Vox (Dalcher) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Christina Dalcher’s debut novel, set in a recognizable near future and sure to beg comparisons to Margaret Atwood’s dystopian The Handmaid’s Tale, asks: if the number of words you could speak each day was suddenly and severely limited, what would you do to be heard?… Considering the threat of a society in which children like the protagonist’s six-year-old daughter are deprived of language, Vox highlights the urgency of movements like #MeToo, but also of the basic importance of language.
Vanity Fair


The females in Dalcher’s electrifying debut are permitted to speak just 100 words a day—and that’s especially difficult for the novel’s protagonist, Jean, a neurolinguist. A futurist thriller that feels uncomfortably plausible.
Oprah Magazine
           

In Christina Dalcher’s Vox, women are only allowed to speak 100 words a day. Sounds pretty sci-fi, but the real-life parallels will make you shiver.
Cosmpolitan


Vox is a real page-turner that will appeal to people with big imaginations.
Refinery29


[P]rovocative…. [M]ost chilling is the specter of young girls being starved of language and, consequently, the capacity to think critically.… [A] muddled climax and implausible denouement fail to live up to its intriguing premise. Nevertheless,…a powerful message.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review) Jean is multilayered, [whose] definite faults …enrich rather than detract from the story…. Verdict: Dalcher reflects current politics in a… page-turning first novel that is perfect for fans of speculative fiction [and book clubs]. —Charli Osborne, Oak Park P.L., MI
Library Journal


[C]hilling…. With its focus on the vitality of communication and human interactions, Dalcher’s tale is a fresh and terrifying contribution to the burgeoning subgenre about women-focused dystopias spearheaded by… The Handmaid’s Tale.
Booklist


The ending of the novel, while surprising, is rushed, unearned, and the least convincing part of a story that continually challenges the reader's suspension of disbelief.… Dalcher's premise is tantalizing, but the execution… quickly devolves into the stuff of workaday thrillers.
Kirkus Reviews