At a point, The Power really feels like it is setting itself up as a sustained exploration of what that kind of power shift would mean on a social, political, and psychological level. There are interesting moments early on where it genuinely engages with those questions, so naturally I felt like the book was going to stay closely tied to that core idea… I appreciated what it was trying to do, but I didn’t feel particularly compelled to revisit or recommend it.
Title: The Power
Author: Naomi Alderman
Genre: Fiction, Dystopia, Fantasy
Publication Date: October 27, 2016
Review Date: April 10, 2026
Number of Pages: 341 (hardcover)
My Rating: 3.0/5
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Book Blurb of The Power:
In The Power the world is a recognizable place: There’s a rich Nigerian boy who lounges around the family pool; a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature; an ambitious American politician; and a tough London girl from a tricky family. But then a vital new force takes root and flourishes, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power: They can cause agonizing pain and even death. With this small twist of nature, the world drastically resets.
Book Review of The Power:
I liked the concept of this book a lot more than I ended up liking the execution. The premise is immediately compelling: a world in which women develop a physical power that shifts the balance between genders, and the social and political consequences that follow. It starts off strong, and the opening sections do a good job of drawing you in because the idea itself feels thought-provoking and full of potential.
For a while, it really feels like the book is setting itself up as a sustained exploration of what that kind of power shift would mean on a social, political, and psychological level. There are interesting moments early on where it genuinely engages with those questions, so naturally I felt like the book was going to stay closely tied to that core idea.
However, as the book progresses, it becomes more focused on escalation and large-scale developments across different regions and timelines. As a reader I could follow what was happening in the plot, but I didn’t feel a strong sense of direction in terms of what the book was ultimately building toward as a cohesive thematic statement.
Also yes, I know The Power is structured as a sort of historical exploration. I understand the references to the cyclical nature of power structures. Instead of deepening what I thought was the central premise (which was very interesting), it felt more like it was expanding outward into consequences and outcomes. This is also fine, but to me it seemed like this happened without always maintaining a clear (or even blurry) through-line connecting them back to the original idea.
I think that shift is where my personal disconnect came in. The concept is still strong, and there are moments that are effective on their own, but the overall structure didn’t quite come together for me in the way I expected from how the book began. By the end, I appreciated what it was trying to do, but I didn’t feel particularly compelled to revisit it, nor did it wow me.
Would I recommend The Power?
The idea is powerful, but the execution didn’t fully land for me as a cohesive whole. There are many good dystopian and future worlds stories out there, though none come to mind right now in terms of addressing a power imbalance in this fashion. If the concept itself interests you, you may want to give it a shot. Also yes, know that there is definitely violence in various forms in this book.
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