Published by HQ

Synopsis:

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.

YES! After a run of books this month that haven’t blown my mind, I’m so glad that I read this. POWERFUL is the word for this book.

The world described in this book is a mouse’s fart away from being a reality – women’s voices are already ignored by politicians, being ignored, overlooked or interrupted is just a way of life for women across the world so the idea of actually being rendered silent isn’t that outrageous an idea. They have a restriction of 100 spoken words a day and are banned from reading, writing and any other form of communication.

Once that  step has been taken in America, it’s only a matter of time (scarily little time) before the little girls aren’t able to read, write or want anything more for themselves – it’s terrifying.

Dr Jean McClellan, the main character, is a neurolinguist so it’s through her professional eyes that we see everything unfold. This includes a wider view of what banning language will do to women in the future, which makes it a whole lot scarier.
She’s the perfect main character for this story, she’s a well educated and strong willed woman but by being politically inactive and just rolling with the punches as they come, she’s complicit in allowing this to happen. It’s a not-so-subtle call to arms for women to vote and make their voices heard, by presenting the extreme consequence of not using them.

She watches the men around her from her silent viewpoint. They don’t all behave the way she expects, some of them exceed her expectations and others absolutely tank. It’s a thought provoking selection of the kind of behaviours and responses you might see from men in this situation.

I’m filled with enthusiasm for this book and would love to hear what other people thought about it, especially the men!

Side note: I’ve seen reviews that claim that the author is picking on Christianity in this book – it’s not her responsibility to research every religion for the purposes of this book. Historically speaking, America has a track record of using the Christian Bible to oppress women *cough* Salem *cough* so… that’s something to consider in the context of this book.