Far too evocative of the Handmaids Tale to be a new and exciting piece of work. It is however well written and as with the Handmaids Tale tells a worryingly possible story of the way America could very well go. Gripping and terrifying at the same time it is not for the fainthearted.

There are however important issues regarding women and their right to speak that will echo with the #metoo generation. This is a book published at exactly the right time and I hope it reaches a large audience among young women.

Vox is a very powerful and timely novel that follows hot on the heels of books like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale or Naomi Alderman’s The Power. It is set in a near future in which the Christian religious right has taken control of America. With The Pure Movement, the government seeks to return America to state of grace in which the family and the patriarchy are key. Women must understand their place as home makers, supporting their husbands through deed and not word.

Bracelets are introduced for all women and girls that count the number of words they can say in a day. Once they go over 100 they are given a mild electric shock. Keep talking and the severity of the shocks increase.

Jean was once a cognitive linguist and leader in the field of curing aphasia – a state in which the brain forgets how to make sense of language. When the President’s brother has an accident that leaves him with aphasia, they call Jean back to work, removing her bracelet, offering her a reminder of the freedoms of the recent past. She doesn’t want to help them, but she does want to free her young daughter who is about to win a prize for speaking the least number of words in a week. If she can get the bracelet off her daughter, even for a time, helping the government and regaining a sense of purpose might be worth it.

But do they really want to find a cure for aphasia? How useful might it be to turn that cure around and use it to silence?

While her husband plays the game, working for the government, her sons grow more extreme in their misguided views of the natural order and old desires for colleagues, old memories of feminist friends who saw it all coming, rise up and ask her to question what she should do next.

It’s not a beautiful book. I don’t read it mesmerised by the sentence structure, but I am gripped by the storyline and the message Vox conveys left me very shaky with anger and fear. Not only did this government seek to silence women, it also locked up homosexuals in cells with one woman and one man, waiting for them to see the light and form proper acceptable families. It makes it clear that other minorities will soon be vulnerable to correction too.

Written by a theoretical linguist who spells out her message in her preamble, Vox has a clear directive: appreciate your rights and use them fully; don’t slide into apathy for fear of what might take hold while you’re looking the other way.

You’ll read Vox in a few short hours, compelled forward by the tension in the narrative, and feel affected by it for some time to come. It’s a thought-provoking kick in the mouth that fulfils a current taste for speculative dystopias and asks us to question why we want to read them.

This was a very thought provoking book, that focuses your mind on how much we speak in everyday interactions. The plot centres around a new regime in the US that limits women to speaking only 100 words a day. The theme was similar to that of A Handmaids Tale, but the importance of speech is central to the novel. Parallels are drawn between the limiting of speech by society and the loss of speech incurred by victims of strokes - the main protagonist was a lead researcher in this area. I found that the story raced along, and it was hard to put this book down, I couldn't wait to see how things would be resolved in the end. Some of the relationship between the characters were slightly unbelievable, but perhaps people see the bigger picture when they are uniting against such a misogynistic regime. All in all I would recommend this book to anyone.

I received a free ebook version of this book through Netgalley. Thankyou to both Netgalley and the publisher! My review is still honest.

I feel like I should begin this review by saying that I am extremely lucky to have the privilege that I do. Every woman experiences oppression of some sort, but as a white woman living in Britain, a relatively liberal country that currently has a female head of state, I am offered protections that so many others do not receive. This book, however, does a fantastic job of teaching us not to be complacent. Just because we have good opportunities and aren’t treated abominably, it does not mean that others have the same experience. Standing up for them is not only morally right, but this book really shows that these small instances of sexist belief, when unchallenged, have the capacity to grow and influence, something which I unfortunately see happening in areas of the world today. This is a book with a message, and one this world sorely needs.
Vox takes place in a world where women have very few rights. Every woman, from birth, must wear a counter on their wrist that counts their words in a day up to 100, after which the woman will receive electric shocks, to death if necessary. Not only does this book deal with the politics and rage induced by this change, it focuses a lot on family life and the individuals. How does this restriction affect mothers, relationships and even men? It leaves no stone unturned. Jean is a woman in constant conflict with herself about how to raise her daughter and sons in a sexist world, and it was truly heart-wrenching at times. These characters leave an impression.
I can’t say this is a perfect book. The plot could be too convenient at times, some things could be a little confusing, or come out of nowhere and I personally felt the ending wrapped things up a little too well for this kind of story. I usually hate open endings, but I’m not sure it works for a book of this nature. If you weren’t a fan of The Handmaid’s Tale because of the open ending, I would highly recommend this one. I suppose the overall point of this review is to say that despite its flaws, this book is important, it is timely and it should be read by many. Read this book, and learn from it, as I did.

Such a good read; I really enjoyed Vox and yet found it believably scary at the same time. Well-paced, gripping and clever, Vox is an interesting take on a dystopian novel.

I thought the impact on and of the children was particularly telling, and helped speak to how the situation arose - or was allowed to arise - over time. The ending did feel a little contrived and far-fetched, but also did include a twist that I didn't see coming and was grateful for.

In an environment where women can only speak 100 words a day, and the consequences of going over are terrifying, Dr Jean McClellan attempts to reclaim her voice. I felt the length was appropriate, and the medical and technical language didn't put me off - it acted as a reminder as to the core themes and the level of expertise of the characters.

I received an advance copy for review from the publisher via Netgalley.

I loved the concept of this book. With strong echoes of The Handmaid’s Tale, Vox imagines a near future where women are literally silenced by the patriarchy. Every female is forced to wear a bracelet or ‘counter’ that monitors her speech and limits her to a paltry 100 words a day. Any more than that, and a horrific electric shock is administered. The government is formed of a fundamentalist Christian groups and severe punishments are handed out for sex outside marriage, improper behaviour, homosexuality... it paints a dark and depressing picture.

The novel centres around Jean, a one time neuroscientist specialising in linguistics, now trapped in the home with four children, a detached husband and a limited voice. The parts of the book that spoke most to me were those that explored the relationship between Jean and her daughter Sonia, who is growing up in a world where she is denied the speech her brothers take for granted.

I think I would like to have seen more of an exploration of how it all happened, and how society allowed these changes to be made. This was covered, but not in a huge amount of depth (as I suppose the plot needed to progress).

The final third of the novel felt quite rushed to me - everything was happening very quickly, but I wasn’t always clear on what was happening. And I’m still quite confused about what exactly happened at the very end.

But I’d still recommend this book, for the terrifying concept alone, and the time spent on the relationship between Jean and her daughter.

There are two covers for this book that I have seen. I honestly like them both and I think either will stand out on a bookstore shelf so both do their job very well. If I absolutely had to choose one? My love of a great byline would make me choose the dark cover, but, the white cover and the x over the females mouth is such a stark, striking image too.
The genres I have seen listed for this book are Sci-Fi, Dystopian which fit perfectly but I would also add futuristic to this list.

This book is set in America, though the setting would also work over here in the UK. The government (all male of course) has passed a law that women are only allowed to use 100 words per day! It doesn't stop at limiting women to just 100 words soon women are not allowed jobs, they are supposed to stay in the home and keep the family home ticking over, caring for the children, and having the dinner ready for their husband coming home, they are not allowed to hold any job of responsibility.

There really is an inequality within everyone's household. The central character in this story is Dr Jean McLellan who is ironically a well educated woman who trained as a cognitive linguist forced to give up her career to men with lesser qualifications. She has to stay home and isn't even allowed access to books. She cannot use a computer, anything for the use of communication is locked away in her husbands office. Her husband is quite literally her jailer. Jean isn't even secondary in the pecking order at home. Her son is held in higher esteem and has more authority than she has herself. When her son Steven becomes deeper and involved with a movement called the Pure movement and really believes women should not be at work or allowed to read books. Steven wears his badge as a member of the Pure movement with pride. Jean cannot believe the change in her son and his attitude. His actions and words certainly fit the governments expectations, he truly seems to think women are an inferior race and should be ruled over by men. This doesn't sit well at all with Jean, his educated mother. In fact it makes her think back to her years o education and a friend, Jackie Juarez who had told her she should be out protesting with her but Jean was dedicated to her books and never thought things would go this far. Jean remembers the last time she saw Jackie on TV, she was labelled a feminazi and sent away to work in the fields.

Jean is devastated to learn that her son Steven has reported his next door neighbour/girlfriend, Julia King for what he considers an infraction of the governments rules. Julia is taken away in the night and like all protesters or those considered to be breaking the law she is sentenced to working on the farms and a life of silence, she isn't allowed any words at all.

I guess I should explain how the government enforces the 100 words per day policy. Every female from the youngest children to the oldest woman is fitted with a cuff which counts their words as they use them. If the female wearing the cuff goes over her 100 words per day she is sent an electrical type shock through her cuff. So is harshly punished for over use of words. There is no way out of this life. Even if women wanted to leave the country with her family she is unable to do so as all females had their passports confiscated and n new ones are being issued.

Dr Jean McLellan is given the chance of a small reprieve when the President wants her to continue some scientific work she had been doing before America changed. It turns out he needs a serum to give his brother who is suffering from a brain disorder/damage which was the scientific are Jean and her team had been working on. Jean decides to help so long as she can choose her team Lin and Lorenzo to help her. The price/payment she receives is the removal of her cuff and her young daughter Sonia's cuff. Jean intends to enjoy what little freedom this "work" will give her. She fall right back into the affair she was having with Lorenzo, which is risky as if found out she will be sent to the farms to work hard labour until death!

There is so much going on in this book and it truly is a conversation starter. I'd also say it is something that could quite realistically happen. I mean there's still a political row going on about getting equal pay for women, and certain professions are still mostly male dominated.

I was pulled into this book almost immediately within the first 4% ! As a reader you are thrown right into the dystopian society with its rules and regulations. To be totally honest looking around at our present political leaders around the world is a scenario that is really believable and doesn't take to much imagination to envision it. I found the plot of this book amazing twist on a society. Women, even young girls must be fitted with a counter and are limited to the 100 words! If you just go over, a reminder shock is entirely through your counter.....if you continue to speak even though you have used you allotted words the shocks get stronger and stronger. It's not only words that have been taken from the female part of society...." There really seems no end to the torment of women in this society yet still some women look down on others. Making it seem in places were women are their own worst enemy, if they banded together they could make a bigger impact but it just takes a few brave women to stand together.

I really enjoyed reading this book it was really thought provoking the society going back to a time where women were thought lesser important than men and are sentenced to a life of drudgery and silence.

I was so very excited by the concept of this book - in a very near future US, women are forced to wear a bracelet that restricts the amount of words they can say during the day to 100. Other rights are also taken way - women no longer can have jobs, travel, live independently, read, write... The main character of the book, Dr Jean McClellan, a well known neurolinguist (now Mrs McClellan, really), has a chance to speak again - and her words and actions might give voice to other women too.

It is a familiar dystopian concept, but in "Vox" it became somehow chillingly more realistic. One would think that this sort of thing will never happen, but then we did not expect many things in recent history that have sadly taken place. But what the author shows well are the small steps in which the lives of women are changing, and how inaction can speed them up, how we learn to accept - out of fear or out of indifference.

"Vox " is really gripping and engaging book, well written (although I must say I struggled with the neurolinguistic jargon!), and I believe fans of "The Handmaid's Tale" and "Red Clocks" will enjoy it. The only thing I am not sure about was the ending, as it was fitting, but somehow I had expected something else. Overall, "Vox" definitely deserves attention and hopefully readers will enjoy it as much as I did.

it was amazing

I really enjoyed this thought-provoking book. I found it to be reminiscent of The Handmaids Tale, with women being forced into a `traditional role' by a backward president with no mind of his own, led by his older brother and a zealot preacher who tell him what to do and say.

I can't imagine being restricted to 100 words a day and forced into marriage or a who're house or prison. To have no funds or rights of my own. Yet there are some that would no doubt love to see us reduced to that, zealots mostly.

An intriguing and engrossing read.

Jean McClellan is bi-lingual. She can speak both English and Italian; however, she is only allowed to say 100 words a day. The American government has turned back the hands of time, to a simpler time when the men went to work and the women stayed at home, cooking, cleaning and caring for the children. To ensure this happens, every female in the US has been fitted with a counter that shocks the wearer if they exceed their daily 100 word quota! That is until Jean’s expertise in neurolinguistics is needed and her counter is removed. Can she use this opportunity to right the wrongs against womankind and give them their voices back?

I read this in only a few hours. It is easy to read and very engaging. It got me angered and riled up like no other book ever has. For the first three quarters of the book I was all ready to give it 4 maybe even 5 stars but it fell short at the last hurdle. With a quarter of the book left to go I felt for sure that it must be the first of a series because I didn’t feel like there was enough time left to come to a conclusion. It did, however, reach a conclusion which all felt very rushed to me and with a lot of things left unexplained. I would still recommend it to those who love dystopian fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley, Christina Dalcher and HQ for my ARC of Vox. 


Set in a not too distant future version of America Vox is an evocative novel where a religious cult leader is pulling the president's strings and women have been restricted to speaking no more than 100 words today, and guess what? That includes reading!

We hear the story from the perspective of Dr Jean McClellan, previously a renowned linguistic specialist/scientist, now expected to stay home and be a housewife, especially with her teenage son fully buying into the new regime. Jean doesn't just fear and feel frustrated for herself though but for her six year old daughter as well. A child who is already learning that staying silent comes with positive rewards. Jean must do what she can to get back not only her own voice but every woman & girl's as well.

The story was really interesting, it kept me hooked. But it made me so angry, this is a good thing because obviously you want a book to provoke emotion in you but at the same time it was so frustrating because I just felt so angry, I was even getting angry at my boyfriend for imagined misogyny haha!

I think the idea is really new, it's not been done before. There's a lot of dystopian novels out there that deal with female oppression but Christina Dalcher really brought something fresh and new to the table.

I'm looking forward to seeing more from this author!

This is a difficult novel to read for a woman. It deals with an America not too far in the future from today, where women are forced to wear devices that only allow them 100 words a day before being hit with an electric shock. Reading is banned. Working is banned. Their assets and their whole persons belong to their husbands. Queer people are interned in labour camps. It is absolutely horrible to read about, for the sole reason that it's incredibly easy to see how this could be reality very soon.

The actual plot, I found a little bit dry. It has overtones of the kind of 'literary fiction' produced by middle-aged white males, about the trials of professorship and how life-affirming it is when you start an affair with a much hotter person. I was more interested in the social interactions of the characters than the main plot, especially when it started to get kind of action-filmy at the end (with a race to use a sci-fi injection to restore/remove language capabilities. I also found the ending rather fairy-tale and pat.

However, Dalcher does a great job of keeping the menace of the misogynistic society bubbling quietly under every single thought and action that our main character has. I found myself getting angry several times, especially as she interacted with her eldest son, who is soaking up the indoctrination in a textbook way. As I say, it's a difficult read if you are a woman, because we are constantly fighting these tiny aggressions, desperate to stop the larger hatred behind them. I can't say I enjoyed this book, because it frightened and enraged me, but I thought it was very good, and very important.

Wow -I really enjoyed this read- was totally gripped by it- read on holiday over a day and the family started to get annoyed by my lack of participation in anything other than reading! Only took a few pages to get stuck in, and I was hooked. I've never actually thought about what life must be like with very limited communication with others- still thinking now about how I would manage only being allowed to speak 100 words a day. I really enjoyed all the relationships in this book - from husband, lover, friend , neighbour and mother- but the loviest relationships for me was between the main character Jean and her young daughter, I would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys fast paced, intriguing read.

An original idea ...something really different. The USA has turned into a patriarchal society with women no longer allowed to work, watch normal TV or media, read books or speak more than 100 words per day! The novel focuses on mainly one woman and her family and friends. One of my favourite characters is Sophie, the 6 year old daughter. I won't give away anymore here but this book makes you think and challenges us to review the way our world is progressing, or not.....

I had heard and read lots about this book online and I was a bit doubtful about it at first but decided I would give it ago. I am so glad that I did as I absolutely loved it.
Imagine waking up one morning and finding out that all women and girls are not allowed to say more than a 100 words a day, and if you do you will be punished by being given an electronic shock. Every word you say is monitored by a little device “counter” that is worn on the wrist of every female and once you reach 100 the very same device will send a shock through your body.

The book is very gripping and thought-provoking. It really makes you think about how this is all too possible in the near future, and how important for women to fight for equal rights.

Christina Dalcher has written this book well, and comparing the writing style to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale I thought VOX was much more easier to read and the story flowed much better. She has good strong characters throughout the book. I have read a few good books so far this year, but this one is up there with some of my favourites for this year.

A must read for dystopian fiction fans, and even if you're not a fan still a must read.

I would like to thank NetGalley and HQ for my Advance Digital Review Copy in return for an Unbiased review.

Strange fitbit like devices have been issued to every woman and girl in America. They will be shocked if they go over their 100 word limit. Mans rules the land, until the president falls sick and the only person who can help him is Dr Jean and her research.

Women are silenced, gay people are put in concentration camps to "convert" them. Anyone disobeying the rules in publicly shamed on TV in front of everyone.

I loved this book! In a world where this situation could quite frankly be a possibility. I find myself imagining what my life would be like with only 100 words to speak.

This is a fantastic non-stop read. 5 stars for me. Everyone should read this book. If you don't get even a little bit angry then you are part of the problem.

Wow.
Life reduced to 100 words daily as a female. No books. Horrendous.

A patriarchal society under an autocratic president where group think is evident and women delisted. Not too far from modern day America (I think that’s the point)

A valuable lesson in speaking up for those who cannot speak up for themselves and to stand up for what you believe in.

A little terrifying and frighteningly realistic, Vox is a parable for modern times. It lost its way several times but all came together nicely at the end albeit a little rushed

4.5* thought-provoking

I really wasn't sure what to expect with this book, I love dystopian books but haven't read such an original one for ages, I loved it.The main character and many other people in the book really resonated with me,I was rooting for them,this seemed especially in today's political climate and with unlikely presidents etc to be all too possible.I thought the author had a great imagination but made it all seem very realistic.I was really caught up in the book and I couldn't read it fast enough.Imagine being restricted to 100 words a day and punished, imagine having your job and rights stripped while any man or boy has unlimited rights and can lord it over you..... Not a world I would want to be in but it was scary and realistic ,it didn't seem that far away .Imagine being persecuted and forbidden to express your sexuality, oh wait a minute that happens in some places already doesn't it.. and seems to be the way it is going in supposedly more civilized countries like the USA for example .This book is bang on point and although it shares a vision of a truly horrific future it is one that wouldn't surprise in some ways .thankfully this is not the world we live in and I am able to read and enjoy this book.I will definitely be looking out for more books by this author ,and would like to thank the Publishers and Netgalley for this ARC.

Dr Jean McLellan is an eminent neuroscientist. She has her personal flaws but in her career she was at the forefront of studies into the brain and how it’s impacted by illness. I use the past tense because when we meet Dr Jean her role has been drastically reduced, like that of many women.
In this America women are no longer part of the work force. Their role is to nurture children and keep the home. Their rights have - as we learn in bits and pieces - been eradicated. This alone was enough to anger me, but the fact their voices are taken away was jaw-dropping. Each female wears a wrist counter. It allows them 100 words a day. 100!
The fact that nobody openly questions this tells us just how different things are in this imagined world.
The premise of this story was absorbing. I particularly liked the way we learn how such a situation came to pass. Like so many periods in history where such things happen it’s always easy to look on in hindsight and question the actions of those alive at the time. Sadly, Dalcher paints all too vivid a picture of how this came to pass.
The story was chilling as we come to understand just what is at risk here. A timely reminder of the need to question decisions made by those in power.
Thank you NetGalley for granting me access to this prior to publication.

This book should, and I predict will, stand along side Handmaid’s Tale, 1984 and Only Ever Yours for its speculative commentary on society.
The book’s narrative will have anyone reading bringing it up in comversation; it’s haunting premise will ensure everyone wants to pass on the book in some attempt at prempting it’s possible outcome.
The exploration of the impact of religion is quite interesting and something I personally wanted to know more. Had the narrative not focused on the one person, I’d have loved to have see the leader’s rise to power; which is a testament to the writer and her ability to build a world with potential beyond the one book.