In this case a plague that kills quickly and with a greater preponderance of women changes the world in a frightening way. Women become commodities. This is not the first dystopian book with the premise of very few women and the struggles to possess them.
Told mostly through journal entries by the unnamed midwife, the story follows the midwife as she quickly realizes the few women who have survived have become prey and dons men's clothing, builds her strength, and searches for safety in a world that has lost its civilized behavior. She appears to be the only bright light in a world gone dark. Now that IS frightening.
The first of the book was more interesting than the latter portion and the journal entries were pretty simplistic for an educated woman. Men are almost completely without honor, integrity, or intelligence. While certainly this primitive aspect of human beings would be a problem in such a situation, the dearth of men with any foresight or sense of humanity was a problem for me. Not only did the plague take a disproportionately large number of women (even the women who survived tended to die in childbirth and initially, no babies survived), but it also took a disproportionately large number of men with brains, commonsense, or compassion. I hate to think that the only men who survive would be so deprived of humanity.
First published in 2014, the book is scheduled for re-release in October, and the author is apparently working on a sequel.
Read in Aug.; review scheduled for Sept. 29
NetGalley/47 North
Dystopian. 2014; Oct. 11, 2016. Print length: 300 pages.
Not sure about this one. I like some dystopians, and I like the cover and the blurb, but if everyone in society is dumbed down that mustn't work well. I've read another book recently where female babies were scarce and it was interesting because I hadn't read a story about this situation. But now I have, so I might not need to read this one.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I like to read about titles that I haven't seen others discussing, so thanks for your thoughts!
The premise is an interesting one, but Midwife didn't work that well for me for several reasons. It was hard to care for any of the characters.
DeleteDystopian novels usually intrigue me because it's so easy to picture myself in whatever situation the author has come up with but this one doesn't sound all that realistic or filled with well-developed characters...and that makes all the difference in this kind of o novel. Probably won't go looking for this one, but you've put me in the mood for the genre again, so the search is on.
ReplyDeleteThis is a genre I enjoy. Seeing how individuals react to the extreme stress of a dystopian world interests me, but I especially like seeing how characters adjust and work on surviving without the infrastructure we are so dependent on. Unfortunately, Midwife dealt almost exclusively with one issue.
DeleteI like dystopian novels, but this one sounds too similar to others that I've read. And it doesn't sound like it's a Must Read book...so I think I might pass on this one. :)
ReplyDeleteI suppose it is hard to come up with new takes on a post-apocalyptic world--which makes interesting characters of major importance!
DeleteIt seems like this would have been a good premise but could have used a bit more character development especially with the men! I'm kind of intrigued because I do enjoy dystopian fiction but not sure about this one.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I can imagine that the lack of women would result in some of the situations in the novel, the plague seems to have left a dearth of decent men. Immediately. Pretty selective plague.
DeleteThe premise sounded so interesting and like it had so much promise. Too bad it was disappointing. I think I'll be skipping this one.
ReplyDeleteThe Goodread reviews are pretty positive, and I was interested as I read, but ultimately, the book wasn't what I hoped.
DeleteDystopian books are a hit or miss to me. The premise of this book sounds interesting but I'm not sure about the story and the issues mentioned here.
ReplyDeleteIt is a premise that would change society in a scary way--and is worth speculating about those changes, but this one was a miss for me. :)
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