Book Review: The Power by Naomi Alderman

The Power by Naomi Alderman

Book title: The Power
Author: Naomi Alderman
Genre: Dystopian fiction
Published: October 27, 2016
341 pages
My rating: 5/5

“It doesn’t matter that she shouldn’t, that she never would. What matters is that she could, if she wanted. The power to hurt is a kind of wealth.”

All around the world, teenage girls discover that they have a power to hurt, even to kill. And what’s more, they can wake up this skill in older women. This power turns the world on its head, with men realizing they have lost control. The Day of the Girls has arrived.

The Power is a thought-provoking and uncomfortable, at times even disturbing dystopian fiction about what might happen if women suddenly gained the ability to inflict pain to others. In the novel, this happens through the development of “skein,” a tissue between collarbones that conducts electricity. The novel is a thought experiment of what might happen next – whether having women in charge really would result in a “kinder, more caring world” like many say.

2024 Reading Wrap-Up and 2025 Goals

Books Read in 2024

 

It’s mid-January and I'm finally posting about my 2024 reading wrap-up and talking about my 2025 goals. Better late than never!

2024 Reading Wrap-Up

• Total books read: 77
• Total pages read: 25,190
• Days read: 360
• Average rating: 4.09
• New books bought/received: 34

My goal was to read 50 books, so I definitely surpassed that goal! I did pretty great with my other reading goals as well. I took part in Jane Austen July as planned and annotated a book during that reading challenge. My goal was also to take part in Victober, but because I decided to write a completely new novel in November, I didn’t have time to focus on reading in October. I did read one Victorian book, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, but I’m just going to say that I did not reach the Victober goal.

December Wrap-Up and January Goals

 

December Reads

December Wrap-Up

• Finished: 8
• Total pages read: 2,287
• Average rating: 4.06

A solid end to the year! I finished eight books in December: three fiction books and five non-fiction books. One of the fiction books was the final book of Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising (3/5 stars). I have to say that the final book was a huge disappointment after what had been a promising start. Click the link to read a longer review.

Book Review: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Book title: Ruin and Rising
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Young Adult fantasy
Published: June 17, 2014
350 pages
My rating: 3/5

“He’d seemed confident, strong, as if he belonged in that palace and on that throne. I know things about power that you can barely guess at. I gave myself a shake. I might not be a threat, but I could become one. I wouldn’t let him beat me before I’d had a chance to give him the fight he deserved.”

The Sun Summoner Alina Starkov and the remnants of the once-great Grisha army are forced into hiding as the Darkling has claimed the throne of Ravka. She must find the elusive firebird if she wants to have a chance to defeat him. But as she learns more about her power, she has to choose whether claiming it will truly be worth it.

Yeah, no. Just no.

November Wrap-Up and December Goals

November reads

November Wrap-Up

• Finished: 4
• Started but not finished: 2
• Total pages read: 1,791
• Average rating: 4

I didn’t read a lot of books in November as I was focusing on writing a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, but the books I did read were pretty good. I finished three fiction novels and one non-fiction book. Two of them were the first two books of Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone (4.5/5 stars) and Siege and Storm (also 4.5/5 stars). Click the links to read longer reviews and to find out what I thought about them.

The non-fiction book I read was in Finnish. Sinut on nähty by Anu Silfverberg is an autobiographical essay on gender and gaze.

Book Review: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Book title: Siege and Storm (*Amazon affiliate link)
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Young Adult fantasy
Published: June 4, 2013
386 pages
My rating: 4.5/5

“My life would be allegiance instead of love, fealty instead of friendship. I would weigh each decision, consider every action, trust no one. It would be life observed from a distance.”

The Sun Summoner Alina Starkov is on the run from the Darkling. But she and her best friend Mal can’t outrun her destiny for long. With the help of a notorious privateer, she returns to Ravka, determined to lead the Grisha army to a fight against Ravka’s enemies.

This was a weird read because on the one hand, this was better than Shadow and Bone, and at the same time it… wasn’t? Let me try to explain.

I Finished My Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice (November Writing Challenge)

And we're done! I'm done with my modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice and the November writing Challenge. I lost a little bit of steam as we got closer to the end of the month, so the final word count is a little under 56K words (55,702 to be exact).

The whole manuscript needs a lot of attention and changes in the future, but right now I'm taking a little break from writing to read two writing guides. And then it's back to Project Prehistory in early January!

If you want to see how my last week of November Writing Challenge went, you can check you the vlog below: