The Power

Written by: Naomi Alderman

First line: Dear Naomi, I've finished the bloody book.

Why you should read this book: Inventive, inspiration, and fast-paced, this speculative-realism novel proposes a world in which all girls and most women spontaneously develop the ability to generate and transmit electricity from their hands, effectively putting an end to most forms of male-on-female violence along with the patriarchy. We follow a handful of international characters: the foster kid who founds her own religion based on the power, the wealthy kid who launches a journalism career covering the phenomenon, the politician hiding her own power even as she works to regulate the paradigm shift. It's just a tremendously interesting story that plays with convention and rewrites reality.

Why you shouldn't read this book: I'll echo other critics with the assessment that the only thing that's wrong with this book is that it's not non-fiction. But I guess if you're a misogynist who already fears the ladies, this might not be the story for you.