Reviews with content warning for Torture - The Power

Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Power by Naomi Alderman

181 reviews

sbox's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Definitely a gripping book!

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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.5

Check out content/trigger warnings (I don't think the ones I chose are all inclusive of what is in the book so look up all the reviews that have the warnings) because some stuff can be quite graphic.
Overall liked it but didn't love it. I didn't really care for the ending but enjoyed the overall idea of the book.

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donomak's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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amelia_rose_20's review

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

3/10 | Naomi Alderman's “The Power” was a major letdown for me. The writing felt like it was lacking a clear vision of its final form. The book’s underlying argument that “absolute power corrupts absolutely”, suggesting that women, given power, would be as (and even more) corrupt, violent and cruel as men, was disappointing and something I disagree with.

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penguins_save_lives's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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savazelena's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Sigh. What?

As so many have said: good idea, bad execution.

As far as content goes, I'm relatively okay with it. It's an interesting premise that shifts the perspective on patriarchy and gender and boy do we need those. The only thing that is missing, for me, is the question of trans characters - we have a minor intersex character and that's it? It would be a really interesting topic to explore in the context of this dystopia, so I missed it.

For the style... I thought it was just dramatic for the beginning of the story, but it doesn't. End. All throughout the book. We have these. Short. Intense. Sentences. That are sometimes deep and pseudointelectual. And sometimes. Just descriptions. To me, it's bad writing. There's no versatility, no changes in narration considering the context.

And because of this fake deep style, the second half of the book is almost incoherent. There is a lot of political themes and complex storyline, but we never get any actual explanations, there are no motives for what the characters are doing, they are all just a cardboard cutout of an archetype.

The letter story was interesting and I liked it. I would've liked to see more of this dynamics, as it also feels more realistic and would be harder to complicate with style.

Since Atwood is mentioned in acknowledgment, I feel comfortable comparing this to Handmaid's Tale and The Testament: books with very dystopian and VERY complex plots, seen through a few of the characters, well written and understandable, with dimensional characters. This was, in comparison, a college essay.

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