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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
I really did not like this book at all. Putting aside the fact that I sense the authors treatise was "this is what happens when feminism goes too far" and "see? Women are just as horrible as men!" which is pretty silly in and of itself considering misandrist forced breeding communes don't exist...
Everything was so surface level. The characters were utter caricatures: a spin class mom vs miserly old feminists. There was zero detail about how the commune actually runs outside of the obvious build to the twist that i saw coming as soon as they got there.
The cayotes, cayotes, cayotes. I thought they were building to some kind of bloody attack but then nothing happened? Why devote so much effort to that foreshadowing.
The feminism of femlandia was so old fashioned and out of date. It seemed so unrealistic to me that they'd be able to recruit a full cult load of people from super old school second wave, 70s style feminism. Transness and gender non conforming people were just done away with completely really lazily in the plot.
The way her daughter turns against her suddenly seemed just a moment to serve the plot, and her reason so silly and not understandable (her mother defending her from being attacked robbed her of her moment to fight back herself? Really? You're committed to a misandrist cult over that?)
The only part that was half decent was the beginning describing the downfall of society during a sudden and complete economic devastation.
I slogged my way through this out of spite and will reread SCUM manifesto to cleanse my palate.
Everything was so surface level. The characters were utter caricatures: a spin class mom vs miserly old feminists. There was zero detail about how the commune actually runs outside of the obvious build to the twist that i saw coming as soon as they got there.
The cayotes, cayotes, cayotes. I thought they were building to some kind of bloody attack but then nothing happened? Why devote so much effort to that foreshadowing.
The feminism of femlandia was so old fashioned and out of date. It seemed so unrealistic to me that they'd be able to recruit a full cult load of people from super old school second wave, 70s style feminism. Transness and gender non conforming people were just done away with completely really lazily in the plot.
The way her daughter turns against her suddenly seemed just a moment to serve the plot, and her reason so silly and not understandable (her mother defending her from being attacked robbed her of her moment to fight back herself? Really? You're committed to a misandrist cult over that?)
The only part that was half decent was the beginning describing the downfall of society during a sudden and complete economic devastation.
I slogged my way through this out of spite and will reread SCUM manifesto to cleanse my palate.
interesting premise but lacks any complex discussion about many issues brought up surrounding gender. also super predictable and quite lazy storytelling and world building
Trigger Warnings for suicide, assault on adults and children, and sexual assault on adults and children.
I try to forgive a lot of things in fiction books because in the end, it's fiction. I predicted almost everything that would happen with Femlandia and their horrific practices, but the descriptions of child sexual assault snuck up on me in the audiobook. I can't fathom why the details had to be written. The author could have just left it at, "We keep young boys in captivity." As previously stated, the details were not necessary as it was already easy to guess what was happening. Some things just don't need to be detailed simply for shock value.
I try to forgive a lot of things in fiction books because in the end, it's fiction. I predicted almost everything that would happen with Femlandia and their horrific practices, but the descriptions of child sexual assault snuck up on me in the audiobook. I can't fathom why the details had to be written. The author could have just left it at, "We keep young boys in captivity." As previously stated, the details were not necessary as it was already easy to guess what was happening. Some things just don't need to be detailed simply for shock value.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I had to physically roll up my sleeves before typing out this review because there is SO MUCH I want to say about femlandia but long story short it was absolutely terrible and possibly one of my least favourite reads of the year. I found the stance the author took on feminists and safe spaces designed for women to be extremely biased in a way that vilified feminists, which in my opinion is problematic because of how vilified feminists already are in real life. I'm not saying I expected the book to be extremely pro-female commune because I understand that there needs to be a plot and climax while writing a story, but if Dalcher cannot deal with such nuanced topics in a sensitive and mature way then she really shouldn't be writing about them.
The terrible and unnecessary representation of women aside, the writing was SO boring. Every 2 or 3 pages Miranda would regurgitate and restate how she worked with apes to the point where every time i saw the word ape on a page i wanted to just skip it. The writing lacked the depth that other works of dystopian fiction usually have, even typically YA works, like the Hunger Games, and there was no real-world building, something that is integral to this genre.
The characters were extremely one-dimensional and so so bland that I just couldn't be bothered to invest any emotion into any of them. All in all, this book was boring, forgettable and just not very good. would not recommend
The terrible and unnecessary representation of women aside, the writing was SO boring. Every 2 or 3 pages Miranda would regurgitate and restate how she worked with apes to the point where every time i saw the word ape on a page i wanted to just skip it. The writing lacked the depth that other works of dystopian fiction usually have, even typically YA works, like the Hunger Games, and there was no real-world building, something that is integral to this genre.
The characters were extremely one-dimensional and so so bland that I just couldn't be bothered to invest any emotion into any of them. All in all, this book was boring, forgettable and just not very good. would not recommend
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i really wanted to like this book :(( nearly sent me into a reading slump🏃♀️
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes