Actual rating 2.5.
OK so I wanted to love this - the cover’s cute, I like Talulah Riley as an actress etc etc. I was hoping for something along the lines of Q/Vox etc, which I guess it is, but sadly it just fell short for me. I haven’t seen much on here about this one and now I think I get why…
Imagine a world in which men are the ones who feel unsafe walking home at night. Or where they can only be a gentleman, gay, or a eunuch. Because with The Quickening manifesto, women are in charge and have created a “peaceful” society - for themselves at least. Arthur sometimes wishes he’d killed Dana before she unleashed this new way of living, but it’s hard to do that when he’s in love with her. Except enough is enough now, and he’s finally ready to stand up to this matriarchal system - but will Dana’s feelings for him be enough to protect him if it all goes wrong?
So, sorry if the blurb is crap but honestly I still don’t have much of a clue what the point of this was other than hating on men (not saying that’s not justified sometimes!). Obviously it’s a dystopian novel, but is it meant to be romantic? Exciting? Insightful? Because I’m not sure it ticks many of those boxes sadly.
But some pros - I listened to this on audio and the narration was good, it’s a dual narrative between Arthur and one of Dana’s inner circle, Victoria. Victoria’s story was actually one of the more emotive aspects of the story, as she’d gone from nothing to stardom as a singer, but found herself in a controlling and abusive relationship before The Quickening. I liked that it was unclear which way Victoria would go with her loyalties - was she an ally to Arthur or Dana?
The writing itself was also good, but it just wasn’t a storyline which managed to capture my attention unfortunately.
OK so I wanted to love this - the cover’s cute, I like Talulah Riley as an actress etc etc. I was hoping for something along the lines of Q/Vox etc, which I guess it is, but sadly it just fell short for me. I haven’t seen much on here about this one and now I think I get why…
Imagine a world in which men are the ones who feel unsafe walking home at night. Or where they can only be a gentleman, gay, or a eunuch. Because with The Quickening manifesto, women are in charge and have created a “peaceful” society - for themselves at least. Arthur sometimes wishes he’d killed Dana before she unleashed this new way of living, but it’s hard to do that when he’s in love with her. Except enough is enough now, and he’s finally ready to stand up to this matriarchal system - but will Dana’s feelings for him be enough to protect him if it all goes wrong?
So, sorry if the blurb is crap but honestly I still don’t have much of a clue what the point of this was other than hating on men (not saying that’s not justified sometimes!). Obviously it’s a dystopian novel, but is it meant to be romantic? Exciting? Insightful? Because I’m not sure it ticks many of those boxes sadly.
But some pros - I listened to this on audio and the narration was good, it’s a dual narrative between Arthur and one of Dana’s inner circle, Victoria. Victoria’s story was actually one of the more emotive aspects of the story, as she’d gone from nothing to stardom as a singer, but found herself in a controlling and abusive relationship before The Quickening. I liked that it was unclear which way Victoria would go with her loyalties - was she an ally to Arthur or Dana?
The writing itself was also good, but it just wasn’t a storyline which managed to capture my attention unfortunately.