From the Bookshelf of Third Place Books: Booze & Lasers…

The Power

Naomi Alderman

Finish date: October 15, 2018

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Sep 30, 2018 Mihwa rated it really liked it

I want to give this 5 stars for the striking execution of a too-topical concept (seriously - too topical, I had a hard time starting the book), but the second half of the book just didn't measure up.

The Power is framed as a draft of a novel by Neil Adam Armon, written some time countless years in the future. Neil asks Naomi (presumably Alderman), whether this story is too shocking, too daring, and begs her opinion. It is a new version, he says, about that time in history.

The novel itself follo I want to give this 5 stars for the striking execution of a too-topical concept (seriously - too topical, I had a hard time starting the book), but the second half of the book just didn't measure up.

The Power is framed as a draft of a novel by Neil Adam Armon, written some time countless years in the future. Neil asks Naomi (presumably Alderman), whether this story is too shocking, too daring, and begs her opinion. It is a new version, he says, about that time in history.

The novel itself follows four characters through the course of years after the Day of Girls. The setup is amazing and oddly cathartic in the present day: all of a sudden, teenage girls around the world realize that they have a new power. They can cause painful, sometimes fatal electric shocks with their hands. And, most importantly, it's a gendered power - only women have it.

The first half sets up such an important and interesting premise. Alderman (via Neil) asks: what happens in a world where the normal power dynamics are upended? When previous (female) victims have the sudden and unaccountable ability to hurt and kill, how do (male) people in power respond? How do men and women deal with this change? How much of our current assumptions are based on this implicit power dynamic? There are some razor sharp observations nestled into these questions.

And then, in the second half, there's an exploration of what could happen next. And this is where I disagreed. (view spoiler) ...more

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