Vox

 Jean McClellan spends her time in almost complete silence, limited to just one hundred words a day. Any more, and a thousand volts of electricity will course through veins .

Now the new government is in power, everything has changed. But only if you are a woman. Almost overnight, bank accounts are taken away and seventy million women lose their jobs. Even more terrifyingly, young girls are no longer taught how to read or write.

For herself, her daughter and for every woman silenced ,Jean will reclaim her voice. This is only the beginning.

Starting off, I was really intrigued by the dystopian concept of physically restricting women's access to words. To often dystopian books can fall into the trap of making their dystopian aspects to "meta" which I usually find makes the book less engaging as it ruins the pace of many stories as it often leads to cumbersome descriptions and info dumping  (with rare exception to this such as 1984).It was also really interesting as the physical reminder of the word counters helped to create an ominous atmosphere which kept up the pace of the book as it was often used as a threat to the main character Jean.

Furthermore , this book was very enjoyable as a social commentary. It addressed multiple issues facing the world today (and possibly in the near future) such as how Jean's son addresses the word counters as "Bracelets" to highlight how men in this world don't acknowledge what they have done to women and deliberately use softer language to hide the atrocities. I also liked how "Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me." was a recurring theme thought the book, as it significantly helps Jeans character arc from someone who is complicit in what is happening to someone who advocates for themselves and others.

Also, I adored how it showed the effects of suppressing women effected everybody : from the strain on Jean's marriage, it affecting her daughter's language development, the apathy of her husband and twins, the desperation Jean had to continue learning  and the radicalization of her eldest son. I believe the it emphasised a really important message that feminism and issue that affect women don't just affect women : they affect everybody and could ultimately have harmful effects for men as well if equality isn't found ( take jean's eldest son for example) which is believe is an incredibly powerful statement, especially in today's troubles.

In terms of prose, I found it average - if a bit lacking in some areas- but it didn't greatly take away from the message of the enjoyability of the book. Again, I found the resolution  felt a bit rushed and lacking in detail , as it felt like all issues where just "magicked away" which gave the ending slightly less meaning and emotional impact. However, I do feel that overall this wasn't a huge issue ,especially as the book was filed with a large cast of well fleshed out characters that combatted this as an issue.

Overall, it was enjoyable read and a good debut.

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