The title, blurb, and comparison to The Handmaid's Tale got my attention and had me very interested, but then as I started reading, it started to lose the initial excitement for me. The thing is that when I saw it compared to The Handmaid's Tale, the strict curfew and a murder investigation I was expecting something more. In the end, it still delivered, mostly, but some of it was a bit of a letdown.
In this story, the women are in charge, there's a curfew where all the men have to be inside between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. or they go to jail, and all the men wear ankle monitors. This is set in the near future in Britain as a more idyllic place/society for women, but it, of course, still has its problems and doesn't solve everything.
Sarah is a single mother with a teenage daughter, Cass, who has had to figure out life for herself after her husband, Greg, was sent to prison for breaking curfew. Then Greg is about to get out/gets out and this causes issues for Sarah and with her and Cass.
Then Cass is more of a typical rebellious type teen who is against what her mother is for and doesn't understand why they have to have the curfew in place. She doesn't think it's a good idea and she has a lot of anger with her mother because of her Dad being put in prison. She also has a best friend named Billy, who she's convinced is the best and a good guy that wouldn't ever hurt anyone and wants to find a way to prove it.
And Helen is a teacher at the school, she is Cass and Billy's teacher and is feeling the urgency of her biological clock ticking away and is desperately wanting to have a baby. Helen applies for a certificate to live with her boyfriend, Tom, so that the two of them can be together and have a baby.
The mystery that they have to solve is first to identify the victim and second to identify the killer, which isn't as easy as they thought it would be because it's obvious that the killer is a man. The problem is how that's possible because all the men are tagged and have to follow curfew, but as we all know, where there is a will, there is a way and when someone wants to kill, they'll do what's necessary.
It did keep me mostly engaged and wanting to make certain of the answer and the ending, but a lot of the ways things were portrayed were quite a bit predictable. There isn't a huge twist, but there is a little bit of one and some other things so it was a solid 3 star read for me.
If you liked The Handmaid's Tale or the like, make sure to take a chance and check it out to see how you like it. Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group/Berkley and NetGalley for letting me have a chance to read and review this story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This will be posted on my website, www.annettemwebber.com, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes, and Noble. ( )

3.5 stars / 5
Pacing starts off slow and builds over time. One of the characters is particularly unlikeable, but after finishing it makes sense why she is written that way. Very good for a debut novel, would read more work by this author. ( )

In the near future in Britain, the world looks different. After a terrible murder committed by a man, there were some big changes made. Men are now electronically tagged to prevent them from breaking the 7 p.m. curfew. Equality has finally come for women and things are looking up. Sarah is raising her rebellious daughter, Cass on her own since her husband was sent to prison for violating the curfew. She has gotten a job as a tagger and moved them into a female only apartment complex. Cass dislikes the rules for men and makes her views known. Her best friend is Billy, and she knows that he would never hurt anyone. Cass wants to find a way to prove that the tagging system is wrong. Helen is a teacher at a local school who longs for a baby. She is dating a man whom her best friend does not like, but Helen has applied for them to live together. A body is found in the local park. One of these women was murdered during the night, and the evidence suggests that she knew her killer. Officers at the scene wonder how a woman could do such a thing, but one detective believes a man did the deed. The detective, though, will need to find a way to break his alibi—his electronic tag. Curfew by Jayne Cowie has a unique concept with a female dominated society where men are tagged and have a curfew. The story is told through alternating points-of-view (Sarah, Cass, Helen, Pamela, and Mabel). Pamela, a detective, has her story told in the first person. After the body is found in the beginning of Curfew, the story goes back four weeks. We are introduced to each character and get their backstory. The characters came across caricatures instead of a realistic people. This is especially true of Cass who is seventeen and knows everything (sometimes her behavior seemed more appropriate for someone fourteen). Cass’s character was over-the-top and exaggerated. I wanted well-rounded, realistic characters. Only one character grew or developed by the end of the story, but the growth was not all positive. Most of the women view men as not to be trusted. There are no likeable male characters in the story. The murder is very simple and can easily be solved long before the reveal. The book started out strong with the murder, but I soon found myself bored. I found Curfew to be predictable and the viewpoint too skewed. The man-hating became tiresome after a couple of chapters. Curfew does contain foul language, violence, and intimate situations. By the end of Curfew, I had to wonder if the writer liked men at all. Curfew had a good blurb, but it ended up being a dud. ( )

Curfew by Jayne Cowie is a recommended dystopian novel set in a world where men have a curfew.

In Great Britain the Prevention of Femicide Act of 2023, commonly known as the Curfew Laws, were a result of known figure being murdered by an ex-boyfriend. Women revolted, resulting in the Curfew. Now all men starting at age 10 must be tagged and can be tracked. Men are not allowed outside from 7 pm to 7 am. Now women dominate workplaces, public spaces, and government and there is no gender pay gap. At the opening when a woman is found murdered in a park early one morning, the assumption is that the crime was committed by a woman because all men were still under Curfew when the crime occurred. The exception is one longtime police officer, Pamela, who thinks men should also be considered when looking for suspects.

After the opening, we go back in time four weeks and are introduced to a cast of characters who may all be the victim from the opening. Sarah is a single mother who works at a tagging center. Her ex-husband is in prison for a curfew violation. Cass, their 17, almost 18, year old daughter, is angry at her mother for a host of reasons and openly debates the wisdom and need of the Curfew Laws at school. Cass's teacher, Helen, is going to cohab counseling in hopes of it being approved that she and her boyfriend Tom can live together and start a family. As we follow their movements leading up to the murder, we know any of these women could be the victim.

The narrative is told through the point-of-view of each women in alternating chapters. The only first person narrative is Pamela's as she investigates the murder. With the exception of Cass, the characters are all more caricatures rather than portrayed as real individuals. Cass really comes off as a know-it-all 17/18 year old. Essentially none of the men are to be trusted and there is no likable male character in the novel. Not all violence is by men. Not all women are nonviolent. And there are many more good, well meaning people than violent malevolent people. Inequity is unhealthy from either point-of-view.

The plot started out strong as the murder investigation in this dystopian society captured my attention, but it soon loss some of the opening appeal. While trying to reverse gender roles, the narrative overly simplifies them. Additionally, the plot fails to take into account the ability to work remotely, allowing men and women to work, earn a good living, while men still follow the curfew. Since none of the men are presented as likable, the premise of the plot begins to ring hollow. While the opening premise was compelling, the novel soon began to wan and get bogged down in the simplification of the characterizations and predictability of the plot. This started out as a five and slowly began to lose points.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the publisher/author via NetGalley.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2022/03/curfew.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4595997123 ( )

How do you protect the vulnerable against violence? Implement the Curfew. Set in near future London, men are seen as dangerous and violent, to help keep women safe, men are tagged and confined inside their homes overnight. When a murdered women is found in the park, it throws this idea of Curfew and who is really safe into question. Told from multiple point of views, the plot unfolds with twists and turns that keeps the reader on edge. Also makes you contemplate on what life would be like if such laws were truly in place. Could it work? How do we keep violence from happening? Curfew is a compulsive and dark mystery. I loved the unique plot, the characters were real and flawed, the pacing of the book worked well. Highly recommend for anyone who likes thrillers, especially ones that are thought provoking like Curfew.

Thank you to netgalley and Berkeley Publishing Group for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. ( )