Lindsey W. reviewed on 8/20/2012 + 3 more book reviews

This book wants to explore how much of us is free will, and how much is genetically determined; it seems to fall pretty hard on the essentialist side, that is, 'determined'. It wants to explore how racial bigotry is wrong, but essentialist misogyny is okay--women exist to have babies and be sexy. It works from a fundamental misunderstanding of hunter/gatherer societies and why people transitioned away from them. It was almost good, in places, in the way characters seemed to be rationalizing bad behavior as 'genes' as an excuse--but then it goes right on and rewards that behavior and excuse. It claims that in a 'feminized' society, only specially-made supermale killers are effective soldiers.

In short, a thriller that tries to be deep but ends up shallowly brushing over the author's own issues.

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