This is a really gripping book. The premise is that children should receive the education most suitable for their intelligence, with the outcome that children are tested each month and if their Q factor drops, they are moved to another school. There are three tiers - silver for the best, green for the average.... and yellow for those not achieving well. Even the teachers are tested so only the best teach the best.

Elena and her husband were instrumental in establishing this new regime, but she is beginning to question its validity as she has one high-achieving daughter and one with other gifts. And also re-evaluating what she feels for this cold, impersonal man she married.

The book asks the reader to re-evaluate what they think makes a 'good' and 'worthwhile' person, and how we should treat those who have different gifts and abilities. It is scary, fascinating and above all thrilling as a roller coaster ride.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5

I have had VOX on my TBR since it came out and just never got round to reading it but now it is a priority! Christina Dalcher has an incredible imagination in order to create a premise to a book that I've never seen done before. I finished Q in lest than a day it was so gripping and had me hooked from the very beginning. The only thing that prevented this from being a full 5 stars in my opinion was that for me the ending was wrapped up a bit too fast but that in no was stops me from highly recommending this book!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for approving me for an arc! All opinions are entirely my own.

This dystopian novel felt very similar to Vox, and had a similar theme - watch out for creeping laws and societal expectations that move us closer and closer to the unthinkable. In Vox, this was about removing power (and literally, voices) from women in America, whereas in Q it is more generally about the whole education system.

Those with special needs, disabilities and generally low test scores get segregated from the elite schools, where Elena teaches. She is married to a man who is a politician with great influence over the education system, who is cartoonishly uninterested in his wife and his youngest daughter, who has some sort of anxiety disorder. Unsurprisingly, her daughter ends up being sent to the "yellow school" - the lowest band, where parents can only visit once a quarter for 5 hours, and the husband refuses to help.

I disliked his characterisation - he was so obviously a controlling 'baddie' with no redeeming features, and is contrasted with a loving but dim boyfriend from her past. There was also some incredibly heavy-handed links to Nazi Germany and eugenics, through her German grandmother who helpfully kept her Hitler Youth uniform to warn her grandaughter about the dangers of going along with Fascism.

In general, the book was light on details about how these events occurred, and was much less interesting than Vox. It was thrilling and I read the whole thing quickly - I think it would make a great TV series but was just not well written enough to suspend my disbelief as a book.

“Really makes you think!”

I’ve got my pre-order in for this one after receiving an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for a review.
Wow! My complaint about this book - it’s too short! I wanted more! Not in a bad way, nothing was lacking, but I just thoroughly enjoyed reading this and it ended too soon.
That is my only complaint. The rest is.... well I can’t say how much I enjoyed this book! This is a near future dystopian and it’s so very easy to see life going this scary way and it really does make you think. A main character with flaws, trying to right wrongs she’s had a helping hand in. How can we improve our education systems? I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone but I highly recommend this book and can’t wait to get my copy to share it with my family.

Its been the longest time since i read anything like this, i think the last thing that i read that was slightly dystopian and enjoyed was hunger games when it first came out. Its a genre i enjoy but i find more often that not, its not done right..like i wanted to adore Divergent but it was too far fetched this however, this is like something out of black mirror and certainly appealed to me as a more adult reader.



Elena is a teacher at a silver school - silver schools are the best, the students with the best Q go there however it is a constant battle to stay at the top with monthly tests. If you fail a monthly test, you are moving down. The worst place to be though is a yellow school - those at yellow schools are taken away. When Elenas youngest daughter is taken to a yellow school she finds a way to go with her and discover what is actually happening. Much to her husbands dismay.



With a husband like Malcolm though - you really dont need enemies. I dont think i have ever disliked a character as much as Malcolm. Elena and Malcolm have been together years and he seems to have taken the inital colour coding system idea and ran away with it. He is high up in the department of education and really understands the importance of Q. He sees the world completely differently to Elena and he is the most horrific character - well combined with his friend Alex.



Q - is a brilliantly, gripping and disturbing read because its not actually unavailable and that is what worries me as a reader, that society could become that way. It takes aspects of history and uses them for the future. I found the end mostly horrific. I found sometimes the reading felt slightly younger and there was bits i would of liked more depth adding too certain parts, and some things felt more glossed over and other bits too in depth.



However - this read gripped me, with its compelling story line, unique characters and a society that was heading towards the worst its ever been in pursuit of been the best its ever been. This book was well worth a read. I read it for the #OWLsreadathon and it was for a book out of my genre and i am glad that i did.



This copy came from netgalley and i am willingly sharing my review.

This will be posted on my blog nearer release date,

The cover and blurb ticked all my boxes; cool, near-future dystopian premise, some thorny ethical and societal questions. It wasn't until I started reading that I remembered how the author's previous book Vox had let me down. This let me down even more, partly because it was pretty much identical to Vox and suffered a lot of the same flaws.

The premise was cool, but the plot unraveled on a micro and macro level to me, from children disappearing from the scene in car journeys to the ridiculousness of the entire second-half of the book. The main character was uneven and not consistent in her actions. The pacing seemed completely off, the coincidences unrealistic and the multiple backstories weren't really necessary. Mainly I was just disappointed, it could have been great, but it felt rushed and uneven.

Thanks To NetGalley for providing an ARC copy, all opinions completely my own.

Elena Fairchild is a mother, wife, teacher but most of all, she has a high Q.
A system in place to quantify a persons worthiness based on intelligence and background. With a prestigious husband and 2 daughters in the upper tiers, everything should be perfect.

Until her youngest daughter fails her monthly test and gets sent away, leaving Elena to question the entire system, one she helped to create.

Q was an enticing read and the fluctuation between past and present really helped to build the character of Elena and how she’d come to be in the position she’d found herself in.

As the story quickly develops, the reader is left to reflect on the importance of not letting history repeat itself.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ publishing for the ARC!

America has changed. Children are separated into tiered schools based on their 'Q' score. Silver for the prodigies, green for the clever, and yellow for the rest. Yellow for those left behind.
A child that ranks into a yellow tier school is whisked away to a 365 day a year education far from their home and family, all future career prospects stripped and reputation shattered.
Intelligence is the only thing that matters now.

Swings stand still and skate parks empty whilst children spend every waking moment studying. Car parks are automated, attendants are automated even Starbucks is automated. Little by little all 'unskilled' jobs are disappearing entirely, leaving none for those who don't make the cut.

'I wonder where all the yellow school kids will be in another ten years. I wonder what we'll do with the people who aren't necessary anymore.'

Written in first person from Elena's perspective in both past and present tense we switch between the current timeline and events throughout her past leading to the present situation.

I dont think I've ever hated a character as much as Malcolm. Dalcher writes him perfectly, he may be fictional but my skin still itched to give him a mighty slap. There's something about well to-do, calm, controlling men that is seriously sinister. Using Elena's kind and supportive family as a sharp contrast, Dalcher gives us a clear cut villain in Malcolm, one a reader can truly love to hate.

As with Dalcher's previous novel Vox, this is a story of oppression, only this time the victims don't start and end with women alone. Once again a terrifyingly feasible story that uncovers the darkest depths of sociopathy.
This isn't just a fiction, it's a stark reminder of the attitudes and opinions of the worst mankind. The horrors in this story can be found by merely scratching the surface of social media and the idea of a future such as this was chilling.

I loved Q, even better than Vox, Dalcher is one to watch.

I found this book hard to get in to. It picked up in the third quarter but by this time I hadn't bought into any of the characters. I didn't particularly like any of the characters until the Lissa and Ruby Jo which is a long way into the story. The idea is good and potentially scarily plausible. The writing style was good and I enjoyed the odd chapters telling the stories of the past.

I feel that if the characters were more likable it would've been a better read to me and the ending would've had a bigger impact.

Reading an authors second book when you have loved their first always feels like a bit of a risk. Thankfully Q more than lived up to the promise of Vox.

This book touched on lots of themes that were sometimes difficult. Abortion, divorce, bullying, spousal abuse, and of course given the theme of the book learning difficulties and intelligence were all in the mix.

Elena was a strong and capable character who was put in the position of having to make some awful choices. I liked her instantly and really felt for her. Both in the present and in the past.

Elena’s regret for some of her past actions were hard to read at times. We all have those moments in our past where we wonder what would have happened if we had taken the other path. We got to see some of Elena’s moments, and knowing already what choice she had made, I still sometimes willed her to take the other path.

The supporting cast were great here too, everyone felt very real and the emotions in this story were raw.

A timely tale of what can happen when we stop looking out for those less fortunate than ourselves and how we really are all better supporting each other.

R E V I E W - ⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

America. Everyone is known by a Q number. If you're a student, your test scores affect your Q number. The number of days you take of sick will affect your Q number. The number of times you are late to school will affect your Q number. If you're a teacher, your teacher test scores also affect your number. Your test score determines whether or not you will study/teach at a top tier silver school, a school in the middle or the lowest tier yellow school. You don't want to go to a yellow school. Yellow schools are far away. Students lodge there. They only get to see their families four times a year.

Elena appears to be in a pretty perfect family. Her family have high Q numbers, they have everything they need, she's working at an elite silver school. Yet something is beginning to niggle at her about the way this system works. Although she is a teacher, she is also a mother. A mother who's youngest daughter is about to get shipped off to a yellow school. Her husband is one of the policy makers of this education system. How did she get here? With him? And how is she going to get her daughter back?

I was really excited going into this book as I'm into all the dystopian books that are hitting the shelves these days. While I really loved the concept and the huge shock of historical content which was plugged in, I didn't love the book. I loved the way this book takes a bit of our reality; a broken education system and people with ulterior motives to fix it. I love that I could believe this to be a part of our future. Well, let me rephrase that. I hate the idea of our education system becoming like this. But I love that the idea this book represents is not so far fetched that it scared me. Especially knowing that there is that terrible part of history that I'm pretty sure is not taught in schools purposefully and that Dalcher brought to light.

But...

I reached the end way too quickly. The ending was good. I liked the style that part was written. But I don't think I was ready to get there when I did.

Im giving this book 3⭐ because I felt that it moved way too fast. I wish there had been more character development as I don't think I got to know any of them very well and more events leading up to the end. It is still worth reading because the world the characters of this book live in are interesting and would make for a good discussion, the historical facts are eye-opening and the ending was written well too.

"I wonder what we'll do with the people who aren't necessary anymore?"

I'd seen a lot of hype about this book and couldn't wait to read it - thankyou to netgalley and the publisher for my copy. Q is a dystopian novel set in a world where everyone's life is dictated by their Q scores, and for children who don't score well on these regular IQ tests there are severe consequences.
I was hooked on this early on, and had an uncomfortable feeling reading this as at times I could really imagine this happening.
The story follows Elena, a mother in a seemingly perfect high Q family until one day her youngest daughter scores badly, and is sent away. Elena already has doubts about the system, and becomes determined to sacrifice everything she can to save her daughter.

The story is horrifying, sad and scarily believable at times. Elena shows just how far a mother will go to protect her family. This a story that stays with after you've finished reading it, and for me that's always the sign of a good book.

An all-too-believable imagined world where people are assigned 'Q' ratings according (apparently) to their academic prowess and therefore assigned certain privileges (or lack of). Elena is a teacher at one of the elite schools, where the most gifted children are taught, and her husband is involved in the government's handling of Q ratings and education. When one of their daughters underperforms in a test and is relegated to a state school, Elena begins to understand that the system is deeply flawed and immoral. Deliberately failing her own tests so that she can follow her daughter and try to save her, Elena uncovers a sinister scheme with her husband at its centre.

A huge Thank You to The author, The publisher and Netgalley for providing the e-arc in exchange for a unbiased review of these works.

Review will be on my blog soon!
Join me at :- https://booksandemma.wixsite.com/blog

It is truly crushing when a book you have anticipated ends up being a disappointment. I really enjoyed Vox, the previous release from this author and I liked her brand of contemporary dystopia; close to current society.

Q started off well, with a family situation, two successful parents and two high-achieving children. However, the mask fell off and a hideous under layer was revealed. This was a story about IQ above every other facet of a person and it drilled down to emotive and polarising topics of elitism, abortion and someone’s personal worth.

The protagonist, Elena, mother of two and wife was an interesting character and I liked her. She taught in an elite school, her children were intelligent and passing their monthly tests until one didn’t. The husband was 100% a b*****d. The first half of the book was strong and I liked where it was going but then it went downhill for me, I’m afraid. I felt like I was pushing through with the narrative. The plot was intangible at times, even considering that it was dystopian. I hated the final direction and found the culmination so unsatisfying.

I’m hugely disappointed but I am grateful to have had an early review copy. Considering how much I liked Vox, I will definitely read Christina Dalcher again.

Thank you to Headline for the review copy.

Q is set in a future that is both horrific and worryingly plausible. It's a fascinating concept and I loved hearing about the ideas behind it and how it developed. Where the story fell short for me was the character development. I didn't find myself caring about the characters. Despite the shocking situations they were in, it felt impersonal to me. I still think Q is worth reading as it will definitely get you thinking. This book has a very similar feel to Vox, so I think fans of Vox will also enjoy this.

I was quite excited to read this as I really enjoyed Dalcher's previous novel Vox. Q is a YA dystopian novel about a society where people are given a 'Q' rating based on their behaviour and grades at school. If your Q slips, you can get lowered to a lesser school and that is what happens to the main character Elena's daughter. Elena helped design the Q system and is devastated when her youngest daughter slips through the cracks. I loved the idea of this novel but I found it a bit of a chore to get through. It's a fairly quick read but it wasn't really for me.

Q was brilliant and horrific in equal measure. Like Vox it grabs the reader and makes you pay attention to what the author wants to say.

I had a sick feeling for a while after finishing this book because it felt very real and that feeling grew when I read the author’s note. It wasn’t so much eye opening as wrenching their eyes apart.

Q is cautionary fiction at it’s best, very reminiscent of Atwood in style and subject matter so it’s no wonder I loved it really.

Elena is married to one of the most powerful men in the country, she is teacher at an elite school and has two bright and beautiful daughters.

Everyone in society exists in a system where everything is measured by your Q rating and intelligence is everything. Those who have a low Q rating are placed in special state schools so teachers can focus on those who are considered gifted.

Any negative action has an impact on your Q rating and potentially on the Q rating of those around you.

Elena is able to overlook the flaws in the system until her own daughter fails her test. Elena intentionally fails her own so she can stay with her daughter. What she discovers there will change the way she feels about the system forever.

“I almost can’t remember how it felt before we all started carrying the Q numbers around with us, like an extra and unnatural print on the tips of our fingers, a badge of honour for some, a mark of shame for others. I suppose, after more than a decade, you can get used to anything.”

“It’s the same with the Q numbers, although we’ve carried numeric strings around with us in one form or another for most of our lives: our social security numbers for tax returns; our home telephone number in case an emergency call to mum became necessary; our grade point averages that would fill boxes in dozens of college application forms. Men, in a clothing store, became thirty-four long or sixteen-and-a-half, thirty-three. Women became dress sizes: six, eight, fourteen. In the more upscale shops, we were our measurements. In doctor’s offices we were our height and weight, watching one number creep down while the other number crept up.

We’ve always been our numbers. DOB. GPA. SSN. BP (systolic and dystolic). BMI. SAT and GRE and GMAT and LSAT; 32-22-35 (Marilyn, damn her); 3 (the Babe). PINS and CSCs and expiration date. Jenny’s phone number from the old song. And for the extreme among us the entire sixteen-digit sequence on our Visa cards. Our ages. Our net worth. Our IQs.”

I think one quote that sums up people’s attitude, including Elena’s own is, “I guess if I think hard enough people can get used to anything.”

It is scary how simply the system came into being. As with Vox this book has the reader constantly thinking about the powerful nature of words and our use of them.

Elena and Freddie were both wonderful characters. I felt like I knew them personally. Malcolm too although he was definitely less likeable.

I thought the use of yellow buses to take children to the state or yellow schools was very clever, something iconic even for those of us who don’t live in America. It turned them from something everyday and ordinary into something to be feared.

“The yellow buses come only once every month, always the Monday after testing day. And they don’t return. Not with passengers anyway. Also, they don’t roll into neighbourhoods like ours.”

An element of this book I liked was the way we got to see the progression of Malcolm and Elena’s relationship, the poor dynamic between him and Freddie and the subsequent impact on his relationship with Elena. The author uses this to illustrate quite how hopeless a situation it is for those women who find themselves without their husbands whilst raising a child.

“Malcolm, with double the income I bring in and half the late days, will always be the fitter parent. Most men are, even the ones who aren’t.”

Q is many things, and has many important messages but I think perhaps the starkest one is not to let ourselves become complacent.

Firsly thanks to hq for sending me the link to read on netgalley, my first one as im more of a physical reader.

I loved vox , which was her debut. This is a author whos not afraid to write the shock factor . Life kind of feels a bit strange that dystopian doesnt feel that different. But even so fiction is the cure.

As a mum of 2 special needs kids this was a challenging, thought provoking book. It makes you question your morals and ideas.

Chilling,thrilling and captivating.

Dark and disturbing but also scarily realistic.

Although not a easy read it also empowers women like her first book.

" Nice doesn't matter anymore".

in the near future, humans are sorted by their intelligence, the higher their Q the more privileges they are allowed - better schools, education, shops, food etc. But what happens when you youngest daughter fails her monthly test and her Q removes her from her family?

I was gripped from the beginning. although this is a work of fiction, elements of the story have been taken from history.

Human nature wants us to fit i,n, be part of the in crowd, be accepted - but at what cost?

Can lessons be learnt from history?