Book Review

I have picked myself some pretty good books this week, now that I have got my reading groove back, long may it continue.

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Every child’s potential is regularly determined by a standardized measurement: their quotient (Q). Score high enough, and attend a top tier school with a golden future. Score too low, and it’s off to a federal boarding school with limited prospects afterwards. The purpose? An improved society where education costs drop, teachers focus on the more promising students, and parents are happy.

Elena Fairchild is a teacher at one of the state’s elite schools. When her nine-year-old daughter bombs a monthly test and her Q score drops to a disastrously low level, she is immediately forced to leave her top school for a federal institution hundreds of miles away. As a teacher, Elena thought she understood the tiered educational system, but as a mother whose child is now gone, Elena’s perspective is changed forever. She just wants her daughter back.

And she will do the unthinkable to make it happen.

Amazon | Goodreads

Q will be published in eBook and Hardcover on 30th April 2020.

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I knew that after reading Vox a couple of years ago that I would be really interested in the next book that Christina Dalcher wrote and as soon as I saw the description for Q I knew it was going to be another good one. It is definitely a contender for one of my favourite books this year.

I think what really gives me chills about this book is that it is utterly terrifying but you can’t help but keep your eyes glued to the page. It was a polarising reading experience for me, one the one hand I was desperate to know how Elena gets through the situations she finds herself in but at times I felt such intense anger that I also wanted to put the book down and walk away. To say that I went through the whole gamut of emotions with Q is a bit of an understatement.

Another scary thing about this authors work is that it draws on a few very frightening historic narratives that gives extra weight to what she writes, like what happens is a foregone conclusion and that really fuels every feeling that you will have alongside this book, anger, fear, and hatred for a scheme that is trying to eradicate everything that is human.

Elena was a character that I could really empathise with, I enjoyed getting to see her present and her past and seeing the mistakes and choices that she has made and how that has affected her and what she believes, it made me have a hard think about how some choices can really change the course of your life and others. I think because I could see some of the mistakes that I have made at some point in my life reflected through Elena, it fully invested me in her story and had me hoping like mad for a positive outcome.

I don’t want to say too much more because this is definitely a story that you will want to experience for yourself and I won’t lie it is a tough pill to swallow at times but with brilliant writing, a clever but chilling story and characters that you want to succeed, in my opinion it is worth it. I have to say even though I know I will be put through the emotional wringer I am looking forward to seeing what Christina Dalcher will come up with next.

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