleasant --- which is okay, but be prepared to be disturbed. The ideas here are what makes it interesting --- for example, is there really an outside world that has been incinerated? Was the purpose of the original 10 men to really protect their families or to develop a society that has some really nasty things that are normalized?  There are some questions here without answers, but that just means that the story makes you think about it after you have finished the last page. Definitely an interesting book, although I don't know if I'd re-read it.

Vox

Vox by Christina Dalcher     326 pages

In an America where half the population has been silenced, one woman will discover just how far she will go to protect herself and her daughter.

Dr. Jean McClellan had seen the signs that things were changing, that the government was becoming increasingly rigid and restrictions on women were increasing. However, she remained in denial . . . until the day that the government decreed that women are no longer allowed more than 100 words daily.  Now, women wear bracelets that deliver increasingly painful electrical shocks if they go over 100 words a day. Cameras watch their every move and schools don't teach girls anything beyond basic math skills and, of course, home economics. There is no more reading or writing for women.  When she is given an opportunity to work on a medical research project she had to leave unfinished, Jean is determined to reclaim her voice and go as far as she can to restore the voices of all women.

Think about how many words you say in a day. Did you know that the average person speaks 16,000 words per day? In this version of America, woman are limited to 100. Beyond 100 means electric shocks (and I'm not talking about something mild, either).  And this is just the beginning if the government has its way (or rather, the way of the men running it).  I really enjoyed this book and wound up staying up late last night to finish it because I could not stop turning the pages. The pace starts slowly, but then starts to pick up gradually, increasing the tension in the story at the same time. Jean's husband is involved in the government, so you have that layer adding to her relationship with him and their children. Jean's oldest son also starts to become indoctrinated (especially after the school starts a new religious studies class), which means he is starting to possibly be a danger to Jean.  I wasn't sure what was going to happen at the end --- and won't reveal anything here.

I will say that this book is chilling in the same way that The Handmaid's Tale is; you can't imagine a world like this . . . until you can.  I found parts of the book absolutely infuriating (on Jean's behalf) and wondered if I would be able to limit myself to 100 words per day.  I probably could . . . but knowing that this was just the beginning would probably make me implode. The idea of not being allowed to read is impossible. And if you think about girls being born and never being taught how to speak --- it's a form of torture (especially because it affects brain development as a whole).  Definitely a thought-provoking story.

Shades of Grey

Shades of Grey: the Road to High Saffron, by Jasper Fforde, 390 pages

In this world that is like our own, but far in the future and apparently in Wales, the population has limited ability to see the color spectrum.  The higher end of the spectrum that one can see, the higher their social status.  Young Eddie Russet is at the bottom of the spectrum- in the Reds- just barely higher than the Greys, who see the world only in shades of grey.  When a series of mishaps takes Eddie away from his home and to the fringes of society, he begins to question the system and realize that right and wrong is not as black and white as he thought, but really more like... shades of grey. (THAT'S THE NAME OF THIS BOOK, YOU GUYS!!)

This book was such a treat!  (But for reading, not eating.  Don't eat this book.) It's just that it was full of smart writing- the kind where you have to pause for a minute in order to go look things up.  It was also pretty hilarious.  I just loved lines like this:  "I'm not a big fact person," said Mr. Crimson, who was honest, even if a twit.  "Unproved speculation is more my thing."  (p. 221)  Eddie reminded me of a more likable Arthur Dent- he is caught up in a world that is so bizarre that it isn't even totally explained to the reader- you're just sort of taken along for the ride and you catch the bits of the scenery that you can.  I would say that this is primarily a work of world-building.  But when the world is this fascinating, it's a really fun place to hang out in for about 390 pages. Looking forward to the sequel that may or may not happen!