Christina Dalcher has a PhD in linguistics, and she does not let us forget it throughout “Vox”: she uses language and communicates brilliantly to lead us to the dystopian universe where women have lost their human status and are subjugated and brutally limited. In fact, “Vox” literally translates from Latin to “voice” – the premise is on the cover.

In the America represented in “Vox”, all female individuals are required to wear a sort of electronic bracelet that counts the times they speak, limiting all girls and women to 100 words a day. The result for those who do not respect this limit? An electric discharge that increases power with each number above 3 digits.

If you have read some classics of literature, you know where the beauty of dystopian literature lies: it is precisely in the power that these creations have – and that no other literary genre has! – to make us think, “What if...?”

“Vox” could be much further away from the current reality, but unfortunately this is not the case: in the book, there are corrupt politicians in power, there are radical ideas circulating freely and fluidly, and there is a powerful cult manipulating public opinion and preaching oppression. Even more ironic is that we read this book in a pandemic year – yes, because in “Vox” there is also a dangerous disease lurking... Do you see where we're going? “What if...”

We do not want to let out the whole plot, so we leave you the reading suggestion and ask: what would you do if you had a daily word limit? Can you imagine the negative impact this setback would have on women? In the women of the future?

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