The Power Audiobook By Naomi Alderman cover art

The Power

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free

$8.99/mo. after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Get this deal
Offer ends on July 15, 2026 at 11:59 PT.
More purchase options

The Power

By: Naomi Alderman
Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
Get this deal

$8.99/mo. after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends July 15, 2026 at 11:59pm PT.

Buy for $28.79

Buy for $28.79

In this stunning bestseller praised as "our era's Handmaid's Tale," a fierce new power has emerged—and only women have it (Washington Post).

In The Power, the world is a recognizable place: there's a rich Nigerian boy who lounges around the family pool; a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature; an ambitious American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family.

But then a vital new force takes root and flourishes, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power: they can cause agonizing pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world drastically resets. From award-winning author Naomi Alderman, The Power is speculative fiction at its most ambitious and provocative, at once taking us on a thrilling journey to an alternate reality, and exposing our own world in bold and surprising ways.

"Captivating, fierce, and unsettling...I was riveted by every page. Alderman's prose is immersive and, well, electric." —New York Times Book Review Coming of Age Dystopian Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Women's Fiction Thought-Provoking Funny Scary Emotionally Gripping Adventure
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Featured Article: Best Authors for Fans of Margaret Atwood


Iconic Canadian author Margaret Atwood is more than a beloved novelist, poet, and essayist. She’s also a feminist, environmental activist, and innovator. Atwood examines important themes across many genres, including nonfiction, poetry, dystopian fiction, science fiction, and retellings of mythology. If you've worked your way through all of her stellar audiobooks and don’t know where to go next, here are some listens by authors similar to Atwood for you to enjoy.

Featured Article Best Authors for Fans of Margaret Atwood

Editor's Pick

It's a gender bender (too soon?)
"I love a truly post-apocalyptic novel, in which we've moved far past the point of catastrophe and destruction. Society has been rebuilt, and its members are left puzzling over the artifacts salvaged from our current civilization, trying to piece together the facts of our world. In Alderman's version, the patriarchy has been flipped on its head, with women the dominant gender, and Alderman paints a vivid picture of just what extreme circumstances it took to get us there. (Spoiler alert: it's not pretty.)"
—Emily C., Audible Editor

Thought-provoking Premise • Compelling Character Perspectives • Captivating World-building • Layered Storytelling

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant
It was (or could have been) a good story, but what it devolved to was channeling the worst fears of the whiny MRA set, who believe that women, if empowered, will turn around and do to them what they've been doing to us for all of recorded history. I don't buy it. Some women would be jerks if they had physical power over men, and there would be some retaliation in play, but not to the degree it has been happening to us all these centuries. Honestly, women roaming around in packs, gang-raping men? Nah. It isn't just a case of they'd do it "because they can" as the author assumes. There are examples of women in power who are tyrants and there are examples of women in power who are not - mostly, they are not. Women, when empowered, make excellent and fair executives, bosses, and professionals. Empowered women actually create the best societies. The author believes that women, empowered, would simply devolve into packs of wolves. I don't buy it. That said, the story and characters were interesting and the reading was well-done.

Faulty Premise

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The premise was fascinating and there were many clever elements. The central characters were fairly well developed, but the story rests more on navigating the central plot more so than conflict or twists, save for a few minor ones. I thought it was ingenious to use unsympathetic characters to illustrate human beings’ capacity for inhumane behavior even when stereotypical gender roles are reversed. It was sobering though to see how damaging patriarchal societies can be, by shining a light on societal norms through a matriarchal lens.

With regard to the voice actor, the “American” accents were terrible - to the point of distraction. I had previously listened to another book voiced by Ms. Andoh and she did a fine job. Further, Brits - even non actors - can usually do a passable American accent, so this was disappointing. No one speaks like this! It was beyond caricature. That said, it was probably a bridge too far to require a single actor to accomplish the wide range of US regional accents, genders, and ages, in addition to all the international accents. The Nigerian, Middle Eastern, and East European accents weren’t horrible, although far from accurate. The East Indian and presumably Latin American accents weren’t great either. It would perhaps have been more believable to just use her English accent throughout. She did, of course, do a good job with the nuances of regional English accents - Cockney-like for the gangsters, Queen’s English otherwise.

Overall, a decent read.

Interesting premise, clever elements

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I thought this book was pretty good given that it’s hard to find feminist dystopian/sci-fi. I however really could not get behind the voice actress and her constant switching between voices of different characters of which the accents were not so great.

Great book but voice ruins it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
many of us wonder what would happen if the balance of power was flipped on its head. This book starts to explore that idea, and has some very graphic and disturbing scenes that I certainly hope would not become reality. However, it was very well written, and the story took turns that I definitely was not expecting. thank you for the ride.

disturbing role reversal

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am currently a college student who studies political science and Feminism studies and this book had me enthralled the entire time. The parts that were extremely uncomfortable I made myself pay attention more, I would recommend this to any of my friends and am currently in a womxn’s centered book club and I’m so extort discuss this book.

Constantly had my attention

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews