Over twenty years ago I wondered what the world would be like if all the men died. Think about it. No human males. Women would figure out how to clone themselves or used saved semen for reproduction, but no male would make it past the first month of pregnancy. I'd lie in bed thinking about what buildings, houses and cars would be like after a century or so of the extinction of men. Overall, I couldn't help thinking that the planet would be much better off, and not just because of the reduction in numbers. There are many women who love to floor it and burn rubber now and then, of course, but I doubt that making cars that emphasize this would be a priority in a Detroit without men. Cleaner air, sustainable food sources, low crime.
 The Power reminded me a little of my 1990s bedtime thought experiment. It's about a time when girls and women fairly quickly develop the power to emit electric shocks, like electric eels but on dry land. It quickly changes the dynamic of man/woman relationships and being published in 2016 was great timing.
 As much as I liked it, I found some implausible parts—the fact that men are overall more often handy with guns and other weapons than women are isn't as key a plot point as I think it should be—and it often felt like I was reading a lengthy pitch for a Netflix series. It's not in the Young Adult genre, but the author is good at marketing to the young. As the back cover notes, "She is the cocreator and lead writer of the bestselling audio adventure app Zombies, Run!", a fact that made old me say to myself, "What the hell's an 'audio adventure app?'"
I don't mean to disparage Alderman's writing, though. There are many instances of depth and good writing in The Power:

The sky, which had seemed blue and bright, clouds over, gray to black. There will be a rainstorm. It has been long in coming, the dust is parched, the soil longs for soaking, teeming dark water. For the earth is filled with violence, and every living thing has lost its way. In the north and the south and the east and the west, the water gathers in the corners of the sky.