Christina Dalcher Collection 2 Books Set

by Christina Dalcher

Please Note That The Following Individual Books As Per Original ISBN and Cover Image In this Listing shall be Dispatched

Christina Dalcher Collection 2 Books


Set in a United States in which half the population has been silenced, Vox is the harrowing, unforgettable story of what one woman will do to protect herself and her daughter. On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than one hundred words per day, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial. This can't happen here. Not in America. Not to her. Soon women are not permitted to hold jobs. Girls are not taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words each day, but now women have only one hundred to make themselves heard.


It begins as a way to make things fairer. An education system that will benefit everyone. It’s all in the name of progress. This is what Elena Fairchild believes. As a teacher in one of the government’s elite schools for children with high ‘Q’ scores, she witnesses the advantages first-hand. But when Elena’s own daughter scores lower than expected, she is taken away. Elena follows her to her new home. A government institute. What she finds there makes Elena question everything. Because this world is about perfection – and that comes at a terrible price.

Genres: Dystopia

736 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Christina Dalcher earned her doctorate in theoretical linguistics from Georgetown University. She specialized in the phonetics of sound change in Italian and British dialects and taught at universities in the United States, England, and the United Arab Emirates.
Her short stories and flash fiction appear in over one hundred journals worldwide. Recognitions include first prize in the Bath Flash Fiction Award as well as nominations for The Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions.
Laura Bradford of Bradford Literary Agency represents Dalcher’s novels.
After spending several years abroad, most recently in Sri Lanka, Dalcher and her husband now split their time between the American South and Andalucia, Spain.
Her debut novel, VOX, was published in August 2018 by Berkley (an imprint of Penguin Random House) and has been translated into twenty languages.
Dalcher’s second novel, MASTER CLASS, will be out in the spring of 2020.

Reviews

[Jen Rainbow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Q is terrifying and compelling - an unsettling read which will stay with me for a while.

[Lianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel focuses on the idea your Q (iq although described slightly differently) defines your tier and therefore privileges in life. What queue you use at the supermarket, what bus you get on and what school you go to. The book id focused on the education of the main character, El’s two daughters and their difficulty or not of operating in the new system. El is also a teacher which allows us to see a slightly different angle. The premise is the tiering was the cure for overcrowding, underfunded and overworked education system.

The novel was fast paced but on reflection not a lot happens. The direction to nazis and eugenics were heavy handed and El seems to bumble between problems. Her Ona seemed to solely exist for her nazi youth origin.

The main characters journey and particularly ending didn’t feel well earned. Her husband Malcolm also felt quite flat although he was the primary antagonist of the novel.

I did broadly enjoy the book but not enough depth on the topic.

[Katy Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having already read Vox last year, I picked up Q this week and I must say it was my favourite book of the author’s so far. Maybe since I am a teacher and a mother of two, I could really resonate with the lengths people go to to get their child a good education, and this was a really interesting dystopian take on it. Horrifying but not so far from reality either. The central character was very likeable as she was flawed and therefore seemed genuine. I certainly did not expect the ending, but it was worth waiting for.

[Dominika Cudak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really glad I read this, if you found "The Handmaid's tale" a good read no doubt you will get something out of Q. I had no idea about the US eugenics programme before this and it's so important that we never forget history at the risk of it repeating itself. Good writing, for me especially the last few chapters were incredibly touching and real.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are set in worlds where the rules are different but could easily happen in real-life if we let it. These books are so compelling you want to read them in one go. Be prepared not to sleep until they are finished

[Jade Cadson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like the book Q could have been written a bit better and could have had a bit more of a plot that. However, it did send me down a 3 hour research hole of Eugenics and now I am very informed (and shocked!)

[Carl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a fan of dystopian novels and Q fits the bill - built a believable scenario of how a democracy could be subverted but plot v clunky.

[Bilal Hasson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Q was very well written and I could get through it easily. The story was good, and could easily happen.

[Nigel Stock · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are 2 really good reads. I came to Q having read Vox, a book that imagined a world where women and girls were only allowed to say 300 words every day. In echoes of a plot line from The Handmaid’s Tale (and others) the narrator has specialist skills that are not matched by any of the men in the organisation of in which she goes to work in all male working world. The compromises and accommodations made in such a world are really well articulated.
Q imagines a world where a version of IQ testing has been taken to extremes and the progress and quality of life of all individuals, adults and children is determined by a version of IQ tests.
The appeal for me of this type of fiction isn't so much that its an exact prediction of the future or indeed that it charts a detailed path about how it came about, could be prevented or resisted but that it paints a picture of what such a world would be like, particularly for individuals and families living in societies structured in these ways.
The author does this really well in both books.
In Vox she describes a world of constant testing, very narrow views of what learning, education, and intelligence are. The joy and excitement is missing from this view of child development. For me in the UK this has resonance for 11+/Grammar schools, OFSTED, an obsession with measurement of what can easily be measured (rather than what might be important) and the reduced priority of Art and Arts subjects as set by our governments.
The author also ties in the early history of Psychology in the USA in 1930s when laws were passed including for the sterilization of certain groups. The vulnerability of such tools to be exploited by those wanting to eliminate groups or grotesquely favour certain chosen groups is realistically described.
Finally, its also a thriller "page turner" with mounting excitement generated about whether the main character and her daughter can firstly survive including the threat from her husband who is ideologically and practically committed to the Q world. In addition the readers attention is also held by the questions of whether she can expose the abuse in the system and at what cost.

[Loren Kendall · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished Vox and previously reviewed it.

I couldn’t finish Q and I really did try to. This book would be interesting to me if it focused more on the dystopian world it’s set in, but instead it reads like a descriptive diary of the main character who ends up being pretty unlikeable? I wanted to read this book for the dystopian world but it’s too descriptive of things I just didn’t care for. Pages of describing a bedroom here, a kitchen there, pages and pages of describing a bus ride etc. I wanted to know more about the world, about the FFA, what happened to parents’ mental states with kid’s sent to green schools etc.

I really wanted to push through to see what the end of the story would be about, I assume maybe saving Freddie and Anne, divorcing Malcolm, moving to another country etc. It feels like the author didn’t know where the story was going herself? Characters felt lifeless in this book, which is a shame because the author nailed the characters in Vox. I wish Malcolm was written a bit more believably, I mean the guy had 0 redeeming features at all. He just felt like a personification of a political party.

I couldn’t finish the book because I ended up not enjoying it at all and made it to page 261/452, chapter 42.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

*spoilers*

Vox 3 / Q 4. I love the concept of these books. I read Q a while back, I know I really enjoyed it, but can't remember much bar the story line. I've just finished VOX, and, not as keen. Again, love the concept. I wasn't a fan of Jean, the female lead, not only did she have an affair, but the constant use of "kiddo", just really bugged me. Her husband wasn't all that bad, besides his lack of integrity, he was an overall okay guy. So it sucked she had an affair, and it sucked that she spoke and thought so low of him. With both Q and VOX the female lead is married to someone of importance, and it would have been nice to see the heroine as a normal person, who trumps the system without special privlages. The end felt rushed, and I wouldve liked to have known more about the poisoning, and maybe some dramatic reaction from reverend Carl... Morgans death was too quick. The son Steven.. Well, I just hated him. So, worth a read, and would make a good movie, but, I was slightly disappointed after really enjoying Q and Femlandia.

[Natalie Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Q

Fast becoming one of my new favourite authors! This one really got to me as a teacher. The new education system is bought about due to the fact that schools are no longer able to cope with the difficulty in teaching such a broad spectrum of children. And I get it - the difference in ability and interest levels in my class are so large - then throw in a number of different SEND needs and an hour lesson can be a minefield to plan for!

However, this dystopian tale sees the idea going much too far - as it often does! I love a dystopian tale that I can see becoming reality - The Handmaid's Tale, Vox... with the current situation in America these types of new world are looking more and more possible.

I think the blurb tells you all you need to know going into this story and I don't want to give any spoilers. It is really well done and the character of Elena is written perfectly. As a mother I feel every inch of what she is going through. One of my favourite reads of the year so far.

[XMELIA · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars
(I've only read Q but I couldn't find a profile just for that one)
I picked this up randomly and was quite surprised how enjoyable it was! It reminds me of something that would be in a Black Mirror episode. The writing isn't stand out but it's not bad either, the plot and timing could have been better I feel like a lot of this book could be cut out and make no difference due to some parts being forgettable or just clunky.
It faces some really interesting ideas about a 'perfect world' and how corrupt these things can be.
A pretty good dystopian novel!

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing, was hooked from page 1, ‘Q’is a different story of a dystopian society, where being ‘perfect’ is a must, anyone who isn’t, well , the world is a very different place, literally! So definitely pop this on your read list , it will capture your attention from the start to the very end

[Ghada Zain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read vox earlier this year, i was expecting/hoping Q would not disappoint, but it unfortunately did.
I liked the story, the writing and narrative. I loved the message behind it. But it didn’t fully make sense even in the end.
Im still not sure why or how she died ? She got sepsis went to hospital and got treated but somehow ended up terminal but lived for months ?! Just doesn’t add up.

[Gertrude · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to Q on borrow box but couldn’t find place to record that book. Unusual book set in USA when people are rated by Q scores which are based on IQ and some other factors. Gradually the score criterion become narrowed until only a select elite are favoured and life conditions for others become increasingly difficult. And Eugenic principles are considered. A horrifying concept.

[Steve Candler · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Q’ is quite a scary book as it teeters on the verge of being based in a terrible reality. Clearly based in the historical ideas of Hitler and brought into a modern age through education. Perhaps made even more potentially realistic because of Trump being in charge of USA. Good central character but found it a bit difficult to have an association with her. Worth a read.

[Jessica Chafer · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Read Q*

I liked it although a few bits were confusing. Good plot tho and makes you think ab how far you'd go for love.

[Nichola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. A frightening picture of what could happen in our present day. I feel like it’s not as far fetched as some my think

[abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

literally devoured q but i hated the ending, killing el off didn’t make sense for the plot at all

[ChaptersofMagik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very thought provoking and petrifying.

[Marylyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good books. Makes you think that America could go this way if trump got into power.

[Mandy Macdonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have only read Q but it was very enjoyable.

[Carly Allender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting idea, but very sad ending :-( terrifying as I’m a teacher too.

[Yvonne Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get somebody else to read it as well so you can counsel each other afterwards- you need someone in the know to exchange wtf with xx SERIOUSLY mean it

[Kacie Darlison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got abit bored tbh, the concept at the beginning was great. It fell off 3/4 of the way through, all for the ending to be abit flat.

[Kirsty Chesterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

a brilliantly terrifying book, particularly apt for a world such scenarios almost prophetic.

[Kerry O’Nians · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty horrific and could totally be true. Very hand maids tale esque

[Ruth Armstrong]

Only read Q. Idea was not bad but not well executed. Would have been better as a short story. I liked the ending.

[Lauren Semple · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in 2 days, I couldn’t put it down. Terrifying and heartbreaking