Review: VOX by Christina Dalcher

Vox by Christina Dalcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Set in an America where half the population has been silenced, VOX is the harrowing, unforgettable story of what one woman will do to protect herself and her daughter.

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than 100 words daily, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial—this can't happen here. Not in America. Not to her.

This is just the beginning.

Soon women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are no longer taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words a day, but now women only have one hundred to make themselves heard.

But this is not the end.

For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice. 


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Vox by Christina Dalcher gives us a snapshot into a terrifyingly real world.

Girls and women are no longer allowed to speak more than 100 words a day. If they do, they face extreme punishment. They’ve been stripped of their jobs and any authority they once had is long gone. This is a terrifying look at female oppression and Dalcher explores just how far society will go—and what, if anything, can be done to stop it.

Jean is a great protagonist. She’s relatable and strong-minded, yet she’s careful and cautious too. Seeing the world directly through her own experiences in it was, quite frankly, uncomfortable to read in many places. The injection of flashbacks throughout the MS that showed how the world had come to be like this was also very interesting, as not only did it provide backstory in small amounts, but it also gives the reader a chance to see how Jean’s character has changed and grown, to see how she’s adapted to the new rules of society.

Jean’s relationships with her children were also really interesting. In particular, her eldest son and her daughter. These characters also felt well though-out and well written.

The writing itself is concise and appealing. It invites the reader to “just read another chapter” at every point. It’s a compelling book and it has some fantastic images that border on being almost lyrical in their writing.

The affair in this book was a bit of a surprise for me—but a good one. Seeing the contrast between Patrick and Lorenzo, and how each interacted with Jean was really interesting.

The one thing I didn’t like was the ending. It felt really rushed, and when Jean and Lorenzo so easily realise that they can trust another person so quickly, it just seemed very convenient. I didn’t quite believe they could trust this third character (trying not to give spoilers here) and I was waiting for it to backfire... only it didn’t.

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