Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Femlandia by Christina Dalcher

14 reviews

annierosebel's review

3.5

This was a really interesting concept - but I felt like the pacing was a bit off? I get that we needed to understand the extend and horror of the economic collapse, but I think that took up too much space at the extent of a satisfying arc about Femlandia, without ever explaining how the collapse happened and how or whether it is men's fault. I also wonder if there were just too many rich details squeezed in - I wanted to slow down and sink into elements, but we kept racing ahead. The dark twists were predictable, and the epilogue was deeply unsatisfying - there was no sense of how we got from the end of chapter 78 to the epilogue, it was a wild leap, and also seems to undo half the message of the book in a very contradictory way? 

It feels like a really interesting idea but just not terribly well executed, with some red flags that make me worry this isn't the kind of feminism I'm interested in supporting. The idea and the concept of cults kept me interested, rather than the story or writing.

****spoilers**** 

The epilogue seems to contradict the idea that misogyny and patriarchy is taught/nature, rather than innate and nurture. The second you have men, raised in a female-led community, they raise up in charge and overpower the women? And are misogynistic? 

Also, it feels a bit disquieting to me to have transphobic characters and just leave it at that without those views being challenged or really explored - like someone said 'what about trans and non-binary people' and the author made the powerful characters transphobic to avoid having to meaningfully engage with the complexities and non-binary nature of gender.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Death, Gun violence, and Child abuse

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

rhi_reading's review

fast-paced

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

1.0

A clunky, heavy-handed novel that spends every single page beating you around the head with a large ‘Feminism is evil’ stick. I gave it some grace at the beginning because I thought maybe it was designed to be a satire of the way some people view feminists, that trad-wife Miranda and her misandrist mother would meet in the middle and see each others views. I realised I was very wrong by about 1/3 of the way in, but by that point reading this book had turned in to the literary equivalent of rubbernecking at a ten-car pileup - you know it’s terrible, but you need to see HOW truly awful it is. 

It’s certainly fast-paced, but this pace is achieved by cutting out almost all character development and relationship dynamics.  Every choice made by the characters seem completely random. Why does Emma latch on to Jen Jones (the charasmatic leader of this seeming idyllic off-The-grid community, with a name so subtle she may as well just have been called Dr Evil)  as soon as she meets her, to the point where she abandons her own mother? Jen has done nothing to earn this, there’s absolutely nothing to suggest Emma supported the extreme ideals of Femlandia before all this. 

The ‘twist’ of the book was gross and not even especially clever, but don’t worry because it’s all resolved in pretty much the next chapter. 

There are some absolutely sublime 1* review for this book on StoryGraph that go in to more detail about why exactly this book is so awful, Id suggest reading them over reading Femlandia - you’ll certainly experience more nuance, structure, and entertainment. My search for a great feminist dystopian story continues. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Slavery, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Gun violence

Minor: Transphobia

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

hattie's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Child death

Minor: Abortion and Suicide

secanno's review

I found this book and its protagonists difficult to stomach, so I went looking for reviews to see if I should continue reading. From this review it is clear that the book doesn’t get better: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/6269a7f0-8e3c-4703-a2b6-7b554523f39b

Also, it’s possible this changes later in the book, but as far as I can tell, the main characters are all white cis people. The book conflates feminists with misandrists, in a way that is overblown and makes it seem like the norm in feminist movements, rather than an extremist viewpoint held by a select few. And, despite the book’s portrayal of feminism and the patriarchy as two sides of the same unreasonable coin, the author somehow completely ignores the very real, very common power dynamics within feminist movements and how white cis feminism perpetuates racism, ableism, and transphobia. At this point in the book it’s as if Black, Indigenous, and people of color don’t exist, nor do disabled and/or trans/ nonbinary folks. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Misogyny