Rating: ⭐️
Rage rating: ❌❌❌
CW: violence, murder, death, sexual abuse, men phobia, transphobia

Disappointingly shallow, this dystopia is very expected and wasn’t what I hoped for.

In an alternate near future, the world is crumbling, and nowhere is safe for Miranda and her teenage daughter Emma… except Femlandia, a women-only colony established by Win, Miranda’s mother. But this newfound haven isn’t as safe as it appears.

Sadly I found this book extremely average, I expected so much more and I’m annoyed at the way the story unfolded. I just felt uncomfortable throughout the read.

In previous books from the same author, I was already disturbed by the strong anti-men feeling emanating from main character, but this book just reached a new high.

As usual for Christina Dalcher, the concept is interesting: I always find she has great ideas for dystopias. However in this book, the delivery is weak.

Important aspects of the book are glazed over and replaced by long descriptions of very little importance. The characters have no credibility, the psychological aspect is non existent. The resolutions of book-long conflicts are solved by a single sentence “it took time for X to realise their mistake”. Seemed a little easy.

I'm sorry to say that this book was not for me. Between the misandristic villains of the story and a MC who seems to believe inequality & discrimination don't exist, it was really difficult for me to empathize with any of the characters in this book.

I disliked a lot that the concept of what is called "Femlandia" is portrayed as a feminist post-apocalyptic reality, and yet, it's nothing but a misandrist cult (which I feel it propagates the misconceptions around feminism, just because of the way the concept is framed, but that's another topic).

At some point, as much as it's obvious to hate the villainous cult, it's also difficult to root for Miranda, the MC that is supposed to save the day. In fact, it often feels Miranda dismisses the other women's experiences, which often makes her a dislikable character, and also makes this book everything except feminist. In Miranda's head, there are, of course, both bad and good people regardless of the gender, but everything else is disregarded, as if we all have the same opportunities in life and it doesn't matter who you are nor where you come from — more about having bad luck for finding awful people in your life? (or is this part of the utopia?) Let's not even start talking about how this book approaches gender. It felt like trans here was only mentioned in order to tick some sort of checklist, because it's quickly dismissed to never be mentioned again.

Because of all of the inconsistencies in the story and in the characters' development, it's very difficult to understand what is the lesson and moral we're supposed to get from the story. Plot wise, it's predictable, there's not much to find once the grim details of Femlandia are revealed, and we kind of know already how the book will end.

It's not even clear if the author meant for the reader to side with anyone at all. No one will want to side with a misandrist cult, but will we want to side with someone who's unaware of her own privilege?

Femlandia is the newest dystopian book by Christina Dalcher and I read and enjoyed both the previous books, Vox and X. I found this book started slower and didn’t have the same initial spark of the other two however it did improve part way through which made me want to continue.

I liked the short chapters but I wasn’t gripped and it took me weeks to read rather than days. If I hadn’t read the other 2 books it may have actually been a DNF as it was rather disjointed in places. Overall I’d give it 3.5🌟

A sort of take on The Walking Dead. Everyone has become ill and there are only small pockets of people left in the US. The protagonist must find a safe haven for herself and her teenage daughter. But is it a haven? A gripping dystopian thriller.

This was gripping, thought-provoking and chilling, particularly after the way our world has been turned upside down with the pandemic. The unbelievable is suddenly believable. Mother and daughter, Miranda and Emma, are faced with limited choices to survive and find themselves in a seemingly utopian world of feminists. However all is not as it seems and Miranda in particular rebels against the system which has consequences for her and her daughter.

I've read Dalcher's previous two novels and enjoyed them. It took me a while to finish Femlandia, despite being very intrigued by the storyline, and I think it boils down to three main reasons:
- The main character, Miranda, really reminded me of the protagonist in Vox - to the point where I had to refer back and check they weren't actually the same character! It's not necessarily a bad thing but it did throw me a bit. Also pretty much all of the characters were irritating (and all of the men awful).
- Without spoilers, a lot of the interesting drama of the book felt like it was missed as Miranda was put in isolation for a decent period of time. I feel like we really missed out on a lot of the story and progression of other characters because of this.
- With the whole extreme binary split between men and women in the book, it seemed really odd to not mention trans or non-binary people at any point. It made it feel less realistic and also made me uncomfortable.

I liked the premise of the book and expected to come away feeling... something. But I didn't except for feeling uncomfortable and slightly grossed out by some of the developments in the book.

I had no idea where this story was going to begin with. The world in the aftermath of a financial crisis is horror story enough but then to enter Femlandia and witness what some women are capable of was chilling!

I have loved Christinas' books and was excited to read this one. Wow what a book - not an easy read there are some really quite disturbing parts that were shocking but I found it a gripping page turner and raced through it . I liked that the chapters were short - it is quite a scary story as I can imagine this could happen infact I felt the same way with her other books too. If you like a dystopian thriller then you might enjoy this one.

Gripping, unpredictable, engaging and completely impossible to put down.
Just some of the ways I’d describe this book. I have loved how it has been written and have been completely caught up in the pages. I have loved the characters and the way this is written. Definitely a book I’ll be recommending.

This dystopian novel looks at a lot of issues including motherhood and pregnancy. its a powerful look at extremist views and was a thought provoking storyline. Although some of the book i felt was a little dark and disturbing mostly i found it an interesting read.

The author is back with more dystopian fiction, and it's even more scary than ever! The world has gone through many changes and what is left is bleak, especially for women. It's every man for himself and woe betide any woman who gets in the way. That leads to some upsetting and harrowing scenes at times, so beware if you are easily triggered. Miranda and her daughter Emma have to look out for themselves and desperate times lead to desperate measures, and Miranda makes the decision for them both to head to Femlandia - an all female 'utopia' set up by her mother - in the hope for some safety and relief.

You follow them on the journey to Femlandia, but the main action takes place when they arrive and Miranda is soon left to face the facts that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. It's a very scary look at human behaviour and shows that both male and females are all flawed, especially when power is involved.

They face a shocking truth when it comes to pregnancies in the camp, along with all mentions of male history being removed from the past which leads to young girls growing up with no knowledge of life on the 'outside'.

This was a shocking read at times, although it did run out of puff a little towards the end and it just left me feeling hatred towards men and women in equal measures!! No matter the best intentions of some, there's always those who are more interested in power and control over others with no thought to the consequences. A bleak but gripping read!

It has taken me a while to write this review of #Femlandia because it was such an intense read. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, I definitely did, I just needed time to reflect.

After a huge economic crash, Miranda & Emma (her 16 year old daughter) are trying to survive. There is very limited food, no police, violence and everyone is struggling & starving. When the water stops running they decide to head to Femlandia, a commune only for women, that was founded by Miranda’s mother. Will it be their safe haven, will they be refused entry, does it still exist?

I highly recommend #Femlandia if you like dystopian novels. I also loved Vox by the same author and recommend it! Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for my free advance copy in return for an unbiased review.

Another thought provoking book from this author, who uses a dystopian world to explore realistic themes. In this book, the extreme feminist takes focus. American economy has collapsed and Miranda has lost her husband. The world is a poverty ridden dangerous place and she has her teenage daughter to protect. She seeks refuge in an all female, self-sufficient commune - Femlandia- but something feels off and Miranda cant let sleeping coyotes lie.

Great pace with lots of twists and turns, that guarantees a page-turner. The topic feels just real enough to be plausible - what if Women no longer needed men - and I love how the author thinks through the various consequences. That said, its more about the concept and entertaining story-line, leaving the characters a bit one-dimensional. Many of their actions and decisions are frustratingly nonsensical but ultimately necessary for the direction of the story. Overall, I read this quickly because it was so addictive and I just had to find out how it would end!

I love Dystopian fiction and thrillers. Vox and Q are two of my favourite books so I was excited to start a new book by this author.

I am in two minds over this book however. I found it quite slow to get into and couldn't completely work out what was going on at first. There was some sort of economic crash leading to a post apocalyptic world but there are no details... The story is told by Miranda who along with her sixteen year old daughter Emma, is struggling to find food and survive. I found some of the scenes a bit disturbing to read at the start and one was particularly horrific.

Once I got to about a third of the way through the book I was gripped and couldn't put it down however. Miranda and Emma arrive at Femlandia, a commune founded on the hatred of men, purely for women. The community has huge electric barbed wire fences surrounding it but was this to keep people out or to keep the women inside? I was racing through the pages at this point. Was it really the idealic place that it seemed? What were the women hiding? There was clearly something sinister going on!

Although there is a clear resolution which I liked I found the ending slightly disappointing, a bit too predictable and slightly rushed.
Overall I loved the premise of the book but I found it didn't quite deliver in the same way as the previous two novels. I love Christina Dalcher's original ideas though so will definitely read her next book!

Rating 3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Publishers for this eARC.

In a world where society as we know it has collapsed, banks are no more, there's no food in the supermarket, no education system, its every man or woman for themselves. And the men have taken power, using force to take whatever food they can find, attacking women if they find them. Miranda and her 16 year old daughter Emma are desperate for a safe place to hide but options are thin on the ground.
Years before, Miranda's mother left to set up a women's only space called Femlandia; Miranda and Win, her mother, had fallen out long ago but sometimes there's no other option, will it be a place that will accept Miranda and Emma?
This is the 3rd Christina Dalcher book that I've read and I think her ideas are really interesting, but it always feels a little rushed towards the end. This is more thought through but some things were still a bit too 'convenient' for me

Worth a read though

Thanks to Netgalley, publisher and author for allowing me to read this advanced reader’s copy in return for a fair and honest review.

I loved Dalcher’s other books so had high expectations about this one, sadly not. I found this a dreadful book. The extreme hatred towards men took it way too far I felt. I am aware of feminism but this was to the extreme. It didn’t feel like a dystopian book either. Had I read this prior to her other books, I would never have picked them up.

Like most dystopian novels, Femlandia has grounding, even though it takes readers practically off the edge and into the extremes of what they know or how they live in present times. It is quite common these days for women to wonder what a land without men in it would be like. This book hows that it may not all be the utopia, some women may imagine it to be. From each dystopian book, the realities are still there and show how the world is sometimes just a few steps away from those dystopian earthly worlds they create. This book has that and becomes thought-provoking as it has realities, such as financial crashes and what an alternative may look like.

There is the breaking down of relationships and the sort of reunions that are very rocky, including between Emma and her mother, Miranda. There is also a rape scene and before that, a suicide scene that is written well as well as economic hardships. Throughout are the differences between Mianda and her daughter, Emma, and it is soon seen as to why she distanced herself away from her mother to make her estranged.
Miranda is the founder of Femalandia, an international living community. Through Emma, we get to know more about this commune which is feminism at its extremes of having an uneasiness about it due to its air of almost cultish ways. Set in the US, this book is more international than one country. It could be set anywhere in the world as the themes and the dystopia within them could happen anywhere.

The book, especially in entering the so-called sanctum of Femlandia itself, is intense. It poses the question as to how safe such places can really be and how shows how heading into the extremes of life is not always necessarily the answer, nor healthy nor the outcomes being what is expected, even when intentions are seemingly there to entice them to look good and shows what Miranda wants from the community.

As you read on the real darkness of the ideology of how Femlandia is run is revealed, including its colonies. It's not far off Gilead in the Handmaid's Tale in its treatment of its population. Femlandia shows that things from an initial ideaology can grow and get carried away and how even women can take unsavoury choices, violence, which in-turn balances the book out and demonstrates that it isn't just men who are capable of that.
The epilogue certainly concludes things, perhaps not quite as expected, in the life thoughts of a younger relative of Emma's. The book may make people think of extremeties and how this book is set in the not too distant future and parts of it could, rather worryingly, exist. It's a well plotted book that is far, far from a cosy read.

Once again Christina Dalcher hits it outta the park with an incredible take on feminist dystopia. Set in the near future when society is collapsing Miranda finds herself jobless, homeless and husband-less. The streets are no longer safe for women and Miranda feels that to keep her 16 year old daughter and herself safe she has no choice but to head to Femlandia, a women only community remote community behind walls that her radical feminist Mother set up many years before. Ok, so that doesn't sound too bad does it? Women only, safety, plenty of food, and some luxuries sounds like a great way to ride out the collapse of society. BUT...... Miranda realises that something isn't quite right in Femlandia, something more than the fact her Daughter is being brainwashed right from her arrival. There's children in the community but they're all girls, so what happened to the boys? And speaking of children, how are they being 'created' when there are no men around?
I was enthralled right from the start of the book as usual with Dalcher's books. What I think I love about her books is that they are so believable. Femlandia could exist and there's probably women out there with extreme radical feminist beliefs. That's what makes her books so chilling and what has me pondering over what could be.
Miranda's character felt very well written. She was a normal everyday woman just fighting to keep her and her daughter safe and I could easily relate to her. This had me rooting for her right from the beginning.
And that ending was just *mwah* perfect! Everything felt wrapped up and I was satisfied which is exactly how stand alones should be. I highly recommend this book to fellow Dystopian fans

It is entertaining and dark. However I felt it could sometimes be a little repetitive and too “spelt out” for me to be gripped by the story.

This was an interesting and definitely a thought-provoking read. I thought it was good but I wasn't blown away, but this is probably as I found it was leaning towards TERF feminism at times and in its attitudes towards gender identification. I want to say this is a fabulous dystopian novel like I was dreaming it would be, but unfortunately because of how uncomfortable I felt reading this, I can only give this 3 stars


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion