I want to start by saying that I think this concept had so much potential, I was excited by the concept and the first look, but Riley's delivery was unfortunately a let down.
It's unclear what the point of this novel was (at least, in my opinion). Is this for feminism? against feminism? just for fun? To some extent I can appreciate it as a warning against tyranny and extremism, but think that the imagined matriarchy was a strange route to take.
I'm irritated by the vague referrals to somes mysterious virus that started in 2020 - this is far from an original concept and also had very little relevance to the plot line. If you want to write about a virus you should probably try a bit harder than that.
"The change" is barely touched upon, which I also found frustrating. I had very little attachment to any of the characters, I didn't care about Arthur, or Victoria, or Dana - what I was really interested in was the transition from patriarchy to matriarchy: how that originated and progressed. It's mentioned at brief points but never elaborated upon and feels shallow and underdeveloped.
My main issue with this book is that it is essentially a cheap version of George Orwell's 1984. In the beginning this is less obvious, they're both dystopian and follow a male protagonist who rebels against the extremist society but these are similarities I can accept as typical of the genre. However, throughout the novel these similarities become ridiculous - there are points where I was pretty sure there were almost direct quotes from Orwell's iconic novel. At the end of the novel, the plot is almost identical, except weaker and with worse character development.
Whilst Riley's writing was not awful, her character and plot development needs some serious work.
It's unclear what the point of this novel was (at least, in my opinion). Is this for feminism? against feminism? just for fun? To some extent I can appreciate it as a warning against tyranny and extremism, but think that the imagined matriarchy was a strange route to take.
I'm irritated by the vague referrals to somes mysterious virus that started in 2020 - this is far from an original concept and also had very little relevance to the plot line. If you want to write about a virus you should probably try a bit harder than that.
"The change" is barely touched upon, which I also found frustrating. I had very little attachment to any of the characters, I didn't care about Arthur, or Victoria, or Dana - what I was really interested in was the transition from patriarchy to matriarchy: how that originated and progressed. It's mentioned at brief points but never elaborated upon and feels shallow and underdeveloped.
My main issue with this book is that it is essentially a cheap version of George Orwell's 1984. In the beginning this is less obvious, they're both dystopian and follow a male protagonist who rebels against the extremist society but these are similarities I can accept as typical of the genre. However, throughout the novel these similarities become ridiculous - there are points where I was pretty sure there were almost direct quotes from Orwell's iconic novel. At the end of the novel, the plot is almost identical, except weaker and with worse character development.
Whilst Riley's writing was not awful, her character and plot development needs some serious work.