Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Femlandia by Christina Dalcher

13 reviews

laurenbaggy's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Animal death, Confinement, Abortion, Physical abuse, Blood, Death, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Medical content, Miscarriage, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

gloreishun's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

I do agree with some of themes and more specifically fears that the book touches upon but the execution and handling of them just didn't sit right with me. The main heroine was insufferable as always and I agreed little to none with her world views etc. My main take from this book was that, no matter if you are a woman or a man, we all have the capacity to be monsters.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Confinement, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

thebelljoy's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Gun violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Self harm, Sexual assault, Confinement, Violence, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Rape

beccajdb's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A page-turner with some thought-provoking ideas about feminism, gender ‘characteristics’ and how we might all behave post-apocalypse. This particular apocalypse is one we can all easily imagine and all the scarier for that. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Bullying, Violence, Sexual content, Rape, Confinement, Child death, Blood, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Abortion, Pregnancy, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexism, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death

hurlyburlywitch's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

There was so much I wanted this book to be, and it decided to be none of it. 

The book decides to toss in some arbitrary transphobia, has a mysterious dearth of disabled characters, and contains deeply nauseating and absolutely plot critical

child sexual abuse, torture and neglect.

I was also deeply horrified by an epilogue that

strongly implies biological determinism of misogyny and inequality.

Whilst moderately predictable, I found the characterisation in this book to be inconsistent and extremely variable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Domestic abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Physical abuse

jennylo's review

challenging dark medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

The first few chapters tell you the same thing, several times, in essentially the same way (post apocalyptic ish, I hate mummy, my husband was a bit shit). The saving grace being that chapters are very short. I spent most of the book not sure that I liked it, but wanted to know if it could get better. I'm still not sure. 

It rang very "not all men", which I just feel is not a point that needs to be made. There's also brief transphobia toward the beginning which was very icky. The protagonist is written as though she doesn't necessarily agree, but doesn't fight the point. It left me wondering about the authors personal views. 

I also feel like it completely avoided a whole topic that felt too obvious to me to be ignored, that socialising all new humans in a healthy way would probably make the world a much better place. Instead it's one extreme or the other: either men abuse women, or women abuse men. I get it's a dystopia but the idea wasn't floated until the epilogue

which makes it out that its undeniable human nature that men will take over, they'll always do the heavy lifting, and have the big brains for the important decisions. There is no argument for nurture, DESPITE the repeated story about the bloody gorilla learning sign?!

I think I partially guessed the key twist so was reading more to see if I got it right, than actually enjoying it. I guess it's kind of an interesting take on a female led dystopia, but I won't be recommending it to anyone in a hurry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Child abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Sexism, Gun violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Rape

thekaylie's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Transphobia, Suicide, Rape, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

ambb's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I might change this rating 20 more times. I don’t know how to rate this. I don’t know what I just read. What the fuck

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Slavery, Misogyny, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, and Transphobia

Minor: Miscarriage, Death of parent, Abortion, Fatphobia, and Grief

shaziareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

ok this was ..... something. this book takes place in a dystopian america, where money has no value and society has mostly fallen apart. miranda knows she needs to find a safer place to live for her and her daughter emma and after some travel they end up in femlandia - a women-only colony built by miranda's estranged mother, win. in femlandia, life is thriving but things seem off. and this is basically where i started to feel more and more iffy about this book until i was just wanting it to finally end. 

i won't go too into my thoughts about this book but overall i just feel like this had so much potential, and instead christina dalcher went about it in the worst way possible. warning that the rest of my review is going to contain spoilers. femlandia is supposed to be a safe haven for all women, and most of its inhabitants are women who have been victims of abuse, violence, and more by the hands of the men in their life. however, win's vision of this perfect place to live was blinded by her pure hatred of men and this is where things got really weird for me, especially since our protagonist miranda was like, an apologist for men? so on one hand we have a character that hates men and claims they are inherently evil, and then on the other hand we have a character that is great but also gives off these heavy "feminists are dumb" vibes. like why ......... couldn't there be a more normal character in this book lol? 

i'm kind of bummed out that i didn't like it cause i really do think it could have been a great book. i also felt there were some parts where the writing was weak. i want to end this on a positive note though so i will say that the narrator of the audiobook was really good and i don't normally notice that kind of thing so there's that. i wouldn't recommend this book but if anyone i know happens to read it i would love to discuss.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, and Pregnancy

Minor: Domestic abuse and Rape

victoria_catherine_shaw's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Rape, and Sexual harassment