Vox by Christina Dalcher

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than 100 words daily, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial--this can't happen here. Not in America. Not to her. 

This is just the beginning.

Soon women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are no longer taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words a day, but now women only have one hundred to make themselves heard. 

But this is not the end. 

For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice.


I have a LOT of mixed feelings about this book! A lot of reviews compare it to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. I read The Handmaid's Tale first when I was in college, and re-read it at least half a dozen times since then. It's one of my favorites, needless to say. 

Anyway, I think that comparison is fair in that both books are dystopians featuring 1) religious fundamentalism and 2) the subjugation of women on a country-wide scale. Vox is also interesting because it takes us to the beginning of the movement (well, one year in), where there is still some hope for change. Dr. Jean McClellan is afraid for herself and her daughter, but she's quickly given an offer that lands her in a position of power, and a means of fighting the powers that be. Not on a grass roots, pass-a-note kind of way, but on a major, scientific way. So wowza! I loved that part. 

The sections of the novel about Jean's six year-old daughter, Sonia, were also very compelling. What happens to little kids when forced to pare away their language, when they're encouraged to use even less than 100 words a day? It's a terrifying, heart-wrenching scenario, and I think it's the heart of the story. 

But I'm not sure it's the core of Jean's story. 

Romance gets flung in, and in fact takes a very prominent role. I don't want to spoil anything, but this romance and the after-effects means Jean has to make very difficult choices about who and what she wants to save. While I liked the romantic interest, and understood there were plot reasons for why the relationship existed, I felt it played too much of a role. I also felt that it weakened the poignancy of Sonia's dilemma. 

Honestly, I also feel that the romance is there to weaken the claims that this a "feminist" novel, and to give it some heteronormative cred. But it's wholly possible I'm reading too much into that. 

There were also times when I was unable to suspend my disbelief. Vox takes place close to the White House, so it's not a small-town setting. There are a lot of people everywhere, and I'm sure there are lot of "transgressions" taking place. So why are neighbors and acquaintances so prominently featured in public television shaming? This isn't the only convenient coincidence that happens during Vox. There are many of them, and I kept asking myself, "Really??"

The biggest way Vox succeeds is its overarching message of complacency. When good people sit around and let bad things happen around them, scenarios like this can happen. It's a chilling message, and I think it's a pertinent one. 


*3.5 stars*