The concept of overnight curfews for men in the future in the wake of the murder of a high profile politician is the subject matter in this dystopian novel.
Men wear tags and are not allowed out between 7pm to 7am, but when a body is found in a park, is it possible that a man has commited the murder?
Sarah works as a tagger and lives with her daughter Cass in a motherhouse, her husband Greg is in prison after breaking curfew but due to be released soon.
I have to say I didn't particularly like Cass's character very much but I think it adds to the novel, she was deliberately argumentative and petulant and acted younger than her 17 years. Sarah allowed for this behaviour due to Greg being in prison.
All in all I found this an interesting novel, almost like The Handmaid's tale but in reverse, Women call all the shots.
3.5 rounded up

An emotive read, brilliantly written.
I was gripped from the start & I couldn't put it down till I'd turned the last page.

Wow, what a great read. I could not put this book down. Very thought provoking and certainly a page turner.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me this book in exchange for a frank and honest review.

I don’t have many words for this book to be fair. It was exciting, thrilling, enthralling, fast paced and amazing. I have not read anything like this in such a long time. Props to the author excellent writing and imagination.

An entertaining and thought provoking novel, After Dark takes us into a chillingly plausible near-future where, in order to try and curb gender violence, curfews are imposed on men.

Told in multiple POV with a dual timeline, the murder mystery had me engaged to the end. The characters, of where there are several to get to grips with, were not particularly likeable but certainly brought depth and complexity.

This would be a brilliant book for a book club, as it would provoke important conversations about societal structures and the gender dynamics within.

Overall, an entertaining and enjoyable mystery, with a bit of an edge, that will have you flipping through to the end, way after the lights should have gone out!

3.5 stars rounded up.

The story flowed well. The story was very slow paced. I was gripped by suspense and excitement. The characters were ok but nothing special.

This concept is scary. There will be people in the world that think this is the answer to societies problems. There are people who would encourage a radical change like this, and that makes it scary. In addition to that, the side story of authorities making evidence suit themselves so as not to destroy the new regime is also realistic and therefore scary.

The book is easy to read, though frustrating at the parts when reading from the daughters' perspective, based on the numerous poor decisions she makes.

The ending is good and the book is well paced. I would recommend this to others just based on the concept and ideas within it.

An interesting and thought-provoking read, set in a near future where men are electronically tagged from age 10 and legally required to stay at home during the night, and women seemingly hold all the power.

That is, until a woman is found to have been brutally murdered sometime during the night.

Attacks on women have fallen dramatically, but there is still political pressure to arrest a woman for the crime as proof that the curfew is working.

The subsequent investigation leads us to follow dual timelines as we learn how the events unfolded, discover more about how society now functions, and meet people with various stances on the new laws.

Imagine a near future Britain in which women dominate workplaces, public spaces and government. Where the gender pay gap no longer exists and women are not scared to go out alone. The men are electronically tagged when they reach the age of ten and have to stay at home between the hours of 7pm to 7am.

But the curfew hasn't made life easy for everyone.
Sarah is a single mother who happily rebuilt her life after her husband Greg, was sent to prison for breaking curfew.
Now he's about to be released, and Sarah isn't expecting a happy reunion, given that she's the reason he was sent there.

Her teenage daughter Cass, hates living in a world that restricts boys, like her best friend Billy. He would never hurt anyone, and she's determined to prove it somehow.

Helen is a teacher at the local school. Secretly desperate for a baby, she ignores her best friends warnings that Tom might not be the one.

These women don't know it yet, but one of them is about to be violently murdered.

Pamela is a detective assigned to the murder case, she has several suspicions and believes that this could not have been committed by a woman.

A riveting, unique and dark thriller that kept me guessing!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one, read it on holiday in no time and didn’t want it to end! Such good characters and twists and I’ll be looking out for more from this author, a real rollercoaster!

It's taken me a while to read and review this one, but I decided to return to this book after finishing Jayne Cowie's later book - I Did It For You. Both books are set in a near dystopian future and have thought provoking concepts. This one is based on a male curfew at night to protect women.

The story revolves the discovery of a woman's body who has been murdered and how this could have occurred with the strict curfew restrictions in place. It rolls out in an interesting fashion and is a quick read, but unfortunately I found it difficult to connect with the characters.

Perhaps I should have left more time between Jayne's two books but the one I liked more was her second book. That said, the author has some intriguing concepts and I'd happily read another to see which direction she takes next time.

Unfortunately I have not been able to connect with this book and after multiple attempts have had to admit defeat and mark as dnf.

Thank you Random House and Netgalley and sorry I took a while to read this and review.
I was so unsure of this book to start with and part way through but I persevered and I'm glad I did.
This was scary - very scary - but very thought provoking.
Well written, good characters and a little close to the bone in places, but I did struggle with some of the decisions the main character made.
However, I would recommend reading this book and would like to read more by Jayne.

This was a weirdly entertaining book, and gives you something to think about. If all men are under curfew, how does a woman get murdered. This was an entertaining read, and I will read more by the author in future.

This was such an intriguing take on a basically dystopian Britain where men have been given a curfew and are electronically tagged, and women make up most of the workforce. I did have my reservations when picking up this book, but I really didn't need to!
We get the story written from different perspectives who also have differing opinions on the curfew and how men are now treated. We have Sarah whose husband is in prison for breaking curfew, her daughter Cass and then her teacher, Helen who has just got a new boyfriend Tom. Through these characters, we were really opened to every experience of this world. Helen and Tom have to go through sessions before they can be granted to live together and we see their relationship evolve. Sarah works at a tagging centre where she has to check and fit the tags that the men have and she's also dealing with the fact that her husband will be released from prison pretty soon. Cass is your typical angsty teen who isn't sure that the curfew is a good idea and thinks that it should be reconsidered.

And in the midst of all the above, a womans body is found at the start of the story and we get to also follow along with the Detective who has this case, Pamela whilst she tried to figure who could have killed this woman and what she is hit with, when she dare suggest that it may be a man who has killed the woman, despite the curfew.

This really was a fantastic book and is such a good spin on a 'dystopian' future that people may have considered.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for the advanced copy.

Arrrrrhhh don't you just hate it when you absolutely love a premise but just cant click with the actual story?

Personally I just couldn't connect with any of the characters, I couldn't relate to them at all and i found them weak in all honesty. In a book where it's mainly a society dominated by females I expected them to have strengths, a backbone but was just left disappointed by them.

Maybe I'm just not a fan of these dystopian future led stories but unfortunately this one just didn't do anything for me.

1.5*

Thanks to netgalley and Random House UK Cornerstone for the ARC

I loved the novel concept for this story and found it an enjoyable read with some great twists.
The premise for the story is that all men have a curfew from 7pm until 7am to keep women safe from the escalating male violence.
Overall I found this a thought provoking story that I would definitely recommend for fans of dystopian fiction.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced ecopy.

I wasn’t sure how to give an honest review of this book. I enjoyed the writing and lots of aspects of the plot. The overarching premise of men being a threat to women is thought provoking. However, for me, it was a bit too strongly anti men.

This is a unique story that puts a spin on the typical murder type novel as there is a curfew put on men to keep women safe. the chapters are told from a few different characters who are all connected in some way that comes together at the end. I liked this idea and instantly felt drawn in to the story and didn't want to put the book down. Overall the plot is intriguing and there are a few twists that will keep you reading until the very end to find out what happened.

Well written book about a time when due to male violence, it has been deemed that men are tagged and under curfew from early evening every day. We meet women at various stages of life and learn how their lives are impacted by this law,
Then there is a murder. By whom? Man or woman? And if man - how? It was during curfew.
I’m a little concerned that the result of this story seems to be that men are intrinsically bad. If not all of them, then enough of them to warrant not just curfew but even more stringent rules and sanctions. It was obvious that the writer is not a fan of men and I felt she had probably experienced violence by male/s in her life.
All in all I enjoyed the story, I’m just concerned at the bitter taste it leaves in the mouth with its extremely anti- male stance.