Review Summaries

• Readers notice the bold premise and the way it reverses questions about gender and violence. Some also find the worldbuilding and narration uneven, so the novel is often received as a provocative thought experiment.

Reviews

• Thought-provoking for adults and teens, an after-the-crash novel but overall positive

  This post-apocalyptic novel is really on the edge: of interest to Young Adults (who seem to have a fascination with post-apocalyptic worlds; I think we should consider why that might be), but also to older humans of which I am one. The protagonist is a young woman, and the world-building stays pretty simple, concerned with the basics—this isn't Brave New World. But it's well done and fine for teens and even younger. The world depicted is in the near future, populated mostly by women after a disease, that kills all men but only men, has swept the globe. In the country depicted, the surviving men have retreated to strictly segregated small enclaves since the women may still transmit the disease. Our technological society didn't survive this event. Women live in communally-run agricultural homesteads and are working their way back slowly: solar gliders, some biotech, looking for a genetic solution to give men immunity to the disease. They've formed governing structures for the homesteads and regions and on up. One of the fascinating aspects of good speculative fiction is, If [this] happened, how would things change and why? which leads to questions like, Why do we do x, y, and z in the way that we do? What are the pros and cons of this novelist's solutions? What are the roles of tradition, biology, economics, and what is "human nature" really? And you, Reader, what do you think should be universal standards and what shouldn’t, and what are your personal preferences and why? How might you change? Maybe the popularity of post-apocalypse fiction among the young indicates some degree of insecurity about the future, like my generation had about nuclear war, but a lot of it is just that kids will ask Why? and Why not? until they get shut down one time too many. They start with the stuff closest to them and with luck by the time they are teenagers they are wondering why the rules of society can't be different in some way. Fairer, safer, more adventuresome, some way different. This is a good thing! From us, the parents and elders, kids deserve to have their inquiries taken seriously and encouraged, not shut down. Give a kid a fish, she'll eat for a day; teach her to think and she may surprise you with a new design for a fishing lure or a boat. This book has great starting points for discussions between readers of different ages.

• Highly recommend

  I got this book with a view to previewing it for my 12 year old daughter. What I found was a really interesting, thought provoking yet easy to read story about what could happen for our grandchildren \great grandchildren in the future. The ideas of gender and gender roles is explored in a really interesting but easy to follow way for a teen or young adult but also as a parent to 4 daughters, it opened up a dialogue with myself that I haven't had before. Highly recommended as an conversation starter around gender ideas, identity and roles with our young people.

• A lot of potential

  The idea of the setting and story itself has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the implementation and the writing style isn't my favorite. Besides two parts where it gets really suspenseful the novel is unnecessarily long with makes it harder to read than it could be. I really like the plot's thought but the book wasn't my favorite at all.

• Worth a go! Its fiction afterall

  A friend recommended this to me and raved how much of an easy read it was and how relevant to our current circumstance of having a virus. I am 5 chapters in so far, the post-apocalyptic world is captivating. About two generations before the book begins, a virus kills almost all men and boys, and the remaining men/boys are put into "sanctuaries" where they can be protected from the virus and also produce sperm to keep the human race alive. I was immediately drawn into the world itself which is all female, hence the title. In the beginning the teenage girl River encounters an escaped boy on a road near her village, and everything she has ever known or believed is thrown into question. I am enjoying it so far and will surely complete and revise my review accordingly. I have heard lots of other concerns regarding how men are portrayed in the book being unjust.

• Loved loved loved this book

  Literally read this book in 24 hours I couldn’t put it down! It has humour running through it whilst addressing some dark issues. Gripping storyline and a fantastic very real female protagonist.

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