I thought the book had a great premise, but I found the execution somewhat hamfisted and clumsy. Too many coincidences in the book made suspension of disbelief difficult: Jean's mother having a stroke that just happened to be in the locus of where Jean's research had been was an example of this type of sloppy coincidences that just didn't work for me. Large parts of the supposedly suspenseful twists were telegraphed early on, so I felt like the book was very predictable in places. The ultimate conclusion with Patrick falling out of the picture made the whole Jean/Patrick/Lorenzo love triangle too easily resolved. I thought it was a cheap cop out, rather than having Jean decide how to best handle the consequences of having an affair.

This book is a powerhouse from beginning to end. Of course it will bring to mind The Handmaid's Tale with its theocracy and subjugation of women, but the author's description of the culture and politics of the United States is painfully close to the current leadership of government and the Religious Right, making this work terrifyingly believable. The title Vox -- Latin for "Voice" -- refers to the government policy that a female may not speak more than 100 words a day (think Fitbit measuring words, not steps and administering a shock if the limit is exceeded) Women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are not taught to read or write, Men are the decision makers in all matters, and any disobedience by individuals leads to punishment swift and terrible.
We follow the destruction of society through the eyes of Dr. Jean McClellan, a research scientist who could not believe how quickly her world had been perverted. As the restrictions effect her family more directly, McClellan has to make life and death decisions that will have the reader rushing to finish the book. All in all, an entertaining and frightening story from beginning to end.

In America, could this happen? Dr. Jean McCleellan will fight for her and her daughter to be free of this harrowing edict. She is a strong woman and will begin a quest to free her and her daughter of submission to the male population and live a life empty of words. It's a tense and scary journey with Dr. McCleellan not knowing who in this male dominated country she can trust.

“You stay cool, now. And think about what you need to do to stay free.”
— Jackie Juarez,
from Vox by Dr. Christina Villafaña Dalcher

This is not The Handmaid’s Tale, though Dr. Dalcher’s novel does reside comfortably in the genre inspired by that classic. However, if you’ve the need for a fast-paced feminist dystopia fix, something to whet your anger on that doesn’t •directly• involve the current news cycle, this could be the book for you.

Like its predecessor, Vox posits an America overshadowed by a Dominionist takeover, the Pure Movement, dedicated to regressive—i.e. sexist, homophobic, racist, nationalist, conformist—principles. In this vision written, not surprisingly, by a linguist, all women and girls are fitted with counters that allow them to speak 100 words each 24-hour period. After that quota, the “bracelets” deliver a burning electric shock that increases in strength for every ten additional words.

Unless, of course, one is caught in sexual or political “transgressions”. In which case, barring execution, the State condemns the unfortunate to hard labor, with wrist counter set to zero. Unbeknownst to the public, there is also a Government Conspiracy to...but that would be telling!

Granted, these premises require more suspension of disbelief than usual, and at times feel a bit heavy-handed. But realism is not necessarily the goal here. Vox is best taken as a fable, one with heroes and villains—you may not always guess which is which!— that cuts especially close to the bone in these times when all citizens of good conscience must, on a daily basis, think about what needs to be done to become, and to stay, free.

(4.25 Stars) First, let me admit that this is not great literature, but, man, this is a scary premise for a book. Here's how it goes: In an effort to purify America, women are cast from their jobs and, through technology, limited to 100 spoken words a day. Let me clarify this: women to young female children wear a word counter that delivers a powerful shock when they exceed their word limit. This keeps women silent slaves in their own homes.

This is an excellent book group read for anyone who has forgotten that women only received the right to vote for fewer than 100 years ago and that women were expected to manage the home until only a few decades ago.

Truthfully, this book scared the bejeebers out of me. Imagine an authoritative government with access to our current technology. Frightening!

Highly recommended.

Vox is a book that will make you think and want to fight for what's right. There were many points in the book where I had to put it down because I was getting angry. I kept thinking to myself....Can you imagine this happening to us now?! How would us women of today deal with this craziness? 100 words a day...Nope! I couldn't do it!! I have never read a book like this before but I am so glad I did.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I blew through it and it was an entertaining ride! In Vox, the “Pure” religion has taken over the United States government and pretty much destroyed any semblance of women’s rights. Women have been silenced and as such they cannot work and are in complete submission to their fathers or husbands.

I loved the storyline and it had me feeling really righteously angry as a woman - as intended. However, I kind of hated <i>everyone</i> in the book. I obviously was super resentful toward the government, the men who let this happen, the boys who were enjoying it… But then (spoiler? It’s early on you find out) Jean was having an affair. I hate that she was having an affair. Why does feminism always have to be about having affairs? And without giving anything away, there was a point in the novel when I felt she should have been remorseful for that and she wasn’t. Maybe she was too bitter at that point? I mean I can hardly blame her for being bitter… That being said, even though almost everyone in the book was grating on me, they were very real and complex characters that grow and evolve.

I could have done without some of the politics. I’m pretty moderate politically and I hate when people act like their political view or political party is 100% always right and the other view/party is the devil. It’s not that black and white.

But all in all, I enjoyed the idea and the plot and it definitely kept me hooked throughout! <i>You</i> need this book if you like The Handmaid’s Tale or women’s fiction.

A timely dystopian that will be a natural fit for fans of The Handmaid's Tale. Will not be out of place on YA shelves.

Vox is a terrifying dystopic book, because it's a future that could easily come true. I savored every chapter and went along Jean's rollercoaster of a life feeling her highs as well as her lows. Some of her choices bothered me, but I can understand why she did certain actions considering how hopeless and helpless she felt in the beginning. Watching Jean find strength and resolve to do what needed to be done to change her world was utterly beautiful. Excellent read with a main character that is perfectly flawed just as we all are.

This book just wasn't what the description said it was. Jean as an MC was annoying and I felt like half way through the author lost the Plot of the book. I dnf'ed this at 75%.

Wow. This was a freight train of a read. Powerful, intense, and all-too-plausible for these times. The novel is very fast paced and gripping, but it took me a bit longer than it should have - I had to keep putting to book down to breathe and so that I could remind myself not to take the intense emotions it evoked out on the males in my life.

Jean is living in an America gone crazy with conservative quasi-religious values, an America that has silenced half of its population - literally. All females now wear a "bracelet" that counts their words and caps them at 100 per day. If a woman exceeds this count, the bracelet delivers an increasing electrical shock with each subsequent word. Dalcher is so good at getting inside Jean's head, at portraying her silent anger, frustration, and horror at the situation her country is in, that the entire scenario feels scarily real and possible.

This isn't a flawless novel - I found the last quarter of the book a bit rushed and tidy - but that doesn't mean it isn't well worth reading. Just don't take it out on your husband...

Many people will agree (and about 40% of America won’t) that the current Socio-Political climate has been a frightening one for women, minorities, and LGBTQ folks. For so many years, these folks have been forced to shut up. As I’m writing this review, there we seem to be at the start of another cultural revolution. More underrepresented people are running for office – and winning. People are speaking up about sexual abuse. Prominent racists are losing sponsors or losing jobs.

Now imagine what some people would do to stop this.

This is that book.

Fast forward a few years from today. In America, women have lost their rights and even their ability to speak. They are limited to a hundred words per day. They wear a device on their wrists that delivers an electric shock if they go over their word allotment. They can’t drive, fly, or read. Husbands control the lock to the mailbox. Little girls are taught their place and rewarded if they have the lowest word count for the day.

Like the rest of the women in America, Mrs. (formally Doctor, but she can’t use that title anymore) Jean McClellan has been silenced. Until one day, the men in control need her.

This book is so timely and utterly compelling. I’m not going to lie – your own socio political views about feminism, abortion, race, and religion will come into play here. But the author has created a scarily plausible future.

The book made me angry, sad, rebellious, and ultimately very glad I read this.

Highly Recommended!

Vox is a book that will inevitably be compared to Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" but can absolutely stand on it's own two feet. It falls in to the "feminist dystopian" category but I feel that it could be the start of a new sub-genre known as "social horror". The character's rage, disgust, and fear is palatable to the reader yet the most frightening thing is how believable the situation unfolding is and how one could believe it might happen in our own world in a very, very near future.

This is a story about Dr. Jean McClellan, a woman, and a researcher in the field of neuro science, especially linguistics. Did you know a normal person usually speaks about sixteen thousand words a day? Well not the women in this story, see they can no longer work (except to cook and clean), or speak more than one hundred words a day.

This is a wonderful book I couldn't put it down, I don't know how these women did it, I think I would have been like some of the neighbor women, I just don't think I could live this way at all, so these women are so much stronger than I could ever be. The action was great and the suspense throughout you could cut with a knife, I wish there were another book coming to see what happens next, but I am not so sure that was in the plans. But this book really should be on a reading list somewhere.

Review will appear on my blog on Aug 21

The Conservative Party is in power and the U.S. has mandated that every woman and girl be fitted with a pretty version of a shock collar bracelet. When you speak the bracelet counts your words and after your one hundred a day allotment every word you speak, you will be in pain. For Jean, a respected bio researcher and mother of three boys and a young girl, this lack of freedom is killing her. When an opportunity arises that will remove the bracelets from herself and her daughter for the length of time the project exists, she jumps at the chance. What she soon finds after being reunited with her old research team and ex-lover is something so shocking that the world may never be the same again. This is a frightening look at a dystopic society that feels all too plausible and in a sense already silencing women in other countries. The thought of it happening in our society makes it scary - take away their voice and you take away their power. A stunning debut, similar in intensity to "A Handmaid's Tale" and sure to make more than a few women very angry. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copyl

A disturbing contemporary America where women are silenced. What will happen when one woman's scientific knowledge is needed to help the President's family? And what is happening to her own family?

Wow! Amazing story! Will be perfect for book groups! A powerful message of how vital it is to stand up and say NO! And a chilling reminder of how fast things can change for the worse!

Vox is a disturbing near-future dystopian that resembles The Handmaid's Tale meets 1984. Once I started this, I could barely put it down.

In a chilling America, woman lose ALL rights. They can no longer work, or read, or speak. They can cook, clean, shop, and rear the children. And, they must wear "counters" which measure how many words they speak per day and if they reach 100 spoken words, will receive an electric shock for every word spoken after, each worse than the last.

Like in The Handmaid's Tale, extreme Christians get control over the government, and change the entire USA. The scariest part... Woman who call themselves Pure actually believe in this new system and are just as much a part of this new way of life. Women have NO rights whatsoever. None. They must be married to a man, or be taken care of by a brother, uncle, etc. Gay people are taken to prison (labor camps), unless they marry someone of the opposite sex.

This was a terrifying but fascinating look at yet another insane dystopian. I'm so glad this is just a work of fiction!

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an advance copy!*

Set in the near future, women in the United States have been stripped of their rights. They can't hold jobs, read and they are not allowed to speak over 100 words per day. Dr. Jean McClellan, formerly a highly respected neuro-linguistic, is forced to remain home taking care of her husband and three children ... and alters between rage at men, feeling sorry for herself and feeling guilty for not standing up for women's rights while she had the chance.

While this is a great premise, the book is poorly executed. The plot doesn't really make sense and seems too implausible. The characters are unlikable and one-dimensional. This book comes off like a Handmaid's Tale wanna-be but unfortunately it doesn't even come close.

Chilling story of a country that does not allow women to work or speak. Women and girls wear a counter that only allows them to speak 100 words per day. Jean has 4 children and the youngest is a girl. It's heartbreaking to read about how she is unable to speak but her brothers and father speak at home. This book is very similar to The Handmaid's Tale but it feels more real since it takes place in a more modern setting. This book also tells more how the country got to the point where something like this could take place.