3.5 stars to this unique perspective on domestic violence and the historical subjugation of women.
Britain. A woman’s body has been found in the park. She’s been beaten so savagely that the police are unable to identify her for several days. Who could have done this — everyone is saying that the perpetrator had to be a woman due to the time when the crime was committed. All the men would have been safely indoors because of the Curfew Laws and their tags would have alerted if they were out. The law has been in place for 16 years and has definitely curtailed much of the crimes against women ever since. A lone policewoman, weeks from retirement, is not so sure.
Told in alternating points of view, the reader learns that, despite the Curfew, men are still doing bad things if they can get away with it. All the safeguards put in place still apparently can’t protect a woman from someone determined to harm her. There are many ways to hurt a woman, not all of them physical.
The premise was interesting but the story gets bogged down by all the points of view and the most jarring of those was the voice of the teenager. Her part in the novel was just too big and she was such a stereotype of the hideous teen acting out, spouting off, and doing stupid things. I can’t say that I really enjoyed any of the characters and I think that was, in part, because of the way the narrative jumped from person to person. We do not find out the identity of the dead woman into very late in the book and from that point on, the conclusion is predictable and inevitable.
Definitely will make you think and would be a great discussion for a book club.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for this e-book ARC to read and review.
This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Genre - domestic, futuristic, dystopian
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