Whores: A Gender War Dystopia

Whores: not intended to be a factual account of the gender war

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Top Reviews Most recent Top Reviews. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. Some books are a joy to read. Some books are a challenge. And some feel like a repeated punch to the face, but demand to be read anyway. This book falls into the latter category. It could be taken as a metaphor for the current gender-divided struggles in the states around birth control, etc, except that some of the events and laws are actually currently enforced to my knowledge or represent similar circumstances in India, the US, and Saudi Arabia.

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In this case, though, a gender dystopia exists in the US more or less of the present day; reading carefully, there's a lot of legislation in effect in the book that has current-day precedents. Yeah, that's what scared me. Again, it's not a pleasant read, but it's compelling and interesting and demands attention.

The only thing I didn't like was that the status of gays was completely swept under the rug, and I was really curious about what was happening to male gays. I also wondered about global attitudes. I think the book was silent about these on purpose, choosing to focus like a laser on its topic. I don't think I could give this less than five stars.

Sure, it wasn't an easy read, but it was pretty well-written, and every member of the large cast got a personality and plenty of humanity. There's also the fact that even though it's a polemic, there were some attempts to sympathize with the opposing side, the pro-life faction. Ultimately, though, however one's feelings on feminism fall, there is no arguing with the inequalities in the healthcare system.

I'd like to say I don't think this book will ever become a full reality This book scared me like no other work of fiction has. Many reviewers are skeptical as to the likelihood of the premise but nothing presented in it is something that hasn't been in Western socio-political policies at one point, and to those of us who live as the least privileged sect of women these things aren't imaginary, they just aren't ALL completely legal yet.

The reason the book scared me so much is because it not only resonated with my fears but reflected my experiences even as I read it. I set down the book to take a call from a friend who spent the night listening to her neighbor beat his girlfriend then found a trail of blood leading from his doorstep out into the street; the girlfriend couldn't be found and the police told my friend and the girl's family they simply weren't interested and refused to take the photos of the blood that my friend took before the boyfriend cleaned it up.

This is the safest story I can tell. Much worse happened to other friends during my reading and the fact that reviewers underplay the seriousness of this premise scares me as much as the book itself. I picked this one up on a Sunday afternoon and didn't put it down again until I'd finished it. The plot is full of twists and turns in this brutal pulp-noir, which brings a lot of fight to a future similar to the world of "The Handmaid's Tale. One person found this helpful.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for review There are good books and there are important books. Whores is not an easy read by any means, in fact, it often makes the reader squirm. As well it should. The story of a group of women resisting the outright destruction of every human right they have gained in last 50 years by running underground clinics and an underground railroad for women who have sought the most basic of health care in world where it has literally been eliminated in a similar fashion as to what happened in Texas in the real world. It takes place in a not too distant future.

The most eloquent portions of the book are the monologues that outline how they characters in the book have reached the place they are now, on both sides of the issue. Wilson close quotes all dialogue even when one paragraph follows another from the same speaker, which is not traditional and it is sometimes hard to understand who is speaking. Characters are well drawn, with more attention being spent on internal.

The plotting is steady and kept me wound up in what will happen next. It is clear that Mr. Wilson is a brilliant writer and a women's rights advocate who understands there is no black and white, simplicity answer in this battle, rather shades of gray. No character is truly saintly and only one major character is truly what I would call bad. Plenty of the side characters will challenge the readers faith in man, because they, the men are very real and very frighteningly common in the real world. Due to the ugliness of the last two years, particularly the Presidential Election and the President-Elect's appointments, I believe this book needs to get into the hands of as many women's advocates and legislatures as possible.

Unfortunately, the people who need to read understand the message will either not read it, not be able to read it, agree with the changes to society it paints or actually crib notes as to what they should do to reach this world, where women as not even second class citizens but walking wombs and pleasure machines for the men in their lives. With the reality that we are now faced with, I have no doubt that many of the legislative and corporate actions will be seen in my life time, from a challenge to Roe v. Wade to the loss of women's clinics via the loss of funding to Planned Parenthood.

Readers should also make sure to read the author's note at the end. See all 10 reviews. Whatever your opinions on women's rights, the authors unique insight on the subject will get you thinking outside the box and perhaps questioning your own morals. You soon come to sympathise with the plight of the underground resistance.

Whores: not intended to be a factual account of the gender war by Nicolas Wilson

How could any government make it a crime to treat breast cancer or end a molar pregnancy? How could any sane human being uphold such laws? It's not an easy read, the violence is graphic, the language explicit and the subject matter challenging, but the story is compelling and you won't be able to put it down.

I received a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. Jan 15, Kerry rated it liked it Shelves: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I learned of this novel from one of the Goodreads' discussion threads. After reading several reviews, I was intrigued. Previous reviewers described a "gritty novel" that addressed political tension between the sexes gone seriously awry. I initially struggled with the author's presentation of women's rights. The plot felt like propaganda from an extreme political spectrum.

After having an email conversation with the Disclaimer: After having an email conversation with the author, the story's perspective made more sense. Women in these locations face extreme oppression and are mainly valued for their childbearing capability. In light of this, the story made more sense. This very well-written, gritty novel has an extremely fast-paced plot with graphic violence. Readers with conservative leanings may struggle with this book. I suspect readers who lack insight into the author's intent about the story may misunderstand his message.

I also think those who dislike graphic violence will also not appreciate it. However, it is definitely worth a read! I look forward Wilson's future work. Nov 10, Mark rated it liked it Shelves: Memorable characters, snappy dialogue and above all, action scenes that rock make it possible to overlook a murky plot and caricature antagonists. On the other hand, this dystopia is message based, a throw-back to issue driven stories like A Canticle For Liebowitz or Planet of The Apes, unlike current novels like Hunger Games where the dystopia is an arena for the action.

Unfortunately, the author's passion for his premise gets out of control. Speeches about the issues involved are well done, a v Memorable characters, snappy dialogue and above all, action scenes that rock make it possible to overlook a murky plot and caricature antagonists. Speeches about the issues involved are well done, a voicy, clever way to insert exposition, but its still exposition. And I can't help but scratch my head over the replacement of one first PON protagonist with another. Bottom line, even though flawed, this political dystopia is chillingly thought provoking.

Feb 18, Michael rated it it was amazing. This is an excellent book that is gripping from the first page all the way through to the end. It's well-written and edited; the storyline flows effortlessly and the author's world building and character development are particularly strong, especially with handling such tough and gritty subject matter. At times it is very moving and this just intensifies your reading relationship with the characters. It's an exciting debut novel and I'm looking forward to more from this talented writer.

A highly This is an excellent book that is gripping from the first page all the way through to the end. A highly recommended read for ! Apr 07, Al rated it it was ok Shelves: How to judge Whores presented me with a quandary. Most authors of dystopian fiction explore at least one reason why things are that way, often as an analogy for similar issues in the real world.

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Dystopias usually extrapolate elements of contemporary society and are read by many as political warnings. My dilemma was deciding what things were fair game for critique. Should I take the existence of the world described on faith, as I would with most dystopian novels, and, based on that, judge the story? Should the credibility of the fictional future world enter into my judgment? Last, how well does the story make its case for the political warning?

The first is in any review. However, if there is an attempt at the political warning, which it seems obvious to me there was, then the other two seem to be fair game as well. The story, if the reader is able to suspend disbelief and take the dystopian world envisioned on faith, is a compelling story. While I think some of the characters would have benefited from a little more nuance for example, a woman cop who seemed devoid of any conflict between her job and gender , overall the story works, or at least would, if not for the answers to my other questions.

Unless technology and progress in other areas comes to a standstill, it has to be in the very near future. The few technology changes I saw were relatively minor and easy to picture as obtainable in a short amount of time, if not today. Ten years, at most twenty in the future, was the way it felt to me. That one of the characters referred to Gwyneth Paltrow seems to reinforce my feel for the timing.

But the biggest problem I had believing was in other laws that had also changed. Outlawing abortions had caused the pendulum to swing not to where the potential child was viewed as essentially equal to the mother, which would have been credible, but to the point where the mother had almost no rights or perceived value when compared to the potential child. Police power had reached the point where an officer could force a cell phone to pick up and be put on speakerphone, technologically believable in the time frame, but not for what this would imply about changing the rights of citizens so quickly.

Not only were abortions outlawed, but a law was passed overriding doctor-patient confidentiality retroactively where abortions were concerned, so that law enforcement could identify those who had obtained abortions in the past. Were this story set way in the future, say a hundred years or so, I maybe could have bought into the premise.

Beyond these issues, I had a few minor issues with the story. However, these were insignificant when compared with the bigger issues of believability. Last is the question of whether the political point was well made. In short, the answer is no. The world that Wilson extrapolated was too much change too fast and overstates what the credible fallout of starting down the path he pictures might be.

May have received a free review copy.

Editorial Reviews

Mar 17, L. Jay rated it really liked it Shelves: This was going to be an interesting one, a novel about women's oppression written by a man. Sorry if that sound's sexist, but judging by the subject matter of the novel, then that's kind of the point! This is set in America I'm English and the language follows suit. The country has gone severely backwards in terms of women's rights and feminist terrorist cells are fight This was going to be an interesting one, a novel about women's oppression written by a man.

The country has gone severely backwards in terms of women's rights and feminist terrorist cells are fighting back. This story is violent, but then so is war and the horrible things people do to each other, so that was just about right. I liked that the women had guns and were literally fighting back. I liked the character of Lisa, Anna and Ofelia but although I liked the idea of Mae but she didn't always ring true - she came across as a crude bloke rather than a female military expert. The oppression appears to mainly revolve around the sexual subjugation of women, which makes sense, as they are denied access to abortion and contraceptives.

They become the reproductive vassals of men and are branded if they stray off the path. I would have liked to have seen was why this situation had occurred and the other implications involved - such as how women were able to work and other financial issues. Were they denied education? Was this a cultural or political shift? I took it that this was not a global issue as it appeared Canada had not been affected by the new oppression. I liked this novel, it was visceral and the individual stories of the women were really interesting.

There were male and female villains and heroes - I wonder if there will be a sequel? Mar 13, Patrick rated it it was amazing. Obviously it's a lot less subtle than The Handmaid's Tale. At one point one of the main characters is compared to Robin Hood and that seems an apt comparison. Nov 05, Melissa rated it liked it.

Off the wall with a kick of reality. Definitely a different kind of read. Short, but most definitely not sweet! Apr 26, Laura Greenwood rated it it was ok. This is another dystopian novel, though this one I would definately not recommend for younger people! The whole idea of the dystopia is that women have lost the right to abortion, contraceptives and other sexual freedoms, and that there is opression based on that. At the same time in this world there seems to be a stigma towards pregnant women and women who have previously had children, and them being able to work.

At first I thought this was a good basis for a dystopia, and in fact it still does This is another dystopian novel, though this one I would definately not recommend for younger people! At first I thought this was a good basis for a dystopia, and in fact it still does remain to be a good one, but this book just didn't quite cut it. There was no real explanation as to why the world got like that or how it really affects the people in it. You hear stories of women in this world well country, the rest of the world seems fine but that's all really, there's no real wide spread explanations of how citizens are being treated.

And these flash backs and stories themeselves take up time and space in the book which could have been used much more effectivelhy. In part this led to the characters being somewhat flat, though this was also helped along by the severe lack of characterisation overall. When suffering a major loss, none of the characters really responded as you would expect them to at the loss of a close friend, lover or even body part in one case, and similarly no one seems to have particular feelings about the brands that they are given.

This is for the 'rebel' characters.

Whores - Not Intended to Be a Factual Account of the Gender War (Paperback)

Add to this that at least every female rebel seemed to have a tendancy towards lesbianism and the characters just fell flat in my opinion, too samey for sure! The plot itself was pretty basic, and not just the interuption of everyone's life stories, but the detailed descriptions of weaponary, didn't allow the story to flow as easily as it could of, it tended towards being clunky.

Also the ending seemed to be dispraportionally happy to the events leading up to it, including the big finale. There was no sadness just a great sense of having beaten the regime when, in my opinion, they hadn't actually done that much to even harm the regime really. The one thing I did like about the book though, was the references to other famous dystopian novels, there was a nod to George Orwell's Winston Smith from , and a part where Lisa asks Ofelia whether or not her name is in the style of Margaret Atwood's the Handmaid's Tale in which the handmaids took the name of their commander and put 'Of' in front of it to give them their name, the main character is therefore Offred.

May 21, Angie Reed Garner rated it really liked it. Jul 07, Joan rated it it was ok. A little over the top, but with the way women's rights are falling, could be the future. Susan rated it liked it Oct 17, Kim rated it liked it Mar 30, Snake rated it liked it Jun 20, Anthony Flores rated it it was amazing Jun 19, Cassiandora rated it it was amazing Jan 03, Ezreal rated it it was amazing Jul 08, Nov 15, Zargo rated it it was amazing.

Shocking, thought provoking and absolutely worth it. Vivek rated it it was amazing Nov 12, Roy Huff rated it it was amazing May 15, Nicki marked it as to-read Jan 06, Bianca marked it as to-read Jan 09, Katy marked it as to-read Jan 11, David Acevedo marked it as to-read Jan 11, Christopher Bryant marked it as to-read Feb 25, Sierra marked it as to-read Mar 03, Danielle Syers marked it as to-read Mar 03, Dave Higgins marked it as to-read Mar 09, Grace marked it as to-read Mar 31, Shirley Bailey marked it as to-read Apr 05, Kimberly is currently reading it Apr 08, Saira Viola marked it as to-read Apr 14, Mollie Squire marked it as to-read Apr 15, Sarah marked it as to-read Apr 16, D'Arcy marked it as to-read Apr 29, Legato Darksummers added it May 01, Sara marked it as to-read May 05, Mommasaysread marked it as to-read May 10, Haylee marked it as to-read May 13, Bianca marked it as to-read May 14, Leanna marked it as to-read May 30, Cera marked it as to-read Jun 04, Charlie Fey marked it as to-read Jun 14, Jessica Fraser marked it as to-read Jun 15, Jen marked it as to-read Jun 23, Nicolas Wilson is a published journalist, graphic novelist, and novelist.

He lives in the rainy wastes of Portland, Oregon with his wife, four cats and a dog. Nic has written several short story collections and novels. Nic's work spans a variety of genres, from political thriller to science fiction and urban fantasy. For information on Nic's books, and behind-the-scenes looks at his writing, visit n Nicolas Wilson is a published journalist, graphic novelist, and novelist.

For information on Nic's books, and behind-the-scenes looks at his writing, visit nicolaswilson. You can also subscribe to his mailing list, for information on new releases, as they become available. Mailing list subscribers also receive a copy of Dogs of War , an unpublished novella. Books by Nicolas Wilson.

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