Elena is mother to two girls, Anne a high flying achiever and Freddie an anxious student who struggles to keep her head above the academic tide. With monthly tests to help calculate their individual Q scores children across the country are just one wrong answer away from being demoted to a lower tier school and in the worst case scenario being banished to one of the state schools to live away from their family.

Their father Malcolm helps create the rules and wants to ensure his family take the responsibilities of maintaining their Q scores high seriously so he can save face. Anne is his golden child, always hanging on his every word, completely sucked into the unbalanced world he and his associates are determined to create. Freddie however comes firmly in second place in her Father's affections, often on the receiving end of his cold, domineering and controlling ways, alongside his wife Elena.

After another panic attack ahead of her monthly test the Fairchild's receive the call that every parent dreads; Freddie's Q has dropped and she will be heading to a state school hundreds of miles away in Kansas. Knowing her child will struggle being away from home and unable to contact her in any way, Elena sacrifices her own career as well her relationship with Anne to manipulate the system and head to Kansas herself. But what she discovers there is chilling and beyond anything she can comprehend. Her only hope is to try and find a way to get her and her daughter out unharmed.

Although I have seen this story described as being set in a dystopian world the idea of a system based on IQ, finance and ability is one that seems awfully close to home when you look at the world today. The Q numbers that characters in this book attain are based on a huge number of criteria including the Q of your close family and with a bias towards straight, financially stable, intelligent, able-bodied people. With the government determined to create a world where the strongest rise up  and the mediocre are left to rot, it's clear their goal is to create a world where only the elitist survive.

I absolutely loved Elena and as a mother felt I really related to every struggle she faced; clearly able to imagine how I would feel if my children were put through the same experiences. She is an amazingly strong character who depicts the fierce love every mother feels for her children and the lengths they would go to in order to try and change the world and their fate.

This book had me gripped from start to finish thanks to Christina's wonderfully suspenseful writing style. I found it to be such a thought provoking and insightful glimpse into how easily human's can slip into such a terrifying hierarchy in which those on top will do anything to achieve their ultimate dream. 

The authors note of this book explains that whilst her story Q is fictional that historical events mentioned are based on the real stories of  the little known American Eugenics movement that saw many 'feeble-minded' citizens imprisoned in state institutions and forced to undergo numerous disturbing procedures. This piece of information simply added to the terrifying and disturbing nature of the story and reinforced my thoughts on how close to home the story line felt..

Despite not being a massive fan of VOX I can wholeheartedly say I loved Q. I read it in a day, having been unable to put it down and would highly recommend this book. It's a frightening spotlight shone on the horrors of human nature that everyone should read.

Although 'Q' was a quick read I thought the author tried too hard to replicate the same style of her debut VOX in building a concept around one issue. VOX centred around women being forbidden from talking more than 100 words a day and this follow up, has everything based around IQ. Most kids are aborted if it looks like they might have a lower IQ. The story surrounds Elena Fairchild who has a daughter who is just getting by at school, but is struggling to make the grade. If they don't they are taken away from their families. The spin of the story is what lengths will the mother go to protect her child. Although it had some decent dystopian ideas there is nothing I haven't read before.

This book is set in the USA, in the not too distant future, perfection is everything.  Not only are people being judged on their looks, class and colour but also for their IQ rating.  You can have tests on your unborn child to tell you what it's IQ will be . . giving you the option of continuing with the pregnancy.  
Elena Fairchild is a teacher at an elite school and mother to two daughters who are perfect.  Children are constantly tested and if their score comes back lower than expected, they will change school.  Elena believes in this system.  Why have a child in a class or school in which they will struggle. What's wrong with having all the gifted children in one school and the less gifted in a more "vocational" boarding school?   
Except, one of Elena's girls scores much lower than expected and is taken away to one of the vocational boarding schools.  Elena is not ready for this and she deliberately fails her teacher tests and manages to be sent to the same school. 
This is a story which explores what being a mother means to some women and how far you would go to protect your child. Even if it means going against your husband and another child. 
This book caught my attention from the off and with all that is going on in the world at the moment, with countries being in lock down and people seriously being scared of what the future will hold,  it's not too difficult to believe that this could really happen.  And not too far in the future either. 

The ending, I felt, was rather rushed.  There were quite a few ends that were tidied up far too quickly for me.  Despite that, this was a thought provoking enjoyable read that is also terrifying. 

The book that I received was called Q but on Goodreads it is called Master Class. I'm not sure which title I prefer. They both have merit and it's a good job that I choose books based on the blurb and not just title.

An intriguing concept, this book looks at a society whose citizens are separated and valued based on their IQ. Well plotted and the secret revealed at the end is executed well

This book was compelling but it’s fairly obvious what the secret of the story is. I enjoyed the plot but I felt like the ending was rushed.

Gosh, but, I found this to be a riveting, disturbing, thought provoking read.

It's horrifying in parts, heart wrenching in others and with a fabulous ending.

Outwordly, Elena Fairchild has the 'perfect' family life, married to a prominent government official (Malcolm) and with a daughter (Anne) who is top of the class and one (Freddie) who appears to be on the autism spectrum. Normally, that wouldn't matter, but, in the world of measures, assessments and horrifying colour coded schools, it means everything.

The book takes you on a journey with Elena, both to the past, where she explores her family roots and upbringing as well as her own prejudices and loves and in the present, where she works to challenge the status quo.

Pertinent in content, certainly not as farfetched as one would wish it to be, this is a well written corker of a read and I'm very grateful to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to preview in exchange for my honest review.

A chilling look at a world which is dominated by IQ. The concept of this book is clever, I love Dalchers books, they grip me from the beginning and I find them impossible to put down.

A chilling look at a world which is dominated by IQ. The concept of this book is clever, I love Dalchers books, they grip me from the beginning and I find them impossible to put down.

A good and interesting topic. Nothing like I’ve ever read before. Well written too. Highly recommended xxx

I found the scrutiny of a person’s worth in this book very similar to "Only Ever Yours", a reference intended as a glowing endorsement, not a criticism :) Only in this case ‘Q’ scores measure the ‘perfection’ of both genders rather than just the females, although the book does revolve around the central characters of women and girls.

The sinister idea of a government initiative that continually measures an individual’s ‘quotient’ through academic testing and social observance from conception is simply hideous. It exploits a young person’s ‘failure' or 'success’ for the good of the many – great if you’ve achieved a precious high ‘Q’, not so great if you find it hard to fit in, or if learning is a challenge.

The recipients of a failed ‘Q’ are downgraded, which basically segregates them from their higher-performing herd. Yep. There’s only so far one’s score can slip before the dreaded colour-coded bus parks down the street from your house and the kids who didn’t make the grade climb expressionlessly aboard.

What’s even worse than that is this socially barbaric public service goes largely unchallenged and is even welcomed by parents with high performing kids – so proud, and blissfully unaware of the unethical selection process that has stealthily invaded their lives. That is until THE bus arrives to remove the daughter of a teacher and she vows to get her lovely anxiety-ridden daughter back – whatever it takes.

Her experience looks at the many qualities that make us who we are, the struggle to be that person under the scrutiny of others, and what we are prepared to sacrifice to achieve that freedom. I just can’t help myself in thinking she was pretty unlikable / annoying, even when she was trying to do the right thing!

After a considerable build up the ending felt a little rushed for me. But it’s a good read, and a thought-provoking one at that, especially the parallels with our teacher’s Germanic heritage and the heartbreaking history that was made during the second world war.

I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately it wasn't for me.

I really liked the concept. Although mainly fictional it is partly based on true life, which is very scary.

However, I just don't think it was executed that well

I really struggled with the writing style. It wasn't easy to read or that engaging.

It took a long time for anything to happen. The first 150 pages were quite a chore to get through.

It's been marketed as a thriller. Personally I wouldn't say it's a thriller, it's more of a dystopian book.

I just found it quite boring. There wasn't much really happening, until the end and then I felt like it was wrapped up too quickly.

I didn't like how it went back and forth in time and I also did not like how the chapters weren't labelled with the characters name. It kind of confusing in places, with whose perspective I was following.

Overall, I was disappointed by this one. It had a strong concept but the writing and pace didn't do much for me unfortunately

What a distressing story. Doesn't seem possible that it is based on a real occurrence in the US. I was totally absorbed all through and in bits by the end.

I read this book in 24 hours! I loved it.
It made me uncomfortable in a "Handmaids Tale / Ugh this could easily happen now" way but it was still a really good read.

I read Christina Dalcher's first book - Vox - last year and loved it, and "Q" has exactly the same sense of despair and hopelessness. As with Vox, it features a woman - Elena Fairchild - struggling within a system which is designed to win at any cost, through government lies, cheating and total manipulation of the population.

"Q"s premise is that everyone has a Q-score which determines their place in society, and this is constantly being re-tested, reviewed and revised, resulting in unbearable pressure for many. Elena's unsympathetic and sadistic husband Malcolm is a senior government official who is partly responsible for introducing the system. He seems un-phased when their youngest daughter is taken away for education at a remote state school, resulting in the further breakdown of their failing marriage.

It's no secret that this book is about eugenics (the tagline is "only the perfect will survive") but what is scary is that it's based on the ideas and practices of real and powerful people, not just Nazis but on the eugenics movements of western Europe and the USA during the early part of the 20th century. I particularly appreciated the recollections of Elena's 100-year-old grandmother, who was a child during the time of the Hitler Youth before WW2, and recognised the danger arising from a resurgence of some old ideas and enemies.

My only criticism is that the book could have been a bit longer and that the characters of Ruby, Lissa and the journalist could have been used more. However, the whole story was told from Elena's point of view so perhaps this wasn't possible. I'd have loved to hear more on Lissa's background in particular.

Highly recommended and a sure winner!

I absolutely love a good dystopian read, especially one that is unique in some way. Which, lets be honest, is pretty much impossible now given how many dystopian novels there are around nowadays! However, with Q I was pleasantly surprised by the choice of narrator - not a teenage girl seeking to overthrow society whilst making heart-eyes at the nearest available love interest, but a grown woman, a mother, desperate to save her daughter through any means possible.

Personally I thought that the choice of narrator was quite a bold move, as it's something I honestly can't remember reading about before, so that instantly got me interested. As did the comparisons between the present regime and the days of Nazi Germany - this is definitely something hinted at in other dystopian novels, but rarely is the link so explicitly and undeniably made. I also felt that it was very interesting to see how the author took this one step further, and linked everything to the history of eugenics in America. When people think of eugenics, most people think of Hitler, and what seems like the distant past. They don't think of America, and the atrocities that were done there in the comparatively very recent past in the name of eugenics. I was also very impressed by the ending. Not wanting to reveal too much, the most I can say is that it was unexpected and brave and 100% the right thing to do, even if it did break my heart a bit.

All in all, this was a really really great read. It was completely different to anything I've read before, while still keeping all of the elements of dystopia that make it so enjoyable. I can't wait to see what the author brings out next!

Disclaimer - I was provided with an advance reading copy by NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own.

After reading Vox and loving it! I was on the look-out for more titles by this amazing author. As soon as I heard Christina Dalcher had another book coming soon I was trying to find out more about it. To be honest the first thing I learnt about Q was that it was being released by Berkley Publishing (not in the UK!) under the title Master Class. I read the blurb and knew immediately I had to read it. Then I discovered information about the UK version which is called Q, and to be totally honest I think the UK title Q fits the book better without giving any clues away to what it may contain. After having read the book I would say the title Master Class is a more revealing clue as to what is in the book. Having said that I love both covers that I have seen for this book and think they both fit perfectly. Though if I had to choose a favourite it would have to be the UK one even though I guess some would say it is less revealing. The by-line on the UK version “Only The Perfect Will Survive” is a fantastic clue as to what is to come in the latter part of the book. Another difference I have noticed is that Master Class has Sci-Fi & Fantasy genres listed and Q (the UK) which also has Sci-Fi & Fantasy genres listed but also Mystery and Thrillers which I totally agree with and would also add “Futuristic” to list.


Now to the book…. Wow I want to say sooooo much about this book, but at the same time I am very determined not to give away too much and spoil it for other readers. How can I express to you how much I loved this book without giving away spoilers? I honestly think that sometimes its harder to review a book you loved than one you weren’t as keen on.

The society in this book is made up of “those that have” and “those that have not” though your place in society is decided by your very own Q score. Every single person has their own Q score. A Q score can be tested for and given to an unborn baby. This Q score is constantly checked and updated whether it may go up or down. The Q score is the deciding factor on what school you go to, which has a knock-on effect of what social circles you move in, where you live, as well as what job you do.

The main family this book focuses on is the Fairchild family which consists of Malcolm Fairchild, a high ranking, government official, his wife is Elena Fairchild who is a teacher at a high-class school. They have two children, the naturally bright, studious, and confident 16 year old, Anne, and their younger, more anxious, 9 year old Frederica, though everyone but her father calls her Freddie. Elena’s parents and grandmother do not agree with the current system and Malcolm knows this which is why they don’t get along and it is a rarity for him to visit when Elena takes their daughters Anne and Freddie.

The school system is on three colour, silver, green and yellow coded levels. The highest ranking being Silver schools, the middle ranging Green schools and the Yellow state schools. Elena is a teacher who has a great Q score so works at a Silver school. Anne Fairchild is the “perfect” student who seems to thrive on the continual tests to reassess her Q score. Anne is in what you would call the popular crowd (not like her parents when they were her age) and all the popular crowd go on about are of course the newest Q scores, and who has lost so many points they have lost their place at the Davenport Silver School and will be going to the nearby by Sanger Green School. Q scores can go up as well as down and Elena lives in hope that Freddie’s anxiety of tests etc will improve and she will move up from Sanger Green School and join sister Anne at Davenport Silver School. It is normal to be moved one school down but it soon becomes apparent things are changing for the worse, it seems the tests are also becoming harder too.

Elena actually ponders within the book how people can get used to all sorts of systems when they are forced upon them. One example of this is Elena’s neighbour being 100% in favour of the Q scores and the colour coded schools the whole time her daughter is getting on the silver bus to the high Q score silver school. However, the shock of her daughter being sent off to a state boarding school, her silver status rapidly downgraded to yellow infuriates her mother and the once staunch supporter of the Q system now has increasing doubts and becomes instantly more verbal about the bad points of the system.

When her husband Malcolm refuses to do anything about the fact their very own youngest daughter who suffers from anxiety is to be sent to one of these state schools it is up to Elena to try and hatch a plan to reunite with her daughter. Elena thinks if she can get demoted to a state school, and by forging Malcolm’s signature makes sure it is to the same school their daughter has been sent to it will be of comfort to Freddie and somehow force Malcolm into actually doing something about the situation. It really is a difficult decision for Elena to make as she loves both her daughters. To help Freddie, it means abandoning Anne. Malcolm has always favoured Anne and even prior to Freddie being downgraded to yellow card/state school status he blatantly ignored her. He bestows attention on Anne whilst brushing off Freddie like she is just some irritant to be put up with.

When Elena arrives at her new job at a state school that doesn’t even have a name just a number, #46 she is in for an even bigger shock than the one she had on the journey there, though at least she has made a friend in Ruby Jo, and the quieter older woman also on the bus with them destined for school #46. It’s not long until Elena realises there is more to her new teacher friends than she at first thought, luckily for her as she is drawn deeper and deeper into to the darkness and evilness her husband and his colleagues are creating and think of as being totally acceptable.
In an attempt to save her own daughter, and get the word out about what is really happening in the state schools Elena has to agree to be a test subject for another measure those in charge are wanting to introduce. She soon learns that those in charge including her husband are willing to go to extreme lengths to protect the future they envision no matter who gets hurt in the process.

This is a 'dystopian' tale that could quite well happen in the near future. I had drawn comparisons with the Nazis system and Hitler’s plans before they were referenced by Elena’s parents and grandmother, though I do read quite a lot of both fiction and non-fiction about that era of history. I thought the way Oma Maria reveals the old uniform of her days in the Hitler’s Youth Girls group. Oma Maria encourages Elena to question the very Q system that Elena had helped Malcolm to create. Elena can see that the system is going to far, becoming too harsh and when her grandmother Oma Maria compares the state schools to Nazis concentration camps, she really doesn’t want to believe things have really gotten so bad.

I adored the story about the frog and how it was recited in front of Malcolm when he insists on accompanying his wife and children on a visit to Elena’s parents and grandmother (last visit for Freddie). Oma Maria asks if they know the story of the frog…
If you put the frog in a pot of boiling water, he’ll jump out.” She silences Malcolm with a hand and smiles. “If, on the other hand, you put the frog in a pot of cold water and turn up the heat one degree at a time, well, before long you’ll have a boiled frog. And he’ll never know what’s coming.” Then, taking my father’s hand in her own, she says, “Our parents saw the frog boil in Germany. One degree at a time.” The way Oma Maria recites it as the wise woman who has seen and borne witness to the system that Malcolm is deeply involved with creating. I found it sad to read her family almost not believing Oma Maria when she tells her stories. They think she is making them up, or changing them as she goes along because of her age but this elderly woman is wise and has a lot that needs to be heard and acted upon as we discover as the book progresses. In fact, it turns out that some of Oma Maria’s family were actually involved in some of the nasty experiments that the Nazis inflicted in the concentration camps.

My favourite character, if I had to choose only one was Oma Maria, her love for her family and shame about the past are really well conveyed throughout the book. She is determined the horrid experiments she had heard about in the past would not happen to her great granddaughter Freddie, or anyone else if she had anything to do with it.
The character I enjoyed hating was of course Malcolm, though there were others I could add to this category too, such as Madeleine Sinclair and Petra Peller. Malcolm is a despicable, ignorant, hateful, selfish idiot who cannot see his wife Elena and youngest daughter Freddie. I wonder does he really see his eldest daughter Anne, or does he just see her Q score?

I have to mention the byline from the book cover again as it really is a case of “Only The Perfect Will Survive” in this book. It’s not “survival of the fittest” as it is in some sci-fi books more of only those with great Q scores in their ancestry, their current family and siblings and those who can maintain that Q score will survive and have a “life” as opposed to those with lower scores in their ancestry, siblings and themselves being unable to keep up with the ever higher expectations who will just “exist”. This author really has done her research and this book is so much more than a fictional story, especially when you look around at the way the leaders of the world are leading, sometimes dragging us along. The society and its system has been really well thought out and explained in detail as the story unfolds.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing this book were Amazing! I can't express how much this book has made me feel and think! Like Vox, it is a book that will stay with me for a long time after finishing reading it! Probably due to the kind of books I read I had picked up on the subtleties of what the Q numbers were based on and where this book was going long before it was at first clearly hinted at and then revealed. I readily admit to being in tears throughout the last chapters but it was the ending that had to be, though I think a sad one. I will most certainly be on the lookout for any other books by Christina Dalcher she has the ability to tie history, current probabilities and future possibilities all into one fantastic story. I have already purchased and added another couple of books to my "must read" list as Christina recommends them.

To sum up I thought this book was an amazing read and I highly recommend reading it. Honestly the way the world is progressing at the moment it may not be as far fetched as you may at first think. Definitely thought provoking and made me eager to know what is coming next from this brilliant author.

Imagine a world where everyone is perfect, where everyone is equal, a world where there are no diseases, and no one competes with each other. But to achieve this, first, the "bad apples" need to be eliminated.
Elena, with her quotient above 9, is a teacher at one of the elite schools.
When Freddie, Elena's youngest, only 9-year-old, daughter fails her Q test and is taken away, Elena is determined to do everything in her power to get her back. What she doesn't realise is that the "yellow" school Freddie was shipped off to, is not what the government makes people believe.

Ok, so where do I even start?
I'm a great fan of dystopian stories, so it goes without saying that I was beyond excited to get my hands on this book.
The story starts off very promising, but soon after, it slows down, and I felt it was unnecessarily drawn out. Up until it reached the halfway mark, I was sure it was going to be a 3-star read. But then, to my surprise, the story picked up so much that I was madly turning the pages to find out what's going to happen. At this point, I was considering 4 stars, especially since it seemed like the story would be followed by a sequel. I was equally excited and unhappy about this prospect; excited because I love dystopian series, and unhappy because if this were the case, I'd have to wait a long time for the second installment.
But no, sadly, there will be no sequel, and I'm really disappointed because it could have easily been spread over at least two books. Instead, the second half of the story felt rushed.
And the ending... I didn't like the ending. I really didn't like it. But... it was BRAVE.
On the plus side, it was good to see a dystopian heroine that wasn't a teenager or young adult and was instead a mature woman.
In conclusion, the slow start and the rushed second half contributed to me settling on 4 stars. If you like dystopian stories, this book is definitely for you.

A dystopian tale that is entirely believable given the history of Eugenics.

The story centres around Elena and her family. Elena's husband Malcolm is one of the main proponents of the Q system which sorts people based on test scores into various social and academic streams.

Although at the top level of this system, when Elena's youngest daughter fails her test and is taken away, Elena purposely flunks her own test and conspires to get sent to the same institution her daughter now inhabits. What Elena discovers at this place is something well hidden from the outside world where regular propaganda hides the real purpose of the Q system with the constant reassurance that all is well.

The story sees Elena coming to terms with a problem she has in large part created and perpetuated and finding the best way to deal with this and the lengths a mother will go to in order to protect her child.

The ending could not really have gone any other way given the sometimes harrowing tale that precedes it, but is an extremely brave one for the author to make.

In society we are already being judged by our race, religion, class and colour, but imagine a world where you are also judged on you’re IQ. The high achievers have the best jobs and even get a special checkout at the supermarket!!

Elena is a teacher at an elite school, pupils are tested monthly and depending on their results can be moved to different schools. Elena believes in the system until her daughter Freddie fails her tests. For Freddie and for all the others who fail, there are boarding schools out of state where they are sent and parents can only visit for 30 minutes once a month.

Elena decides to fail her test so she can find her daughter and bring her home.

The story explores motherhood and what you would do to protect you’re family. An unusual twist is that her husband helped set up the system that she is now going against!!

This book had me hooked from start to finish. I read it believing this could actually happen and made me wonder how different my life would be.

I loved the use of the iconic yellow bus which to me symbolises happy school children, but in this book the yellow bus comes once a month to pick up the children, but they never return.

A thought provoking book with an ending that I wasn’t expecting.

A must read, shocking but very addictive.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

DNF @ 40% - I really tried to keep going with this book but I was just not enjoying it. The characters are all terrible; Elena is such a hypocrite and was gung-ho for this world until it actually affects her. Malcolm is just a dick 🤷🏻‍♀️ it just wasn’t interesting to me at all!

There is a real problem with the formatting of this ebook as well; I was gifted a copy via NetGalley but the formatting makes it virtually unreadable - words are cut off half way through, and there’s numbers at the end of every line. I almost stopped reading it straight away solely due to this.