The story flowed well. The story was very slow paced. I was gripped by suspense and excitement. The characters were ok but nothing special.

This concept is scary. There will be people in the world that think this is the answer to societies problems. There are people who would encourage a radical change like this, and that makes it scary. In addition to that, the side story of authorities making evidence suit themselves so as not to destroy the new regime is also realistic and therefore scary.

The book is easy to read, though frustrating at the parts when reading from the daughters' perspective, based on the numerous poor decisions she makes.

The ending is good and the book is well paced. I would recommend this to others just based on the concept and ideas within it.

An interesting and thought-provoking read, set in a near future where men are electronically tagged from age 10 and legally required to stay at home during the night, and women seemingly hold all the power.

That is, until a woman is found to have been brutally murdered sometime during the night.

Attacks on women have fallen dramatically, but there is still political pressure to arrest a woman for the crime as proof that the curfew is working.

The subsequent investigation leads us to follow dual timelines as we learn how the events unfolded, discover more about how society now functions, and meet people with various stances on the new laws.

Imagine a near future Britain in which women dominate workplaces, public spaces and government. Where the gender pay gap no longer exists and women are not scared to go out alone. The men are electronically tagged when they reach the age of ten and have to stay at home between the hours of 7pm to 7am.

But the curfew hasn't made life easy for everyone.
Sarah is a single mother who happily rebuilt her life after her husband Greg, was sent to prison for breaking curfew.
Now he's about to be released, and Sarah isn't expecting a happy reunion, given that she's the reason he was sent there.

Her teenage daughter Cass, hates living in a world that restricts boys, like her best friend Billy. He would never hurt anyone, and she's determined to prove it somehow.

Helen is a teacher at the local school. Secretly desperate for a baby, she ignores her best friends warnings that Tom might not be the one.

These women don't know it yet, but one of them is about to be violently murdered.

Pamela is a detective assigned to the murder case, she has several suspicions and believes that this could not have been committed by a woman.

A riveting, unique and dark thriller that kept me guessing!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one, read it on holiday in no time and didn’t want it to end! Such good characters and twists and I’ll be looking out for more from this author, a real rollercoaster!

It's taken me a while to read and review this one, but I decided to return to this book after finishing Jayne Cowie's later book - I Did It For You. Both books are set in a near dystopian future and have thought provoking concepts. This one is based on a male curfew at night to protect women.

The story revolves the discovery of a woman's body who has been murdered and how this could have occurred with the strict curfew restrictions in place. It rolls out in an interesting fashion and is a quick read, but unfortunately I found it difficult to connect with the characters.

Perhaps I should have left more time between Jayne's two books but the one I liked more was her second book. That said, the author has some intriguing concepts and I'd happily read another to see which direction she takes next time.

Unfortunately I have not been able to connect with this book and after multiple attempts have had to admit defeat and mark as dnf.

Thank you Random House and Netgalley and sorry I took a while to read this and review.
I was so unsure of this book to start with and part way through but I persevered and I'm glad I did.
This was scary - very scary - but very thought provoking.
Well written, good characters and a little close to the bone in places, but I did struggle with some of the decisions the main character made.
However, I would recommend reading this book and would like to read more by Jayne.

This was a weirdly entertaining book, and gives you something to think about. If all men are under curfew, how does a woman get murdered. This was an entertaining read, and I will read more by the author in future.

This was such an intriguing take on a basically dystopian Britain where men have been given a curfew and are electronically tagged, and women make up most of the workforce. I did have my reservations when picking up this book, but I really didn't need to!
We get the story written from different perspectives who also have differing opinions on the curfew and how men are now treated. We have Sarah whose husband is in prison for breaking curfew, her daughter Cass and then her teacher, Helen who has just got a new boyfriend Tom. Through these characters, we were really opened to every experience of this world. Helen and Tom have to go through sessions before they can be granted to live together and we see their relationship evolve. Sarah works at a tagging centre where she has to check and fit the tags that the men have and she's also dealing with the fact that her husband will be released from prison pretty soon. Cass is your typical angsty teen who isn't sure that the curfew is a good idea and thinks that it should be reconsidered.

And in the midst of all the above, a womans body is found at the start of the story and we get to also follow along with the Detective who has this case, Pamela whilst she tried to figure who could have killed this woman and what she is hit with, when she dare suggest that it may be a man who has killed the woman, despite the curfew.

This really was a fantastic book and is such a good spin on a 'dystopian' future that people may have considered.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for the advanced copy.

Arrrrrhhh don't you just hate it when you absolutely love a premise but just cant click with the actual story?

Personally I just couldn't connect with any of the characters, I couldn't relate to them at all and i found them weak in all honesty. In a book where it's mainly a society dominated by females I expected them to have strengths, a backbone but was just left disappointed by them.

Maybe I'm just not a fan of these dystopian future led stories but unfortunately this one just didn't do anything for me.

1.5*

Thanks to netgalley and Random House UK Cornerstone for the ARC

I loved the novel concept for this story and found it an enjoyable read with some great twists.
The premise for the story is that all men have a curfew from 7pm until 7am to keep women safe from the escalating male violence.
Overall I found this a thought provoking story that I would definitely recommend for fans of dystopian fiction.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced ecopy.

I wasn’t sure how to give an honest review of this book. I enjoyed the writing and lots of aspects of the plot. The overarching premise of men being a threat to women is thought provoking. However, for me, it was a bit too strongly anti men.

This is a unique story that puts a spin on the typical murder type novel as there is a curfew put on men to keep women safe. the chapters are told from a few different characters who are all connected in some way that comes together at the end. I liked this idea and instantly felt drawn in to the story and didn't want to put the book down. Overall the plot is intriguing and there are a few twists that will keep you reading until the very end to find out what happened.

Well written book about a time when due to male violence, it has been deemed that men are tagged and under curfew from early evening every day. We meet women at various stages of life and learn how their lives are impacted by this law,
Then there is a murder. By whom? Man or woman? And if man - how? It was during curfew.
I’m a little concerned that the result of this story seems to be that men are intrinsically bad. If not all of them, then enough of them to warrant not just curfew but even more stringent rules and sanctions. It was obvious that the writer is not a fan of men and I felt she had probably experienced violence by male/s in her life.
All in all I enjoyed the story, I’m just concerned at the bitter taste it leaves in the mouth with its extremely anti- male stance.

Set in the near future when all men are treated as potential criminals so they are tagged and not allowed out between 7pm and 7am. As a bit of 'what if' hokum it was an entertaining read but was relentlessly anti-men. Any system that locks up half the population for 50% of the time based only on statistics is going to cause more anger and unrest. I was concerned that the conclusions at the end of the book weren't what I expected so I read the author's notes. Cowie has obviously suffered at the hands of a few men, which has warped her attitude to all men. It's more feminist fear-mongering. My generation fought for equality and many times I was the first woman in certain jobs. Equality not supremacy. I would not want my 17 year old granddaughter to read this.
I give the writing 4* but propaganda 2* so a generous 3*.
This is an hinest review of a complementary ARC.

Somehow, I overlooked this book and only picked it up on holiday. I read it in one day.
After Dark (in the US Curfew, a far more appropriate title in my view) posits an extreme idea: men have been curfewed from 7pm to 7am in order to protect women of their violence, Yet, despite this, a body is found murdered during the night on a park. How is it possible, given the curfew laws? What follows is developed via the experience of mainly four women: Pamela, the policewoman in charge of the case; Sarah, who works tagging men, and whose husband is imprisoned for curfew violations; her daughter Cass, a rebellious teenager challenging this new status quo:; and Helen, Cass's history teacher who is in search of a partner...

Whilst the story is extremely interesting and makes you think about the manifold implications of the society portrayed, the portrayal itself is of a rather limiting and limited scope, which is perfectly legitimate but somehow the basic tenet of the story is of such import that this light thriller/whodunnit treatment seems a bit underwhelming and even callous. The women thinking processes are rather rigid, the men are of a very narrow spectrum.... which is of course what one has read in much popular fiction but read women for men.

Overall, a thought-provoking novel which left me dissatisfied but that will lead to interesting discussions in my reading circle. With many thanks to Penguin via NetGalley for an opportunity to read and review this timely novel.

A very thought provoking and timely read. With a very clever premise and some great twists and turns it was entertaning, yet a little close to the bone in places. I particularly struggled with the character and the decisions she made,

A book that has so many layers and brings up a lot of questions.

On one level, its a classic whodunnit. A body is found and police have to work out who is the victim and who is the perpetrator. This is set in a world where men have a curfew and wear tags to ensure their whereabouts is known at all times. The idea is to make the world safer for women but does it really?

In the midst of all this is the question will less men on the street mean less violence against women and is the impact on men worth it? These questions are asked by one of the female characters in the book who acts as the reader and asks all the questions we want to know.

I must admit, following some high profile attacks on women just going about their day, the thought of a curfew for men has appealed to me as it has for many women. We all have experienced the unease of being out alone and we are all too aware of our vulnerabilities. The idea of a curfew on men appeals but would it really work and what would be the impact of it on the way women view men. Jayne Cowie tackles this is a fantastic read that is far more nuanced than just a murder mystery and a book everyone should read. . .

This was so fascinating to read, the concept of all Men being forced into a curfew was laughable to me at the beginning no matter what my opinions on whether it was a good idea or not but by the end it seemed completely plausable. This was not the thriller I was expecting but definitely more of a dystopian and I absolutely loved the discussions on domestic abuse against women and the 'Not all men' debate we endlessly see on social media.

This book is definitely pro women and will without a doubt infuriate most men but it brings up some incredibly important factors that women have to be aware of because we face these issues daily.

Cass is a 17 year old girl who I absolutely despised throughout the book, she made stupid statements and decisions. However, it was so fascinating to watch her go from the naive perspective that so many have and then go through the experiences that most of us do and give her the knowledge she needs to keep her safe and protect herself.

I also really enjoyed the pacing and timeline of the story, it jumps around following different characters and then a future timeline where someone has been murdered and the case is being solved. The book was not perfect by any means, I did find that the murder element was a bit boring and I thought predicatble from the midway ish point. However, upon finishing I did realise that the point of the murder was not to be an entertaining plot point. But instead, a lesson to be educated from.

I definitely recommend this story to all women and even men who are open to the discussions on issues women face, but I think the cover can be a bit misleading, so go in with no expectations!