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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
Wow. This is a mind-turning book, good for those who like dystopian and/or tales similar to The Handmaid’s Tale. I struggled to get into this, but it all came together.
I didn't read Vox but I read so many great reviews that I couldn't wait to read this book.
I had quite high expectations and I was disappointed because I found it a bit boring, with a lot of parts that seem to be written to shock more than being relavant to the plot.
The world building is interesting and well developed, the economical collapse of contemporary society and the personal crash of Miranda, the MC.
I didn't like Miranda for most of the book as I found her shallow and self-centered. I changed my view at the end of the book when there's a revelation.
I believe that women can be as bad as men, it's human nature. The utopic community, Femlandia, is a cult and it reflects all the dynamics of a cult.
I wasn't a big fan of this book even if I think there's food for thought even if there're some moments that seem a bit transphobic.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I had quite high expectations and I was disappointed because I found it a bit boring, with a lot of parts that seem to be written to shock more than being relavant to the plot.
The world building is interesting and well developed, the economical collapse of contemporary society and the personal crash of Miranda, the MC.
I didn't like Miranda for most of the book as I found her shallow and self-centered. I changed my view at the end of the book when there's a revelation.
I believe that women can be as bad as men, it's human nature. The utopic community, Femlandia, is a cult and it reflects all the dynamics of a cult.
I wasn't a big fan of this book even if I think there's food for thought even if there're some moments that seem a bit transphobic.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I think I liked this book, but it was kind of like a reverse Handmaid's Tale. Proof that when extreme women in Femlamdia are in charge, they can be as awful as the horrible men in Gilead.
Not my type of book but I really enjoyed it. Everything is in trouble as banks are closed, jobs are gone and there is little to food. Miranda must provide for her 16 year old daughter, Emma. They make the journey to Femlandia, which was started by Miranda's mother. Femlandia was a community for women only. She and Emma arrive and it is similar to a cult. There are rules and regulations about anything and everything. No males allowed no matter the age. A very thought provoking story.
As soon as I heard that Christina Dalcher was going to be releasing another book I knew I had to read it. I loved Q and was so eager to jump back into her writing.
I enjoyed this one, despite it's dark topics. Miranda is such an amazing protagonist who doesn't take crap from anyone and who will do whatever it takes to survive and protect her daughter Emma. She put's her own grief and resentment behind her to go to Femlandia in hopes that they will provide a safe haven for herself and Emma.
Dalcher has this spectacular way of just drawing you in to the worlds she creates. Her books are thought-provoking and unlike anything I've read before. However, this book is dark and at some points incredibly terrifying and gritty. Whilst I found it hard to put this book down, it was also a hard read for me. This is not for the faint of heart, that's for sure and contains a lot of trigger warnings so be careful!
Overall, a great and interesting story about survival and what people will do to achieve it.
I enjoyed this one, despite it's dark topics. Miranda is such an amazing protagonist who doesn't take crap from anyone and who will do whatever it takes to survive and protect her daughter Emma. She put's her own grief and resentment behind her to go to Femlandia in hopes that they will provide a safe haven for herself and Emma.
Dalcher has this spectacular way of just drawing you in to the worlds she creates. Her books are thought-provoking and unlike anything I've read before. However, this book is dark and at some points incredibly terrifying and gritty. Whilst I found it hard to put this book down, it was also a hard read for me. This is not for the faint of heart, that's for sure and contains a lot of trigger warnings so be careful!
Overall, a great and interesting story about survival and what people will do to achieve it.
This book was all over the place. The only good bit was that I thought the twist of the boys being kept in the compound was interesting.
There wasn't really any nuance in this book when it came to the views of men. Win, as the leader of Femlandia, has what could be considered as fringe views. She hates literally all men and changes any words that contain men/him/his to gender neutral or female terms. She is portrayed as a villain in the story (rightly so) however without appropriate balance her views are villainised and feminism dismissed as extremist.
Miranda as the main character is pitched as the sane one who has reasonable views however she seems to have no thoughts on the patriarchy or feminism at all. She despises her mother's views and that's about the extent she has an opinion on feminism. She is also depicted as shallow and materialistic and her views on her husband are so back and forth it will give you whiplash. It is really not clear who we are supposed to root for in this book as all the characters are unlikeable.
The ending was also bizarre, a flash forward of 90 or so years which implies that a patriarchal system is inevitable. The fact that the community are living in a closed commune where they make their own rules apparently seems to have little effect on this outcome.
Trans issues are also handled really badly, again there is no nuance here and the topic is very quickly skirted over. There are just so many things wrong with this book.
I thought this was going to be a feminist book but if anything, it seems anti-feminist.
There wasn't really any nuance in this book when it came to the views of men. Win, as the leader of Femlandia, has what could be considered as fringe views. She hates literally all men and changes any words that contain men/him/his to gender neutral or female terms. She is portrayed as a villain in the story (rightly so) however without appropriate balance her views are villainised and feminism dismissed as extremist.
Miranda as the main character is pitched as the sane one who has reasonable views however she seems to have no thoughts on the patriarchy or feminism at all. She despises her mother's views and that's about the extent she has an opinion on feminism. She is also depicted as shallow and materialistic and her views on her husband are so back and forth it will give you whiplash. It is really not clear who we are supposed to root for in this book as all the characters are unlikeable.
The ending was also bizarre, a flash forward of 90 or so years which implies that a patriarchal system is inevitable. The fact that the community are living in a closed commune where they make their own rules apparently seems to have little effect on this outcome.
Trans issues are also handled really badly, again there is no nuance here and the topic is very quickly skirted over. There are just so many things wrong with this book.
I thought this was going to be a feminist book but if anything, it seems anti-feminist.
Could you live in a world without men?
Would you even want to?
This is the question that Christina poses in her latest novel. I come back to an old saying, can't live with them, can't live without them.
When the country collapses and everyone is literally fighting to survive.
Miranda Reynold’s husband Nick chooses the worst time to leave her and their teenage daughter Emma behind. A simple text to her saying he’s sorry before driving the Maserati coupe off the side of the mountain.
Femlandia appears to be the only place to go for Miranda Reynolds and her daughter Emma even though Miranda doesn't want to as for her the concept isn't one that she's fully on board with.
Founded by her own mother, Femlandia is known as a sort of feminist utopia, a safe place for womyn (no man) where they can live freely.
But all is not as it seems, and Miranda discovers quite early on in their stay that they've been sold a dream when in fact it is the stuff of nightmares.
Now this is a hard book to review without giving too much away.
What I will say is this, Femlandia is a story that makes you think.
There are so a lot of subjects in this book which could be extremely triggering including extreme violence, rape, invest etc. Hard to read about at times but Christina writes about them sensibly and sensitively.
Dark and disturbing.
I have to admit that Femlandia isn't my favourite Dalcher novel but it still packs a punch.
Would you even want to?
This is the question that Christina poses in her latest novel. I come back to an old saying, can't live with them, can't live without them.
When the country collapses and everyone is literally fighting to survive.
Miranda Reynold’s husband Nick chooses the worst time to leave her and their teenage daughter Emma behind. A simple text to her saying he’s sorry before driving the Maserati coupe off the side of the mountain.
Femlandia appears to be the only place to go for Miranda Reynolds and her daughter Emma even though Miranda doesn't want to as for her the concept isn't one that she's fully on board with.
Founded by her own mother, Femlandia is known as a sort of feminist utopia, a safe place for womyn (no man) where they can live freely.
But all is not as it seems, and Miranda discovers quite early on in their stay that they've been sold a dream when in fact it is the stuff of nightmares.
Now this is a hard book to review without giving too much away.
What I will say is this, Femlandia is a story that makes you think.
There are so a lot of subjects in this book which could be extremely triggering including extreme violence, rape, invest etc. Hard to read about at times but Christina writes about them sensibly and sensitively.
Dark and disturbing.
I have to admit that Femlandia isn't my favourite Dalcher novel but it still packs a punch.
1.5/5
I read this instead of studying. I wish I'd spent that time studying. That's how bad this book is.
Witness one woman explaining the horrors of feminism in the most "all lives matter"-y way possible. Miranda, a trad wife who barely has a degree but is still qualified enough for animal research, is escaping the end of the world as we know it.
Why is the world ending? Because of an economical crash because her country "couldn't stop helping any country with a sob story."... Damn, took her 3 pages to become a very unlikeable protagonist.
Anyway, after rescuing hr her daughter from an attack, she decides to go to a commune that her mother built for women. Miranda hates her mother because her mother is a misandrist, and she also doesn't have any female friends because they just don't get it.
Not everybody wants a life where they have to work and educate themselves and not rush into having kids, some people just want to live the good traditional life. Except she wasn't really rich and she lived a comfy life until her husband sank in debt because he wasn't actually rich.
But he's a good man. Men are not evil, you're just a misandrist.
She is astounded that the ladies at Femlandia, the commune her mom built, don't read men's works. Imagine not reading something by mr. Rudyard "White Man's Burden" Kipling. Oh the horror.
She then discovers that the women are the true villains of the story and goes on so many tangents about how we're all humans and men aren't all bad if you just give them a chance and all that.
This book is super toxic. Aside from me hating it's white savior-y rhetoric, it's basically an 11-hour explaination of why feminism is bad and how women are just exclusionary and mean (there's a paragraph about how you need to have been always a woman to enter Femlandia, but there's no real nuance in it, just another example of how feminism is mean).
I don't think the book was exciting enough for me to ignore the message and focus on the plot. As for the message, I couldn't write enough about how toxic it was.
Imagine telling woemn that anyone who tells you you're being oppressed and that you deserve to have more power and 100% autonomy is basically a cult leader luring you in. Why would anyone want to sned that sort of message?
I've read all of Dalcher's novels. I liked the first one so much it's even on my favorites' shelf. I'm so unhappy about reading this and I don't think I would read more of what she puts out.
I read this instead of studying. I wish I'd spent that time studying. That's how bad this book is.
Witness one woman explaining the horrors of feminism in the most "all lives matter"-y way possible. Miranda, a trad wife who barely has a degree but is still qualified enough for animal research, is escaping the end of the world as we know it.
Why is the world ending? Because of an economical crash because her country "couldn't stop helping any country with a sob story."... Damn, took her 3 pages to become a very unlikeable protagonist.
Anyway, after rescuing hr her daughter from an attack, she decides to go to a commune that her mother built for women. Miranda hates her mother because her mother is a misandrist, and she also doesn't have any female friends because they just don't get it.
Not everybody wants a life where they have to work and educate themselves and not rush into having kids, some people just want to live the good traditional life. Except she wasn't really rich and she lived a comfy life until her husband sank in debt because he wasn't actually rich.
But he's a good man. Men are not evil, you're just a misandrist.
She is astounded that the ladies at Femlandia, the commune her mom built, don't read men's works. Imagine not reading something by mr. Rudyard "White Man's Burden" Kipling. Oh the horror.
She then discovers that the women are the true villains of the story and goes on so many tangents about how we're all humans and men aren't all bad if you just give them a chance and all that.
This book is super toxic. Aside from me hating it's white savior-y rhetoric, it's basically an 11-hour explaination of why feminism is bad and how women are just exclusionary and mean (there's a paragraph about how you need to have been always a woman to enter Femlandia, but there's no real nuance in it, just another example of how feminism is mean).
I don't think the book was exciting enough for me to ignore the message and focus on the plot. As for the message, I couldn't write enough about how toxic it was.
Imagine telling woemn that anyone who tells you you're being oppressed and that you deserve to have more power and 100% autonomy is basically a cult leader luring you in. Why would anyone want to sned that sort of message?
I've read all of Dalcher's novels. I liked the first one so much it's even on my favorites' shelf. I'm so unhappy about reading this and I don't think I would read more of what she puts out.
I have never read any of Christina Dalcher’s previous books but was intrigued by the description of this. I love dystopian fiction and this account of what might happen if America has another financial crash is gripping.
Miranda’s life is destroyed by the crash of the financial system. Money runs out, schools and public services close and society begins to break down. Her husband runs away from his responsibilities in the worst possible and she is left to survive with her teenage daughter. Her mother, Win, has set up a women’s commune, Femlandia, and Miranda decides that she has no choice but to go there to find sanctuary for the two of them.
After a difficult journey, they arrive and are welcomed into the commune. However, everything is not as it first appears and Femlandia holds a very dark secret.
This is a dark story of what might happen if women run a society in which men are not welcome at all and seems to have quite a pessimistic view of human nature. But I was gripped by the story and really wanted to know how it would all end.
Thank you to Net Galley and Berkley Books for letting me read an advance copy of this in return for an honest review.
Miranda’s life is destroyed by the crash of the financial system. Money runs out, schools and public services close and society begins to break down. Her husband runs away from his responsibilities in the worst possible and she is left to survive with her teenage daughter. Her mother, Win, has set up a women’s commune, Femlandia, and Miranda decides that she has no choice but to go there to find sanctuary for the two of them.
After a difficult journey, they arrive and are welcomed into the commune. However, everything is not as it first appears and Femlandia holds a very dark secret.
This is a dark story of what might happen if women run a society in which men are not welcome at all and seems to have quite a pessimistic view of human nature. But I was gripped by the story and really wanted to know how it would all end.
Thank you to Net Galley and Berkley Books for letting me read an advance copy of this in return for an honest review.
I enjoyed this book. It was an easy-to-read novel that explored some interesting ideas. It wasn’t life changing and I probably wouldn’t reread but overall it was something different!