Book Review: I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

I Who Have Never Known Men
by Jacqueline Harpman

Book title: I Who Have Never Known Men
Author: Jacqueline Harpman
Genre: Dystopian fiction
First published: January 1, 1995
188 pages
My rating: 5/5

“I felt a surge of grief, I, who had never known men, as I stood in front of this man who had wanted to overcome fear and despair to enter eternity upright and furious. I sighed and left.”

In an underground bunker, thirty-nine women and a young girl are imprisoned in a cage, their every move watched over by guards. As the girl cannot remember life before the imprisonment, the women treat her as an outcast. Until one day, a siren goes off, the guards run away, and a stroke of luck gives the women a chance to escape. In the strange and desolate world above, the girl shows herself to be the key to the other’s survival.

I Who Have Never Known Men (original French title Moi qui n’ai pas connu les hommes; translated by Ros Schwartz) is Jacqueline Harpman’s dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic world and an instant five-star read for me. Originally published in French in 1995, this book has found a new success in recent years, and its popularity does not surprise me. This was a gripping and thought-provoking novel.

Book Review: Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Book title: Parable of the Sower
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Genre: Dystopian fiction
Published: October 1, 1993
311 pages
My rating: 4.5/5

“Live! That’s all anybody can do right now. Live. Hold out. Survive. I don’t know whether good times are coming back again. But I know that won’t matter if we don’t survive these times.”

Teenager Lauren Olamina lives with her family in one of the few safe neighborhoods on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Outside the walls of their defended enclave, chaos reigns and only the rich and powerful are safe. When their compound is destroyed in a fire and her family is killed, Lauren is forced out into the dangerous world with a handful of other refugees.

Parable of the Sower is Octavia E. Butler’s dystopian fiction set in the years 2024–2027. The American society has nearly collapsed due to climate change, water shortages, inflation, unemployment and housing crisis, and dangerous drugs. Newly elected president Donner promises to make United States strong again but might just set the country back a hundred years. Sound familiar?

A lot of people have been reading Octavia Butler’s dystopian fiction this year, and no wonder. First published in 1993, this book is even more timely now than at the time of its publication, and Butler’s predictions about the future are eerily accurate.

Book Review: The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

Book title: The Vaster Wilds
Author: Lauren Groff
Genre: Historical fiction
Published: September 12, 2023
256 pages
My rating: 5/5

“She had chosen to flee, and in so choosing, she had left behind her everything she had, her roof, her home, her country, her language, the only family she had ever known, the child Bess, who had been born into her care when she was herself a small child of four years or so, her innocence, her understanding who she was, her dreams of who she might one day be if only she could survive this starving time.”

Virginia, 1600s. In the last days of winter, a servant girl escapes from a famished and disease-ridden colonial settlement of Jamestown into the wilderness. Carrying only her wits and a few possessions, she attempts to travel north to the safety of another colony. But in the vast wilderness around her, threats loom behind every tree: hostile men, hungry animals, and the forest itself.

What an amazing read! The Vaster Wilds is Lauren Groff’s historical fiction. The writing is lyrical and poetic, and the (mostly nameless) main character is a determined and strong female lead.

November Wrap-Up and December Hopefuls

November Reads

November Wrap-Up

• Finished: 5
• Started but not finished: 3
• Total pages read: 2,125
• Average rating: 3.75

I finished two novels in November, Leigh Bardugo’s young adult fantasy duology Six of Crows (4/5 stars) and Crooked Kingdom (also 4/5 stars). I had hoped that they’d both be instant five-star reads, but unfortunately, they didn’t quite live up to the hype. I did give both four stars, because I liked the worldbuilding and in the end, even came to care for a few of the characters. Click the links if you want to learn more about what I thought of the books.

Book Review: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Book title: Crooked Kingdom
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Young Adult fantasy
Published: September 27, 2016
561 pages
My rating: 4/5

“I would come for you. And if I couldn’t walk, I’d crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we’d fight our way out together – knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that’s what we do. We never stop fighting.”

Kaz Brekker and his team have just pulled off a daring heist, but instead of enjoying their reward, they have been double-crossed by the merchant who recruited them. Determined to get their revenge and their money while the whole city is after them, the group plans another series of elaborate schemes to destroy their enemies – and maybe to save a few Grisha as well.

Crooked Kingdom is the second book in Leigh Bardugo’s young adult fantasy duology set in her Grishaverse. While the first book Six of Crows left me a little disappointed, it also lowered my expectations enough so that I could be pleasantly surprised with Crooked Kingdom. I'm happy to report that I enjoyed this book a lot more.