#100 Q

Q by Christina Dalcher

Before i begin let me just say this book is a ride! Not for the faint hearted thats for sure. I read Vox last year and was instantly sucked in by that Margaret Atwood feminist vibe to it. It also chilled me to my very core as if Trump could get away with that he totally would. Q also felt very trump-esque which was utterly terrifying.

Q is set in a dystopian near future America in which the government are trying to weed out the 'undesirables'. The story follows the story of Elena Fairchild a 40 something teacher and mother of 2 girls, Anne and Freddie (sorry if i spell any of the names wrong, i listened to the audiobook) In this society children are regularly tested to find their quotient or 'Q', school children are given tests to find their Q whereas adults Q are based on how well they perform at work, how they contribute within the community, their family status, how punctual they are etc.  When mothers are pregnant they can test the Q of their unborn child to determine how 'successful' they will be. Only the top scoring children get the chance to succeed in life whether that be to attend the best schools and universities which then lead on to the best jobs. The school system is tiered meaning that the best scoring children attend a silver school, middling children attend green schools and the lowest scoring children attend yellow schools and are sent away from home. The silver schools are better funded with the best teachers and resources.

Elena has 2 daughters, the ever perfect high scoring Anne and middle of the road 9 year old Freddie. When Elena was pregnant with Freddie she refused to have her Q tested and instead forged her daughters score in which to please her husband (we'll get onto him in a minute) Freddie is highly anxious and hates being tested. At the beginning of the book Freddie fails one of the Q tests and is sent away to Kansas to attend one of the lower tiered schools. Elena who does not agree with the Q system makes her mission to get Freddie back.

Malcolm is Elenas husband and i honestly have never wanted to punch a character more in my life. He is the actual worse. The was he favours Anne as she is smarter and has a consistently high Q score. He only cares about his status and not his family. Malcolm will do whatever it takes to keep his family 'perfect' and when that means sending Freddie away it is a price he is willing to pay. Some of his actions in this book made me so god damn angry which is a real testament to how good the writing is. I really despised him!

We also get some interesting side characters in the form of Elenas mother, father and grandmother who are German immigrants who have moved to America. They do not believe in the Q system and Elena's grandmother often likens it to Nazi Germany.

I spent the whole book rooting for Elena and Freddie and was so happy with how it all came together in the end. The chapters are super short which is such a plus for me, it made me fly through it in a day and a half. Ultimately for me this was a book about motherhood and as a mother of a young daughter myself this really sang to me. I related to each and every decision Elena made on behalf of her child and i really felt her pain every step of the way. The story really is fantastically written and Christina Dalcher is one to watch for sure!