I really enjoyed Vox and was excited to read another book by this Author. What I didn’t realize was this book would take real life issues and create a fictionalized solution that was based on history. I hated the ending more than anything but the book was so hard to put down I can forgive it.

From the author of Vox comes another page turner about the power of women's voices and the desire to stifle this voices. Dalcher creates a world in which individuals are given scores and only those with the highest scores are valued by society. When Elena Fairchild's (great name!) youngest daughter fails to make enough Q to secure her spot in the top tier, Elena enacts a radical plan to take on a system that she helped to create.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I did not read Vox. But after reading this stunning book, I might have to check it out. I’ve never read anything like this book. It’s scary because it’s realistic.

An absolutely fantastic read! I finished this book in a day and couldn't stop reading it. I'm not a fan of dystopias but after reading Vox and Master Class by Christina Dalcher, she has changed my perspective on this genre. The plot was engaging and the society that Dalcher creates is a scary but ultimately too real look at the high priority we put on standardized testing that doesn't take into account the different types of talent students can have that can't necessarily be shown through standardized testing. The ending did feel a little rushed but altogether this book was a great read and I highly recommend it!

Astounding! After her fierce debut Vox, Christine Dalcher has scored again with a second dystopian family drama. As a teacher, a parent, a wife, I identified with the character Elena in a hellish future reality that manipulates individuals’ livess based on their intellect and personal characteristics. Her husband, who holds a powerful position in this heartless system, is aptly labeled a monster.. The novel enthralled me, assaulted my sense of decency, and repeatedly reminded me, “It could happen here.”

I NEED A DRINK RIGHT NOW! I’m suffocating!!! Wooww! What kind of crazy roller coaster I got in!
I confess! I love horror movies! I can handle zombies, serial killers, vampires, shapeshifters, werewolves, bloody teen slashers, anything dark, vomiting kind of disgusting, irritating, nerve bending, even I can tolerate to watch Fox news for five minutes or predatory animals’ adventures on National Geographic Wild! I have high pain tolerance. But this book FROZE MY BLOOD, BLEW MY MIND AND TERRIFIED THE HELL OUT OF ME because it’s so dark, depressing, mind-f*cking, horrifying and REALISTIC!

I keep reading the news and see the winnings of right-wing populists at all over the world starting from European countries to Brazil, including some of the Eastern, Middle Eastern countries and of course in the US.

Think about yourself in a world that you’re not fleshy human being with full of emotions, beliefs, opinions, decisions. Your full value could be integrated in an unique number. The number consisted of your smartness, your financial capabilities, your pure genetic perfectness (you need to be white, healthy, fertile, without any psychical or mental disability)

They call your number “Q” which identifies who you are, what you are capable of, which school you may attend, where you could live, what the ideal occupation you could focus on. As a summary your Q is your path finder.
It never tolerates with immigrants, LGBTQ community, mediocre or low IQ-ed population, disability. See welcome to the new world is created by incarnated Hitler youth! ( I know at those pages I used several “F” words and spent all of my coins for cursing jar!)

So this quiet brilliant, provoking story is not only about the criticizing the political system and scaring us about probable balance changes, it is also about Elena Fairchild who is brilliant teacher, exampled citizen of the system with her high Q point.
But few years ago she made two terrible mistake. For getting approval of her mean girls’ club she harassed a loner girl in her high school who ended her life and the other mistake was she chose to marry with a wrong guy who became a predator to serve the system for creating True Aryan Genesis. Malcolm Fairchild , has a respectable position in the government and works on genocide project to form an unique populated society consisted of white, rich, intelligent, chosen American people. ( Oh Malcolm, I haven’t read about a pure evil since I read true crime books about Manson family so you over exceeded my expectations! I don’t know how many times I screamed “Burn in hell” when I’m reading your parts! By the way, why do you carry similar name with Morgan Fairchild- a.k.a Chandler Bing’s mother- I love the author’s quirky and dark sense of humor!)
So Elena has a big dilemna. She has two girls: Anna and Freddy. Anna is the successful, father’s smart girl but Freddy is on the spectrum of Asperger. ( The monster husband wanted her aborted but Elena changed the Q score of baby to prevent this! It was a necessary precaution at that time but how long she can protect her daughter!) Now Freddy fails her test and she needs to get transferred to the public school located in Kansas.
And Elena could not bring her home by turning into Dorothy and clicking her heels. Because they are not gonna be in Kansas anymore. The place her daughter is sent for her education is some kind of refugee camp of expendable outsiders. They’re forced to work at the corn fields. Thankfully they are not chained and guarded by gunned white trash guardians.

Elena needs to make Sophie’s choice and go for her girl by leaving behind the other one with her monstrous husband. But could she fight against the corrupted system? Could she bring her girl to the home? How far she could sacrifice to do the right thing with dangerous methods?

Read, weep, sigh, read, scream, drink few glasses to cool down, read, scream more: That was my survival formula for this book!

I didn’t read Vox because of mixed reviews but when it comes to this dark, sick, terrifyingly dangerous, borderline, stunning, riveting, mind blowing story, I couldn’t stop myself and finished it faster than I expected.

So my 3.75 stars rounded up to 4! Ending was so cruel for me but I know it was necessary and right conclusion for this kind of bloody story!

This book is not for everyone. But if you want it darker, surely the author gives you the flame. Well done! Salute!

Thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing for sharing this provoking, mind bending, amazing ARC COPY with me in exchange my pure honest review and thanks to the over imaginative, pure dark and realistic mind of Christina Dalcher for creating one of the most controversial books of 2020. I cannot wait to read more works of her.