I didn't quite know what to expect going into this book. I'd heard it was being compared to The Handmaid's Tale but set in a near-dystopia/modern Australia with some Lord of the Flies vibes, so I was pretty much sold on giving it a go. I don't think I can say I enjoyed reading it (there is something entirely disconcerting about this book), but it has definitely changed me and challenged me and given me a lot to think about (even now, several weeks later, it is still on my mind and I'm not quite ready to let it go). It is incredibly smart writing, layered and insightful and extremely challenging, but also so very important. It is a book that begs to be read and discussed and analysed. It is the sort of novel that deserves to be recognised for what it is; incredibly brave and confronting, equal parts graphic but also beautiful and richly imagined and carefully crafted. I actually think it has been done a disservice being compared to The Handmaid's Tale, because while it touches on some similar concepts it was a wholly unique and different novel experience for me. 
 The Natural Way of Things is set on an abandoned property in the middle of the Australian outback. It opens to a group of young women awakening from a drugged sleep, finding themselves imprisoned by two vicious (male) jailers and surrounded by an impenetrable electric fence as well as endless bushland. At the mercy of their jailers the women are forced to live in brutal conditions with no understanding of what is happening to them or why. There is only one thing connecting each girl; a high profile sexual scandal with a powerful man. Intrigued yet? 
 This is a brutal and terrifying novel, it cracks you open and lays you bare and leaves you bleeding. Consider yourself warned. It is raw and angry and resigned and honest and powerful. It is provocative and truthful and haunting and heartbreakingly fearless. I found it both compelling and captivating as well as wholly unsettling, taking me far outside of my normal reading comfort zone. This novel touches on some really troubling and disturbing concepts that break open these deep, dark parts in you and as you're reading you just know that this is the sort of book that will linger with you for a long time, changing you little by little. It is definitely a book about concepts, rather than action, and as long as you go in with that awareness, prepared to think and feel and question, lovers of this genre will be richly rewarded. 
 It is actually quite a difficult book to read, designed purposefully to poke and prod at you (but the most important things are, aren't they?). However, this difficulty does not diminish anything from the writing, only further enhances what an achievement this book is in modern Australian literature. It is at times heavy and cloying, the writing both laboured and focused, but it is also layered with meaning and an eerie beauty. It is dense with imagery and symbolism and I had to stop and put this book down so many times and just take a breath and mull it over and let it simmer and permeate my brain. There is so much careful thought in this book; the themes and scope of the novel are almost breath-taking. And it deals with massive issues - misogyny, learned helplessness, power and weakness, survival, transformation, choice, sex and sexual identity. It is, on the whole, a book about gender issues, which is why I suppose it has received so many comparisons to The Handmaid's Tale. 
 The atmosphere and emotion in this book are just pitch perfect. It is, admittedly, a very slow build, almost meandering forwards at times, forcing you to face all of these difficult questions and, like the women in the novel, you have no idea where it's going or how things will end or even why? The pacing really could have worked against it (and I do imagine some people will find this frustrating rather than engaging), but for me at least I had to keep turning the page. There is just so much going on in every line and every paragraph and there are all these questions that you need answered that I just had to keep reading. I'm still not entirely certain that I've picked up on everything that is in this novel yet. It is, I imagine, the sort of book that on each reread will reveal a new layer, unravel a new strand. 
 And even now I feel like I need to dissect this book with someone... anyone? 
 Definitely give it a go if you dare. For the right reader, this book will certainly become a favourite. 
 (I received a free copy to read/review via a giveaway thanks to Allen&Unwin).