Curfew by Jayne Cowie
Title: Curfew
Author: Jayne Cowie
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Women's Fiction
Format: Kindle
No. of Pages: 318
Date of Publication: 22 March, 2022
My Rating: 3.5 stars
My Thoughts
This isn’t the easiest review I’ve written.
I was so looking forward to this one, based on its description, it’s an intriguing concept and the novel drew me in quickly and kept me reading.
The story started strong and while I can’t say I particularly liked any of the main characters, I can say that it didn’t matter, I just wanted to see where this novel was going.
I did have some issues, however, which were bothering me during my reading -
- I was hoping for more fleshed out characters. The majority of characters are what they appear to be; there is * not much character growth.
- Where in this dystopian future are people of color? And trans and non-binary characters?
- *Spoiler* (hover over following script to view) The final confrontation with the murderer is off page and I found that to be anti-climactic and highly unsatisfying.
Issues, aside. It’s a story that sticks with you and I really did enjoy it, but I found the above issues to be fairly intrusive which resulted in the lower rating than I would have otherwise given.
I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.
eARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley. Opinions shared are my own.
Description
Think The Handmaid's Tale but with the women in charge, set in a world where all men are electronically tagged and placed under strict curfew, and the murder investigation threatening to undo it all.
Imagine a near-future Britain in which women dominate workplaces, public spaces, and government. Where the gender pay gap no longer exists and motherhood opens doors instead of closing them. Where women are no longer afraid to walk home alone, to cross a dark parking lot, or to catch the last train.
Where all men are electronically tagged and not allowed out after 7 p.m.
But the curfew hasn’t made life easy for all women. Sarah is a single mother who happily rebuilt her life after her husband, Greg, was sent to prison for breaking curfew. Now he’s about to be released, and Sarah isn’t expecting a happy reunion, given that she’s the reason he was sent there.
Her teenage daughter, Cass, hates living in a world that restricts boys like her best friend, Billy. Billy would never hurt anyone, and she’s determined to prove it. Somehow.
Helen is a teacher at the local school. Secretly desperate for a baby, she’s applied for a cohab certificate with her boyfriend, Tom, and is terrified that they won’t get it. The last thing she wants is to have a baby on her own.
These women don’t know it yet, but one of them is about to be violently murdered. Evidence will suggest that she died late at night and that she knew her attacker. It couldn’t have been a man because a CURFEW tag is a solid alibi.
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