Q cover art

Q

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Q

By: Christina Dalcher
Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
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About this listen

Elena Fairchild is a teacher at one of the state’s new elite schools. Her daughters are exactly like her: beautiful, ambitious and perfect. A good thing, since the recent mandate that’s swept the country is all about perfection.

Now everyone must undergo routine tests for their quotient, Q, and any children who don’t measure up are placed into new government schools. Instead, teachers can focus on the gifted.

Elena tells herself it’s not about eugenics, not really, but when one of her daughters scores lower than expected and is taken away, she intentionally fails her own test to go with her.

But what Elena discovers is far more terrifying than she ever imagined....

©2020 Christina Dalcher (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Dystopian Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Political Science Fiction Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Espionage Exciting Scary Emotionally Gripping

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Critic reviews

"Like all the best dystopian fiction, Q takes the reader just a pace or two beyond where we're already at. This is a sharply written and terrifyingly plausible tale of an education system where less than perfect is a life-threatening condition.... I devoured it in a single day." (Louise Candlish)

"Shocking and a powerful tale exploring themes of survival and superficiality." (Cosmopolitan)

"Christina Dalcher is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. It's a master class in dark dystopian fiction, clever, thought-provoking, beautifully written and terrifyingly believable." (Alice Feeney)
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Good concept- similar style to VOX. The female leads and male husband counterparts almost identical.

Not the worst listen

Much like VOX

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Absolutely brilliant, gripping from start to finish. A timely reminder of how society can slip into something evil

wow!

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Very engaging and thought provoking . Couldn’t stop listening ...had to find out what happened! Would definitely recommend . Haven’t stopped thinking about it either .

Gripping

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Having read Vox, I was keen to read more of Christina’s works and download Q.
I binged this book - listened to it almost all in one sitting. The narrator was perfect and set the tone so well.
As others have said - like Vox, this is fantasy but you can see how it isn’t completely impossible that the worlds Dalcher create may come true one day.

Dalcher does it again!

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I've read a few dystopian feminist books but this one I struggled to finish. Good concept, but I couldn't relate to the main character, who is quite privileged and seemed oblivious to a number of social issues. Felt like the world could have been meatier. I wanted to hear more about the world.

It's OK! Maybe better as an intro to genre?

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Brilliant!

A picture of where the world could end unless we are all vet vigilant.

A book you must read

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This book had me gripped from the very beginning- I could not stop listening. At first it seems far fetched but by 4 it became obvious that this is a perfectly possible scenario.
Scary, thrilling, and unnerving, this is story is well told by Lisa Flanagan. I highly recommend you set a day aside and absorb the events as they unfold.

Excellent!

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I need to stop reading these dystopian novels as they just depress me. Well written, well narrated but oh so very dark. Perhaps you could see beyond this authors imagination but I have lived long enough to know that anything can happen, has happened and might well happen in the not-too-distant future. If this novel is anything to go by, then I can only hope I am not here to endure it.

Not a world for me

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Not quite as good as “Vox” which set the bar very high but good none the less.

And without being dramatic or paranoid, it seems scarily possible in the current climate and with the current world leaders. It’s all too easy to see how civil liberties can be chipped away without people understanding the ultimate ramifications.

Definitely suggest a light, funny listen after this!

Very good!

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because it's not some impossible thing that would never happen. it's very good at showing you that awful things happen so slowly and then all at once at the same time.

this book is awful

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