Mar 2019 Non-Male Authors (includes non-binary) BotM: The Power

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, Bad Girls Deadlift]

Nyssa wrote: "I’m still waiting for the e-copy to be released again. I seriously cannot believe that they only have access to one freaking copy.
I even called my local location and after saying that they had the..."

What Ala said.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon, Not a book hipster!]

Nyssa wrote: "I’m still waiting for the e-copy to be released again. I seriously cannot believe that they only have access to one freaking copy.
I even called my local location and after saying that they had the..."


Would you say it all makes you feel so... Powerless... ?

[Nyssa]

*Snort*

[Becky]

Ala wrote: "Becky wrote: "Yup. 109 pages. I will push through... I will need your support, Ala! lol"

It's not much left. You can do it!

Just... imagine the amount of snark you'll be able to set free once you..."

Nooo, that's only how much I've read. *cries*

The prospect of the scathing diatribe I hold within me being released is the only thing keeping my bitter heart beating at this point.

[Nyssa]

Damn! O.0

[Ala]

Becky wrote: "Nooo, that's only how much I've read. *cries*"

Oh...well..


damn

Uh...it's only...like...300 more pages? That's...that's not much!

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon, Not a book hipster!]

Based on reviews I've read, I look forward to the rant.

[Nyssa]

So ... It looks like all I had to do was bitch about my lacking library system on GoodReads, for them to send me a copy. LOL
I was checking on my other hold (now at an 11-week wait, down from a 16-week wait), and lo & behold, guess what was waiting for me?

Now, all I have to do is finally complete my research paper, and I can jump back into the fray. Although, I'll probably just start over.

*I'm also amused the Grammarly is currently telling me that I am using the word "bitch" incorrectly.

[Becky]

Oh Grammarly... You ain't no dictionary! ;)

[Becky]

50% mark! It's gotten a little better, at least in that I'm not finding new reasons to dislike it on every page anymore, but all of my gripes are still gripe-y.

[Becky]

Ala... 50% Spoiler comment reply: Agreed, mostly... (view spoiler)[except I don't care for Eve either. Or her Voice. I'm fairly certain the "real" Eve was probably just a grifter who reinvented herself as a cult leader when she saw an opportunity.

I'm hating how inconsistent this book is. The narrative is all over the place and it's annoying as hell. I hate that it just jumps to a scene, plops us there and expects us to follow what's going on without explanation or context.

It reminds me of the bible, and not just for the biblical aspect, but because this is supposed to be the story of what happened when gender roles flipped... And yet we're being offered dialogue of Eve & the voice... That happened inside her head.

This writer is the worst kind of unreliable narrator. He's just making it up. He says so in his letter. "Not quite history, not quite a novel. A sort of ‘novelization’ of what archaeologists agree is the most plausible narrative."

Supposedly he's done loads of research... Enough to make the eyes glaze over and fall out of our heads... But I can't trust a single bit of this because it is blended with shit he just obviously made up.

Or there better be a fucking bibliography at the end citing his sources. (hide spoiler)]

[Ala]

I really should've paid more attention to the Letters at the beginning. In just glossing over them, I missed out on being as annoyed as you are now.

[Becky]

LOL! Better luck next time?

[Ala]

God no. I'd rather enjoy the ignorance.

Less stress.

[Becky]

Fair. But just think how ranty my review is gonna be!

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, Bad Girls Deadlift]

Becky wrote: "Fair. But just think how ranty my review is gonna be!"

I am SO looking forward to this review.

[Becky]

46% to go.

I really hope I don't suddenly start liking it.

LOL NAH.

[Ala]

Becky wrote: "I really hope I don't suddenly start liking it. "

That'd be one helluva twist, though.

[Becky]

It would indeed. It's REALLY unlikely though. So much of what I dislike is the writing and style and incongruence of the way its written vs what it's SUPPOSED to be according to the "writer" and I don't think it works. If not for that letter at the beginning, I think that I probably would feel differently about this (though probably not much - I don't like the characters or the story much either, and the religious overtones... ugh...).

(view spoiler)[But... There's really no reason for that letter that I can tell as of halfway and based on the fact that you paid it zero attention and it didn't seem to make a difference at all. IE: there was no "Ah ha!" moment that brought it all together for you (at least from what I've gathered from your comments.) My guess is that it's supposed to show that women never lost their power, and stepped into the Patriarchy turned Matriarchy's shoes full time to get their revenge on men by making them 2nd class, lesser citizens as women had been for millennia. You know: Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and women are no better.

Deep.


(hide spoiler)]

[Ala]

The Letters don't provide an "Ah ha!" moment, really...

(view spoiler)[They just sorta beat the dead horse in a rather lackluster fashion. (hide spoiler)]

[Becky]

Just like the rest of the book then. What a shock.

68% (view spoiler)[Now Eve's doing fucking faith healing... Man. Just when I think it reached the pinnacle of annoying and has to level out or maybe, just maybe, improve... Nope. (hide spoiler)]

[Becky]

Today is International Women's Day.

THE IRONY.

[Becky]

71% - (view spoiler)[ For being a supposedly bad ass bitch, Roxy is dumb as shit. I smelled Darrell's betrayal from 300 miles away. I mean, honestly. She thought that he's going to let his half sister threaten his dad, take over the family business that he probably sees as rightfully his, and not do anything about that? That he's going to be a good little lieutenant and do all of her female power grabbing and consolidation for her? She dumb.



AND so it serves her right that she had her power taken from her. No pity. No sympathy. (hide spoiler)]

[Ala]

(view spoiler)[I knew the Dad would be back eventually. You don't just leave a viper like that behind you and walk away. Darrell seemed like a lackey who'd go with whoever was in power so it wasn't surprising.

I still felt bad for Roxy though... (hide spoiler)]

[Becky]

Finished.

[Ala]

Becky wrote: "Finished."

Dun dun duuuunnnn

[Becky]

It's gonna be a long'un.

[Becky]

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Bring a snack. It's a looooong one.

[Ala]

Welp.

(view spoiler)[Fucking Word. I agree with pretty much everything you said.

I was also wondering why there wasn't any mention of transgender or genderfluid or anything other than plain men and women. I kept expecting to see something about it somewhere but it never showed up. It was disappointing. (hide spoiler)]

I think I might have been more lenient because I had it in my head that (view spoiler)[The Voice was alien in nature and the "author" knew that since it was his history. The fact it was actually just made up religious bullshit didn't register until I was almost done (hide spoiler)]. Plus it was Denae's pick so I was hoping it'd be decent.

It wasn't.

[Nyssa]

Two weeks ago: Nyssa wrote: "The letters, in the beginning, threw me off a bit."

I'm just restarting the book now.

I have not read any of the spoilers in this thread. So if the following has already been discussed... well...oops.

Upon rereading the very first letter, I have a theory ...

(view spoiler)[Reveresed positions. Could it be, that Naomi had written a letter similar to Neil's upon completing the first draft of the is novel? And the way she responds is similar to those she received?

On the other hand, it could also be foreshadowing just how much the world has changed by the end of the story. (hide spoiler)]

[Becky]

I'm interested to see what you think of it Nyssa.

[Nyssa]

Becky wrote: "I'm interested to see what you think of it Nyssa."

I saw your rating but ran from the review...lol
I'm hoping to get some solid reading time in at some point today or tomorrow.
School has got me to where I don't know if I'm coming or going these days.

[Becky]

Yes, do not read my review. It will spoil it for you. I don't ruin EVERYTHING... it was late and I forgot some stuff. :P

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon, Not a book hipster!]

Becky - your review is pretty much everything I expected from reading other reviews, and I am definitely staying away from this book.

[Nyssa]

Becky wrote: "Yes, do not read my review. It will spoil it for you. I don't ruin EVERYTHING... it was late and I forgot some stuff. :P"

LOL! I have been warned. :D

[Becky]

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "Becky - your review is pretty much everything I expected from reading other reviews, and I am definitely staying away from this book."

Good call!


...lucky.

[Nyssa]

Is there anyone else just reading the book now?

I find myself wanting to discuss little things.

(view spoiler)[Like Tunde being 21 and hitting on a 17-year-old; I couldn't help but feel like it served him right to get zapped!. I wonder, however, if Enuma lured him in for that very purpose since there was no indication that she was either surprised or apologetic, Plus she ended up dating someone else, which would make her just as bad in my opinion.

I was also annoyed that Ricky gave Roxy drugs - coke I assume - before the confrontation. I'm like, WTF man? (hide spoiler)]

I don't know if either of you, Ala or Becky, would be interested since you not only completed the book but did not enjoy it.

I'm only on page 53 (15%), so I do not yet have an opinion either way.

[Becky]

Nyssa: Neither of those things bothered me at all. LOL

(view spoiler)[When I was 17 I was dating a 23 year old. It never crossed my mind about the age difference at all, except that he could get beer and cigarettes, which was convenient. I doubt if Enuma was concerned about it either. Likely, she saw he was interested, and wanted to toy with him a little.
I also know that in a lot of places, women are married (often to much older men) and starting families younger than 17. So a little flirtation didn't even register to me.

And Roxy's family are a crime ring family. To me it's not weird at all that they'd use illegal drugs liked that. For one, it would lower her inhibitions, so that she'd be less likely to back out or freak out when they need her to do the deed, and I sort of thought about it as a bit of a rite of passage. If she's not willing to snort a little coke, would she be up for everything else? (hide spoiler)]

[Nyssa]

Becky wrote: "Nyssa: Neither of those things bothered me at all. LOL."

I viewed both from full-on "mom-brain" .. LOL

[Becky]

Probably not the best way to read this one, just gonna be honest. O_o

[Ala]

Agree with Becks on both counts.

[Nyssa]

Page 134 (37%)

I'm not hating this. It's interesting.

Roxy - I like her, but I can't quite put my finger on why, exactly. (view spoiler)[I think it's because she's tough, knows where she comes from, and just goes with the flow (hide spoiler)]

Tunde - (view spoiler)[ Token male? You know, like all of the movies and TV shows that have that one female character in the group of men, or the one gay character in the group of heterosexual characters, or the one person of color in the group of Caucasians. (hide spoiler)] I have no particular feelings about Tunde.

Margot - Not a fan. (view spoiler)[I just don't trust her. I don't trust anyone who seems to think only in terms of ambition and nothing else. And that is the feeling I get from her, even if Daniel is an asshat. (hide spoiler)] Smooth move on the TV thing though.

Allie - (view spoiler)[a.k.a. Eve (hide spoiler)] Shrug. I want to like her. (view spoiler)[Even though she started with sketchy intentions, I think she really believes what her mind / the voice is selling. (hide spoiler)] I'm curious to know where her storyline is heading.

Additional thoughts: (view spoiler)[ I wonder if Roxy and Eve can genuinely work together. I have a feeling and a fear that they may end up as adversaries. I hope I'm wrong. They could be a good balance for one another.

Oh, and I'm more convinced than ever that the letter was foreshadowing how the tables have turned.

A last thought. I think this is working for me so far because the girls were all victims of violence, so their anger and wariness make sense. They're not mean or heartless, at least not Allie & Roxy.
I still don't know about Margot thought. What's her deal!?!

The only girls that seem to have ill intentions were possibly Enuma, and Noor at first. But even with Noor - she had just gained true freedom from an oppressive society, so it makes sense that she'd show off, celebrate, go a little crazy... Melt some cars... have sex. Oh yeah, there was the gymnast too ... I forgot about her for a minute. Okay she was power hungry (hide spoiler)]

Ha. This post ended up being a little longer than I intended.

[Nyssa]

I'll just leave this right here.

'The Power' to be adapted for Amazon Prime series

[Becky]

Nyssa wrote: "I'll just leave this right here.

'The Power' to be adapted for Amazon Prime series"

Of course it is.

I don't disagree with you on the characters... Mostly.

What do you think of the writing and style, if anything?

[Nyssa]

I noticed a weird five and twenty thing that irked me a bit. It was actually jarring because it came out of nowhere.

Other than that. Shrug. I don’t mind the changes in POV; I think it helps keep the story moving, and adds to the anticipation of wanting to know what comes next.

Nothing else has stood out to me style-wise. At least not yet.

[Becky]

Lol yeah, I called that one out as well.

[Nyssa]

What was your take (view spoiler)[on the Guardian Angel angle? Do they say how, exactly, they ‘bred it out’? (hide spoiler)] Was it that the women were not aware? Were their woman who agreed with that course of action?

This reminds me of the, oh what were they called, the ‘teachers’ or ‘nurses’ or ‘guardians of women’ in The Handmaid’s Tale.

If I were not on my phone, I would take the time to better explain what I mean.

[Becky]

Well... I don't want to spoil anything for you. But... I had many questions about that. IMO, that theory didn't make any sense at all.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, Bad Girls Deadlift]

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "Becky - your review is pretty much everything I expected from reading other reviews, and I am definitely staying away from this book."

This is me, too.

[Nyssa]

I still find the story itself interesting, but I have no more feelings for the characters.

I think I stopped caring around the 50% mark. I blame Margot.

(view spoiler)[ Very confused as to how she won that election. I'm assuming multiple cases of abuse of power both figuratively and literally. The possibility of her being a total fraud sucked all of the fun out of it for me. (hide spoiler)]

UrbanDox - UGH!! Plus, the online conspiracy theories sound like the same crap out there right now. It is not adding anything to the story ... and that antivaxxer shit! Really!?!

Something Roxy said about Eve (can't remember what it was), made her (Eve) drop out of favor. And after breaking my own rule, and reading some of the spoilers in this thread, Roxy fell out of favor too.

But I'm now past the 200th page, and I still want to know what will happen in the end, so I will soldier on.