Bad science aside (cos not everyone can be an expert in the exhaustive minutiae of the area of fiction they tamper with, and also: it’s fiction, so we allow for some fuddling of fact) this thriller about a plague that kills over 90% of men in the world is—contagious, an emotionally charged page turner.

The main characters we follow bring unique voices to cultural (and some very individually anti-cultural) approaches to this disaster, each one a beacon of hope for a possible future despite the hopelessness of the situation.

The supporting cast are a flurry of voices at the far reaches of the web, fraught with panic, torn by loss, pressed to desperation—and these voices give us insight to the plethora of human reactions that have become all too familiar. (Apparently, this plot was crafted prior to our own pandemic, but some of these scenes, especially for those who have lost loved ones in these recent 2.5 years, will be hard to take as they resonate with reality.)

The underlying highlight of immune men feeling objectified, oppressed, and sidelined by the majority female population were fun little bits of turning the current state of sexism on its head. Throughout, the author drops bits of irony into this social narrative as brief eye-openers, not thumping these issues too much, but generally sticking to the overall thrill of the story and the unfolding of what a world without men (almost) might look like. She’s by no means idealistic; it’s not all sweet scented harmony. We still encounter a money-greedy narcissistic woman bent on wielding power with even the hint of a wicked laugh in her throat (the funny part is that she’s a Canadian, and who doesn’t find irony in that? Or have I missed something and is it Americans who are known for their selfless benevolence and Canadians known for making millions off sharing basic resources with the world….? Maybe things have changed…) 

The scenarios she paints raise important questions about current accepted social constructs, hierarchies, accessibility, dispersion of resources, international relations and divisions, wars, male-dominated governing offices, and our sea of morphing values among a global community of blended religion and culture. The fiction suggests some interesting hypotheticals.

At the end of the day, it’s fiction—a good fast paced bit of emotionally engaging fiction. But this kind of fiction is precisely the stuff that draws us into the discussion about truth and reality, to reassess systems needing evaluated, structures and hierarchies begging reconsideration, and possibly urging some long-overdue change.