Vox by Christina Dalcher

Vox by Christina Dalcher

This was definitely a fascinating and all-too-real premise. It was a quick read, but some parts seemed a little cobbled together or glossed over. I felt like things cropped up that almost seemed too simple. With this seeming closer and closer to our reality here in the United States, I thought the ending was a bit too clean. However, as I got closer and closer to the end, I really wondered how the author was going to wrap it up, so I guess some quick action had to be taken regardless.

I also thought it was a letdown that basically, men saved things in the end, after being focused on women for so much of the book. I also thought the focus on Jean's affair was a bit much. It kept things very man-centric, which I think took away from the power of the book. I understand that, even when oppressed this way, some women might still seek out men, and "not all men" are bad, but it felt like she was depending on him and his escape (in more ways than one) too heavily, and left a bad taste in my mouth.

Not to be petty, but on a similar note, one line in particular ripped me from the story and made me go back to the title page to double-check it was written by a woman: “Lin’s breasts and ass make me look like a Peter Paul Rubens model.” Like, I get what she’s conveying, but… why? I’m a woman and can’t recall ever comparing myself to someone in that way. It just seemed like a literary man trying to duck under the usual way male writers describe women’s bodies.

That said, I have to be fair and mention there were some really thoughtful sentences as well. Also, as a flash fiction writer myself, I loved the author's note about how the idea started as a flash fiction piece, then morphed into a short story, and finally became a novel.

Most of all, this book will stick with me because it was written in 2018, which I realize was during Tr*mp's first term and things were bad then as well, but it seems even closer to happening at this point. At a time when so many things are aging like milk, this one seems more like it's predicting the future.

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

The Measure by Nikki Erlick is one of those books that really makes you stop and think. The premise is wild but fascinating—everyone in the world over the age of 22 gets a box with a string inside, and the length of that string tells them how long they have left to live. What would you do if you knew how much time you had left? Would you want to know?

The story follows different characters as they deal with the impact of this mystery, and I loved how their lives were all connected in some way, even if they didn’t know it. Some people open the box, others don’t, and the way each person handles the knowledge (or lack of it) is so interesting. The book dives into big ideas about fate, choice, and how we define our lives, but it also has this really human, emotional core that keeps it grounded.

For me, this book really got me thinking. It feels so relevant to everything going on in the world today, and I appreciated how it tackled society’s issues and those inevitable life events from so many different perspectives. And that ending—it felt so real and touching. It made me reflect on the story in a whole new way, just like how we can look at life and what’s happening in the world around us and see things differently with time. Honestly, it mirrors a lot of what’s going on in the country right now.