Author: Jayne Cowie
Started: June 17, 2023
Finished: June 19, 2023
Format: Digital
Genre: Dystopian
The curfew was implemented in 2026. Prompted by the murder of a young woman killed in a domestic violence incident, a law requiring men to wear a tracking device and remain in their homes from 7 pm to 7 am was enacted. The curfew intricately weaves together Sarah, Cass, and Helen's lives: Sarah is a tagger whose husband is in prison for breaking curfew, Cass is her angry teen daughter who is anti-curfew, and Helen is Cass's teacher whose class is about the history of the curfew. When a woman is found murdered in a local park, it is assumed the woman is a murderer as no tags have alerted to a man breaking curfew. After all, the curfew system is infallible - isn't it?
The premise of this book is intriguing. What would happen if only women were allowed outside from 7 pm - 6 am? What violence levels would drop? Would women finally be paid what they were worth? This was a book that notes a drop in femicide but not necessarily domestic violence. It was interesting to see a world without men and the freedom it allowed. The author did a fantastic job explaining why the curfew was needed and the difference in the world. Some of the female characters were really hard to like: Sarah came across as a very cold woman who hated men and allowed what happened between her and Cass's father to affect her relationship with her daughter. Cass is an overly obnoxious teenager with Daddy issues. If you can get past that, the storyline is worth it. The end of the book holds an ending I didn't see coming which is always a welcome change.