A world, post male freedom, is built up from three different perspectives. A woman from each major religion and one "woman" caught in the middle. This book makes you think about how society looks at woman vs. man, even down to the architecture. Round homes vs angled homes and an emphasis on female pleasure. One downfall to this story is that it felt like a world was built for the reader but what was the reader reading for? This book left me thinking about the world surrounding the characters but wondering what the purpose of the book was.

This book had a great premise, while I didn't love the book.. I did like it. I believe there will be a special place for it in our library!

Fabulous speculative fiction!
In Eleven Percent we learn that is all that is left - 11 % of the population is male (scientifically determined to stop inbreeding). It's called the New Time, but has anything really changed? Sure women are in charge but to what degree have they lost their own humanity? Maren Uthaug is a well known Danish writer who explores this polar opposite of the Handmaid's Tale with a great degree of creativity and skill. Fascinating, thought provoking and just a little bit too real.

#stmartinspress #elevenpercent #marenuthaug

Going into Eleven Percent, I was very intrigued by the concept of the book being that it was a roles reversed version of Handmaids Tale, however once beginning the book, I really struggled. After reading about 25% of the book, I did decide to not continue the book and I did DNF. The book has a very slow start to even really start understanding the plot whatsoever and the language of the book was a bit dull. I really had to push myself to continue reading this, even up to the 25% mark. Based on other reviews, this did seem like it was translated and perhaps that could be where the slowness stems from. I really wish the book had a bit more of a fantasy introduction, to really grab your attention. It was almost too much world building that it was slow to jump into. I think the concept is so strong and I think leading with more of the “why” of the world setting would be helpful to the reader and to gain intrigue.

Thought provoking and interesting.
Told from the POV of four women living in a dystopian style future where all but 11 percent of males exist in society, and what little there are, are kept in “spas” where they are trained for female pleasure and procreation. Medea, a snake whisperer and witch from the slums who bakes popular “love cakes” made from menstrual blood and then searches for male blood to use in most of her elixirs. Wicca, a young priestess striving for her mother’s approval, and has just lost her pregnant girlfriend. Eva, a doctor working at a “spa” who’s harboring a deep secret of her own. And Silence, a mute living at an abandoned convent with Medea yet holds an air of mystery all her own. All four women’s lives are connected, and tell a story.
This story is presented and compared to a reverse Handmaide’s Tale, but there’s actually very little showcased on the males. And focused mostly on the women with discussions centered around gender roles, religion, and the patriarchy.

This was definitely an interesting read. The synopsis alone drew me in and had me really wanting to read this title. Looking at other reviews, I see many struggled through the text and sentence structure because it is translated from Danish. I didn’t seem to encounter that issue personally.

I am almost always a big fan of dystopian novels, and 11% was no different. I also liked the different POVs from the different female characters. This is a thought provoking read, but could be triggering to some.

I received this title from NetGalley but opinions are my own. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review!

*Eleven Percent* offers a compelling exploration of a society where men have almost vanished, and women now dominate, living in a world that superficially promises peace but teeters on a disturbing undercurrent. The story follows the perspectives of four women navigating this matriarchal dystopia, where the few men left are confined to Centers for reproductive purposes.
The men, though central to the world’s structure, are largely absent from the narrative, and the real focus lies in the intricate dynamics between the women and the society they uphold. The book presents a world that leans into extreme biological determinism, portraying men as inherently dangerous and women as inherently nurturing. However, this binary structure is constantly questioned through the characters’ actions and relationships, making for a thought-provoking and uncomfortable read.
The novel doesn’t shy away from addressing the darker aspects of its world. Trans characters face discrimination and harm, and while the story reflects the rigid societal expectations, it doesn’t condone them. I appreciated how each of the four protagonists was given the space to be complex—none of them fit neatly into hero or villain categories. There’s no clean resolution or moral lesson here, which made the ending feel all the more unsettling and powerful.
Overall, *Eleven Percent* is for readers who enjoy dystopias that challenge societal norms and push boundaries. It's not an easy read, both in terms of content and emotional weight, so it's important to go in prepared for some intense themes. If you’re interested in morally ambiguous characters and narratives that make you think, this book is worth picking up.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you, NetGalley.

This is a thought-provoking book. In a future world where power dynamics have been flipped, women are in charge and men live in captivity when they are allowed to live. Although the writing is beautiful, it describes a horrific alternate reality. The characters are well-developed, and I liked how the four different stories ended up intertwined. But that is all I liked; this book made me very uncomfortable.

There is also a lack of trigger warnings, so please be careful if you cannot handle topics such as sexual violence, forced reproduction, death surrounding pregnancy, child abuse, mutilation, involuntary ingestion of bodily fluids, gender-based violence, and animal violence. I am probably forgetting others.

Overall, I am sure it is a good book; it's just not for me.

The patriarchy is long gone. Welcome to a world run by women.

Just, wow! As always thank you to the publishers as well as NetGalley for the ARC. this was such a unique and compelling premise, and I was immediately hooked. I really loved all all the details and explanations for things changing, such as the architecture and religion.
The characters each brought their own story that somehow twisted with everyone else's in a sometimes unpredictable way. I thought they were all well written and interesting.

I just thoroughly enjoyed this read. I don't think this will be everyone's cup of tea but it was so different from anything I've ever read before and I'm going to be thinking about it for a long while...

Eleven Percent is a weird little dystopian novel that felt like nothing else I’ve ever read. Women rule the world and men are kept in captivity until… needed. Nature is reclaiming patriarchal structures, as women are creating new buildings/cities with curves. We learn about four distinct women whose lives intertwine and who share their secrets with us. Thought-provoking, eerie, bizarre – I couldn’t put it down.

Wow this book was a wild ride. A world where only 11% of biological men are left (to avoid inbreeding), a religion where they encourage self pleasure, super feminist, love and lost. Pick this one up with an open mind and enjoy because I certainly did.

Wow this was really good and had me thinking all sorts of things when k finished! It really stays with you. It’s similar to The Handmaids Tale but also totally different and felt fresh. It deals in a lot of important topics but never felt like bogged down by those topics. It was just a really engaging read. Will be adding to our library 100%!

Overall an interesting thought experiment on one possible answer to the question, "What would happen if TERFs took over?" The dystopian society that exists in this book was equal parts horrifying and morbidly fascinating. It took me until just over halfway through the book to decide if I liked it, and I think I did, but mostly it was just so disgusting, horrific, and shocking (while also being excellently written) that I couldn't put it down. Some parts were completely devastating, and while there was a little bit of joy at the end for two of the characters, I don't feel like the ending was necessarily happy. It certainly wasn't hopeful, but it was thought-provoking. I think I'll probably reread this one once the final version is released because I'm sure there were some things I missed the first time through.

"Welcome! You have entered a horny dystopian world where your skin crawls from culture shock" would be the city sign for Eleven Percent. This might sound negative, but honestly I found it fascinating. Put on your seatbelt for the giant snake (euphemism intended), menstrual blood, and unhinged witchcraft.

From an anthropological lens it is fascinating to imagine a society in which society is only made up of a single sex where the opposite sex (denote the imperative biological implications of sex vs. gender) is locked up for reproductive use and treated as breeding stock. However, this novel is a far cry from the Handmaids Tale, it is not a story of rebellion, overcoming an unfair system, or a political warning. The story is really about human nature and the impact of society, regardless of what the governing political body may be.

None of these characters are people you would want to be. Each of them is uniquely deeply scarred by the rigidity of the social structure and simply trying to live the best life they can scrape together. Maren gives us uniquely human moments in the story that incite our empathy despite the foreign, almost wrong, world. She makes a commentary that regardless of "progress" there are people that chafe against society and that doesn't mean they are BAD.

*SLIGHT SPOILER* By the end you don't see any major dissent against the system or strong statement against the social structure. If that's what you're looking for, you'll be frustrated and disappointed.

I saw many DNFs for the english version of this book in the reviews, I personally didn't have any issues with the writing style, but I read transliterated texts with ease. I didn't experience any disruptive sentence structure or major issues with pace. The only spot I felt the novel dragged a bit was in Eva's perspective. You've already put the pieces of her story together, had the whole creepy theology experience, and seen living in the slums away from society. Felt redundant. Overall rating 3.5/5 - rounded up for star purposes.

Appreciation to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for access to this digital ARC in return for an honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Eleven Percent by Maren Uthaug is a third person multi-POV Danish speculative novel in the vein of The Handmaid's Tale. For the most part, men have been removed from society and many are kept in a Center for the purposes of procreation. Medea is a pagan witch who protests the Centers but there has been little in the way of change. When the boy who lives with Medea's found family goes missing, a lot more comes to light than just who his unnamed mother was.

My review style for this book is far more of an analysis than how I usually do reviews, which is more based on what I liked and what different aspects of the text made me think. I struggle to say whether or not I like Eleven Percent but it's in the same way I wonder if I like Handmaid's Tale or 1984; these books make me think deeper about the themes and whether or not I enjoy them is way down the ladder in what's going through my head.

The number one thing that had me thinking was how there is such emphasis on gender essentialism and how removing men has improved the world and yet there's still problems. When it is brought up that violent crimes, including SA, have gone down, there's always this caveat of ‘by men’ which indicates to me that violent crimes is very much still happening but it's either rare or it's swept under the rug. I'm genuinely inclined to believe that it could be the latter because there's some evidence that certain aspects of toxic femininity have remained in this society. Men are kept pliant for the pleasure of women and the way men are talked about calls right back to the way I remember hearing men talk about women on TV as a kid. The reader is supposed to empathize with the men and pay attention to how the POV characters express disgust toward male bodies.

The other thing that got me thinking was gender in relation to trans identities. I'm Nonbinary and, for me, gender is a performance and a social construct I'm asked to play a part in, but I have trans friends who I know that isn't the case at all. Gender is something very different for them. I bring this up because we have two characters, Lars and Eva, who for all intents and purposes are transgender but might not present how the reader is familiar with trans characters. There's ideas presented that I'm familiar with but are done in new ways, especially in relation to Lars, who is referred to as a ‘manlady’ (a term that feels like it's meant to be derogatory). Lars has silicone genitalia and uses ‘he/him’ pronouns but also breastfeeds as a business. And then there's Eva who had to hide that she is AMAB in this world that is very hostile to men. Lars is presented as more socially acceptable than Eva in the book even though Eva is a child.

There's just so much to unpack here in regards to gender essentialism and feminism and the major theme is that gender essentialism doesn't help anyone. It harms children, it harms the genders in the traditional binary, it creates little room for those outside the binary like Enbies, and it doesn't create a utopia no matter which way you slice it. The men are treated like animals in a zoo so the glimpses that we get show them acting docile, almost like dolls, and their role in society is essentially to help keep humanity going and not much else. I'm gonna have to wait for the book to be officially released to start talking about it and it's gonna be really hard because I do want to talk to people about all the thoughts swirling in my head right now as an AFAB Enby

Content warning for mentions of SA and anti-trans attitudes

I would recommend this to readers who got a lot out of discussing The Handmaid's Tale and 1984 and those looking for their next book club read that discusses gender essentialism

Eleven Percent takes place in a world where only women are allowed to live freely. Men are locked up in “spas” where the women can go to either make a baby or get pleasure from a man. Eleven Percent shares the point of views of 4 women, Medea (a witch and snake whisperer who thinks the spas are awful), Wicca (a Christian priest who has lost her lover), Silence (a woman who doesn’t talk after an incident with telling a friend’s secret) and Eva (a woman who is a doctor at one of the spas.) Their lives intertwine in ways you could never imagine.

I found Eleven Percent to be super interesting and really messed up. Some parts were super good and kept me on my toes, while other parts felt irrelevant to the story. Each character was unique. I love how they were all connected in some way or another.

Thank you NetGalley and Maren Uthaug for the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own

Unfortunately, I DNF'd this book by around 15%. I find the premise super interesting, but I kept rereading the setup and just couldn't keep track of the plot and couldn't really get into the worldbuilding. I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't get into it. The writing is interesting, but I just couldn't keep getting through the book.

This was a little out of my comfort zone, specifically all the talk about pregnancy and babies and stuff. I didn't finish but the writing was great. The content just wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for am honest review. Although the blurb and cover attracted me to this book, I found it really difficult to get into and decided to DNF it around the 20% mark. The writing style was good but I found the structure difficult to follow and felt confused about what was going on. I might try to pick this up again sometime. Give it another go.

absolutely chaotic. in the best way possible. it freaked me out in a way that i liked. this story really made me sit and think for a little bit after i finished reading. all i can say is : men