Search

Search only in certain items:

40x40

MelanieTheresa (997 KP) rated Vox in Books

Sep 19, 2018  
Vox
Vox
Christina Dalcher | 2018 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
10
8.8 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book made me so ANGRY.
Contains spoilers, click to show
** spoiler alert ** Somewhere along the line, what was known as the Bible Belt, that swath of Southern states where religion ruled, started expanding. It morphed from belt to corset, covering all but the country’s limbs—the democratic utopias of California, New England, the Pacific Northwest, DC, the southern jurisdictions of Texas and Florida—places so far on the blue end of the spectrum they seemed untouchable. But the corset turned into a full bodysuit, eventually reaching all the way to Hawaii. And we never saw it coming.

This book made me so ANGRY. I read it in a flurry of outrage in less than 24 hours because I just.could.not.stop.

It's the very near future, and the religious right has (seemingly) won in the United States. Women no longer hold jobs, are no longer allowed to read or write, and are limited to speaking 100 words per day, enforced by an electric-shock "bracelet" counter, their voices effectively silenced, their rights taken away. A religious zealot is pulling the strings of the puppet-President. School textbooks are replaced with religious tomes. The LGBTQ community is forced into prison/work camps for "conversion" to the "normal" way (read: man/woman). Engage in premarital or extramarital sex? Work camp in the Black Hills of South Dakota for the rest of your life, with a counter on your wrist set to ZERO. You may think "none of this would ever happen!" .....wouldn't it, though? Consider the current political climate and treatment of women, folks. Maybe it's not that far off the mark.

“Whose fault do you think it was?” he said. I stood in my kitchen, wanting to explain, careful not to, while he told me we’d marched one too many times, written one too many letters, screamed one too many words. “You women. You need to be taught a lesson.”

There will be the inevitable comparisons to The Handmaid's Tale, of course. I personally could not slog my way through The Handmaid's Tale,, so I can't speak to those comparisons. I can only tell you that if you aren't outraged by the very IDEA that this could happen, there may be something wrong with you.

I did feel like the ending was slightly rushed, but not to the point that it took away from the rest of the story. It was a satisfying, hopeful ending.

What would you do to be free?
  
The Hurricane Heist (2018)
The Hurricane Heist (2018)
2018 | Action, Thriller
Well at least it lived up expectations
You know it's not a good sign when a film is released on Sky Cinema the same day it apparently comes out in actual cinemas (despite the fact it isn't showing anywhere local to me).

Yes this film is bad, but it just about verges on so bad it's vaguely entertaining for an hour or so. It reminds me a little of Sharknado (although Hurricane Heist is nowhere near as ridiculous), with the pretty poor CGI, terrible script and bad acting. Some of the Southern accents are hilarious, even you Toby Kebbell, and Maggie Grace is really not a good actress. And casting Ralph Ineson? He's a good actor but he's got bad guy stamped all over him which makes the first part of this story a tad predictable. I'd have been more surprised if he'd have turned out to be a good guy. The plot is silly although doesn't come across quite as farfetched as the trailer made out.


But despite all of this, it is partly entertaining brainless fodder, just don't go expecting too much.
  
    Farmer's Weekly

    Farmer's Weekly

    News and Magazines & Newspapers

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Farmer’s Weekly is an agricultural magazine based in South Africa, targeting the whole of Southern...