Hello everyone! Like last semester, I am more than excited to exercise through blogging one of my passions: reading. With these weekly posts, I hope to recommend and discuss a variety of books that I have read in the past and that I think are worth reading!

Since this is week one, I wanted to start with one of the most recent books I read that have a deeper meaning while being entertaining to read. Enjoy!

“The government decrees that women can only speak 100 words a day. Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial. She doesn’t really believe this is happening. This is just the beginning …
Before long, women are also prevented from working and teachers no longer teach girls to read and write. Before, each person spoke an average of 16,000 words a day, but now women only have 100 words to make themselves heard.
… But it’s not the end.
Fighting for herself, her daughter, and all the silenced women, Jean will claim her voice.”

Vox has caught my attention since I heard of its release: a dystopia situated in the near future in the USA that besides talking about the oppression of women still occurs in a single volume would certainly leave me intrigued. This is the debut novel by Christina Dalcher, a linguist who has also published several short stories.

After the election of an ultra-conservative far-right government in the USA, women – and all those who shy away from the “Pure” ideal – lost their rights. They can now only speak up to 100 words throughout the day, cannot work outside the home, receive limited studies, and are geared exclusively to the home regiment, just as they must obey men and dedicate themselves to their own families. So, when neurolinguist Dr. Jean McClellan is summoned to work on a mission for being one of the only professionals in the field trained in this regard, she finds herself in the opportunity to fight for her voice and that of all those who have been silenced.

Vox aroused several sensations: not only did I find myself disgusted with many of the situations exposed in the reading, but I was also afraid of what I read. Although we are talking about an extreme and hypothetical situation, it was impossible not to establish the common points between fiction and reality, especially with regard to how it all started in history and the many of the thoughts propagated in reading. In fact, this was one of Christina Dalcher’s strengths, since she started from problems and distorted ideals found in our Western society to take them to the extreme, showing the consequences of an authoritarian, oppressive positioning and centered on a single accepted model of society.

Not only for the thematic and for the exposed problems, but Vox also conquers for its own construction. The first person narrative brings us closer to Jean, which allows a quick involvement with reading. Still, the short chapters give agility to the plot, making the reader does not feel like unplugging from the pages. It didn’t take long for me to feel like the protagonist and I loved how the author worked on her emotional conflicts, especially with regard to what she feels about the men in her family. The characters, including Jean herself, are not perfect, and this range of aspects makes everything more palpable, even if the context of the plot is more distant because it is dystopian. Also, I loved to see the criticism that Jean represented since at the top of her privileges, she considered the position of those who fought for minorities to be exaggerated. Now, being a minority, she understands what she used to criticize, serving as an example to allow an opening in the vision of who is in the same place that she previously occupied.

My only criticism of Vox is its resolution. The final events of the book happen very quickly and, in a way, even very easily. So, at the same time that some passages were even a little confused, due to the speed with which they happen, I finished the book without feeling the impact that it could cause if its ending were slower. It was a great read, without a doubt, but it did not mark me when it was finished.

Vox pleased me for touching on urgent themes and for exploring the protagonist’s emotions very well. Also, I loved having found so many linguistic notions in the book, as this is the formation of Christina Dalcher – the author certainly knew how to apply her reality with the skill to combine it with important aspects of the plot. In general, it is a reading that I recommend to everyone so that it is possible to reflect on many of the points it touches; in addition to excellent entertainment in terms of what the book provides, it makes it possible to reevaluate many of the thoughts that surround us when questioning them.

Sources:

https://www.writersdigest.com/be-inspired/language-arts-vox-author-linguist-christina-dalcher-discusses-the-power-of-words

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37796866-vox