The Power

A remarkable book for its first 2/3. Genuinely. It hits topics and themes and ideas that are fascinating and bold. The book is worth reading for that on its own. The last third, however, jumps the shark a bit as it seems the author rushes to figure out how she's going to end the amazing tale she's woven. Looking back, it makes the book as a whole feel less character- or even idea-driven and reduces it simply to a wild plot. At times, it seems certain descriptions or scenes exist only as a pitch for some studio to make a film from this (which, in the right hands, would be a pretty kick ass film, hopefully with moments of depth and profundity).

And yet, before I could give this book three stars for the lackluster ending, there comes an epilogue just as mysterious and fascinating as the “appendix” to The Handmaid's Tale, from which this book gets great inspiration. That epilogue brings this book back to its place of mythic excellence and does in itself make the last bit of the novel worth getting through.