A provocative feminist dystopia novel with all the usual ingredients and disturbing storylines included. Problematic characters make it difficult to have sympathy with any of the women, whose ideal society seems to be far from that for the majority of its inhabitants.

This is my first time reading a Christina Dalcher book and it was enjoyable. Not my usual type of book but this is why I’m on netgalley right. Would recommend for fans of dark thrillers.

In light of the focus on violence against women, this dystopian novel is bang on trend.

The main character is Miranda Reynold, who goes against her feminist mother’s teachings and gets married and has a child at a young age. She then becomes financially dependent on her husband, leaving everything to him.

Twenty years later, the economy and world is collapsing. Miranda’s husband leaves her with no money, takes the car and drives off the side of a mountain. By the time the bailiffs arrive to take everything, she had her 16 year old daughter, Emma, have nothing left. All around them, there are riots, robberies and looting. In an attempt to avoid starvation or murder, Miranda and Emma leave for ‘Femlandia’, the feminist utopia set up by her mother many years before.

The journey is tough and the author does not pull her punches, ensuring you have the full horror of what Miranda and Emma go through. On arrival at Femlandia, they are taken in but only because Miranda is the daughter of the founder. But, as Miranda soon finds out, Femlandia is not quite the utopia it pretends to be.

This is a very well-written, thought-provoking book. It is dark, the ending is not something I foresaw until Miranda was on top of it. It is shocking, but I think that, considering the topic, sometimes we need to be shocked before making changes.

Really enjoyed seeing yet another dystopian landscape from the mind of Christina Dalcher. The idea of a feminine utopia was clearly drawn and had some surprising drawbacks - a must read for feminist dystopia fans!

Such an interesting premise, thought-provoking, terrifying and gripping dystopian feminist thriller
I am finding that I am slightly tiring of these kinds of thrillers and may have influenced my experience of this book, it was good but I wasn't blown away, but I admit fully this is probably due to my mood & circumstances (i.e. in despair with the world in general) so it felt less "dystopia" and more "feasible & therefore depressing" so I'm trying to balance my review with how I felt personally

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I was a bit disappointed by Q but Dalcher is back to the heights of Vox with this fast-paced exploration of the potential dark side of feminism. Miranda and Win were both interesting characters, though I'd have liked a bit more insight into Emma. I'm now going to pay a lot more attention to pension futures...

Femlandia is is the third novel from the feminist dystopian writer Christina Dalcher. As with her other novels, she looks at a point where society breaks down or falls thrall to an authoritarian government and sees how women could be affected. In Vox women’s power to speak was removed, in Q she looked at how education could be taken away from certain groups, and in Femlandia society has completely broken down.
Miranda and her teenage daughter Emma have nothing left so they turn to the female only commune created by Miranda’s mother. It’s the last place they want to go but have run out of options. What they discover there looks like utopia, it soon becomes clear they there is something much darker under the surface.
As with her previous books this is a well written and clever thriller. It keeps you guessing and the ending doesn’t pull any punches. However, I found it hard to like or really care about many of the characters, the back stories were quite thin and under developed. He books are also beginning to feel a bit samey and I’m afraid the comparison with Margaret Atwood is inevitable. Christina Dalcher doesn’t have the same breadth of imagination to really make you believe in her future world.
Thank you to #netgalley and #harpercollins for allowing me to review this ARC

Christina Dalcher knows how to do feminist dystopia SO well. While Vox is still my favourite, she's come up with another thriller set in sort-of modern day, close enough for you to think "yeah I can see this happening!"

The beginning was great, then it wavered, then I didn't really like it at all.

I couldn't do the plot justice compared to others, but this did make me realise I don't want to read a book with a premise like this again. It adds nothing to the world that hasn't already been said and makes me wonder why it was written to begin with.

There are a couple of dark moments which I greatly enjoyed, moments I was suprised to see being so visceral and uncomfortable. Akin to Tender is the Flesh.

Overall, not a read for me nor one I think needs to be said. Will be great though for anyone interested in the underlying message the author is discussing.

If you’re looking for a thought provoking terrifying dystopian thriller, Christina Dalcher is an author who you might wish to consider. Having thoroughly enjoyed her last novel Q earlier in the year I couldn’t wait to discover what nightmarish scenario she has chosen to catapult her readers into this time around. Be warned, the author pulls no punches with writing that sends icy cold shivers down your spine and instils fear into your heart, the slow drip drip drip of poison spreading throughout a narrative that becomes more sinister with every turn of the page. It’s extreme in its vision, with various types of abuse and indoctrination at its centre, a stark reminder of what can happen when power falls into the hands of single minded individuals intent on targeting a vulnerable, suggestible section of the population.

Miranda and her daughter Emma are struggling to survive in what to me initially resembles a post apocalyptic world. Ok this is a slight exaggeration but immediately you wonder what the future holds for them. If only they can survive the present! The American economy is bust, the government have gone into hiding, the grocery store shelves are virtually empty, gas stations are closed and the suicide rate is rocketing sky high. Everyone else has gone underground or turned into savages. Once again it’s survival of the fittest in this former civilised society where the humans that are left have resorted to animalistic, predatory behaviour, reduced to stealing and killing each other for such basic necessities as food and water. When desperation, fear, anxiety and hopelessness sets in this is how Christina Dalcher has imagined the human race will behave and it’s not a pretty sight. It’s bloody and brutal and utterly soul destroying. The journey from a life of luxury to near starvation, sitting targets for vicious and violent attacks with death beckoning leads these two women to the only place of safety left in the state of Virginia. Their destination, despite Miranda’s misgivings is Femlandia, a radical female utopia founded by her mother Win Somers, a woman with whom Miranda had a complex and strained relationship prior to their estrangement and her mother’s death. It’s a last resort in a situation devoid of hope and choices but what awaits them behind the gates of Femlandia is not the kind of salvation they or you and I would expect.

Welcome to a world without men. Have you just entered heaven or hell? This is a world where women become womyn, the patriarchy is referred to as the hatriarchy and history is replaced by herstory. Femlandia and its sister communes are heralded as self sufficient sanctuaries, cut off from the outside world, where residents live in peace and harmony without fear of oppression, subjugation and inequality. As least that’s the theory. In practice the women who opt to walk through these gates are paying a hefty price for their freedom. Is Femlandia a commune or a cult and who is the real enemy here?

Naturally there are some strong characters in this novel whose opposing views result in tensions running high from beginning to end. I liked the way in which the author breaks up the brutality of the present day with flashbacks to Win’s past, not that they are any less painful to contemplate.The reasons for her grievances against men in general and how the first seeds of misandry are planted, giving rise to her dream of women only communes/intentional communities are certainly enlightening. Do they excuse the decisions she makes, sacrificing her relationship with Miranda to surround herself with individuals more receptive to her way of thinking, favouring the likes of Jen Jones, cofounder of Femlandia and Miranda’s former friend Sal? That’s a matter of opinion. To me Win is unbending, blinkered and unwilling to admit that both men AND women are flawed. Is she a great role model? No! The characterisation is good, with the women falling into two camps, either leaders or followers. The former which includes Jen, Kate and Sal are persuasive, forceful, single minded, and unassailable, textbook examples of how quickly the tables can turn when power and control is up for grabs. Suddenly the oppressed become the oppressors whilst the followers, such as the likes of Leila and Rachel are simply swapping one ball and chain for another. Thankfully Miranda falls into neither of these camps, a stark contrast to her mother and who until these desperate times has been happy to tread her own path. Could she prove to be an unlikely saviour and wrestle life in Femlandia back to some kind of normality?

Even after I finished reading I struggled to decide whether I loved or hated this book! Part of me found it repetitive with the author having nothing new to say that hasn’t already been said in her previous two novels. All the negative energy is incredibly draining, the level of hatred, bitterness, abuse and violence insane. It’s fair to say much of the content is depressingly familiar, disturbing and sinister which means this novel isn’t for the faint hearted. In my opinion you need to be feeling mentally robust to tackle the subject matter otherwise you should maybe put this aside for another day. So many times I was on the verge of thinking I couldn’t stomach anymore yet strangely I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the pages. I found it gripping even though once inside Femlandia’s gates it’s fairly obvious what’s been happening behind closed doors. But does this lessen the impact of the horrors unfolding before your very eyes. No, it just made me feel sick that such evil, insidious behaviour can be disguised as acting for the greater good, the only viable option for challenging and changing the status quo. The ending is dramatic and explosive, the epilogue extremely fitting. I loved the circular nature of the narrative which leaves you with that sinking feeling that history is doomed to keep on repeating itself. Overall well written and a great read for those undaunted at finding themselves in the middle of a futuristic, often barbaric feminist nightmare. Just like her other two novels Femlandia is perfect book club material.

My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

Brilliant, dark and haunting. Femlandia is a dystopian novel to really make you think.

Wouldn’t it be heaven if there were no more men to hurt women? Wouldn’t life be kinder and fairer if there were only women? This is certainly what Win Somers thinks. But how to you continue a community if you exclude men entirely? How do you create the next generation?

Femlandia shows the brutal reality of what could happen when broken women try to fix the world. Women who move past wanting equality and safety for women, to viewing men as inferior.

A gripping read that will keep the pages turning. Brilliantly written to feed the truth and make you question everything you ever thought about equality.

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.

This book was everything I wanted. I’ve been getting a bit sick of pandemic books, it seems everyone is writing them right now, and I was a bit worried at the start, however, it doesn’t go down that route really.

Femlandia is sort of a huge woman’s refuge, only women, self sufficient, etc. It sounds great, a safe place…but…..that would make for a boring book - this place is sinister!!! I mean, it’s easy to imagine it could be, but….whoa…it really is…

I absolutely loved it!

My thanks to Netgalley and HQ for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to @netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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When the economy collapses and the world turns into survival mode, Miranda and her daughter, Emma, have no choice but to go to Femlandia. A women-only community set up by Miranda’s mother, Win. Except what they find, is no safe-haven.
—
TW for discussions of transphobia in this review.

I thought this book was going to be about a community of women thriving without the need for men. But I was wrong. So wrong.

The characters were annoying and acted so stupidly but the thing I absolutely hated about this book was the transphobia. The TERF energy coming from this book was unbelievable.

There’s a scene where the MC and her daughter finally reach Femlandia and there has to be a spot search upon entry. Understandable, right? Except they make them take all their clothes off to make sure they’ve always been a woman.

“I’m talking about what they are. Not what they think they are or what they want to be.”

Trans women are women. That is what they are.

Can we stop using the ‘XX’ symbol as a sign of feminism? Not all women have those chromosomes. Not all people with xx chromosomes identify as women.

At this point, I was hate-reading this book. Surely, it couldn’t possibly get any worse?

Wrong.

We then move onto the conversation about Feminism where the MC’s mother tells us that if we don’t agree with the sinister, disgusting behaviour being carried out in this so-called ‘Femlandia’ then we don’t believe women. It’s ridiculous.

My biggest concern is the impressionable people reading this book, the young women who think this is an accurate reflection of what needs to happen to the TERF’s of the world having their reasoning that trans women are just men finding another way to abuse women, validated. It’s worrying.

For me ‘Femlandia’ was a strange read; on the one hand it describes a dark dystopia which I am usually drawn to but on the other it is a very difficult story to digest.
I loved ‘Vox’ because at its heart it carries the strength and determination of women and I thought that it would bear similarities to this story but this read has a very different and much darker tone. The story follows mother and daughter, MIranda and Emma, and how after the total breakdown of society they must travel to a supposed safe haven for women. Miranda always swore that she would never step foot in Femlandia because she didn’t agree with their extreme views but in order to protect her daughter she feels like she has no other choice.
Personally I didn’t really like any of the characters in this book (not always a negative) but the extreme setting felt a lot heavier and darker than simply a cult vibe. I get the ideal of a women led society but as I had expected ideals are quickly dropped and an imposing hierarchy takes their place.
The way that men are portrayed and treated is very extreme in this novel and I felt uncomfortable about the clear attitude about the perimeters of how a ‘woman’ is identified. I felt like it set the tone for the rest of the book which I did find in all honesty a bit harrowing. It is definitely a story that will stay with me for a long time.

I absolutely loved reading Christina Dalcher’s first two books ‘Vox’ and ‘Q’ and this, her latest, is just as incredible. For me, the unique stories make her books so thought provoking and also very memorable. I can still vividly remember the plot of ‘Vox’ and ‘Q’ and I know that Femlandia will always stay with me too.

It’s hard to imagine a country dealing with a total economic collapse, but that is the situation in America where our main character Miranda lives. She has lost her home, her job and her husband. All of the shops are empty and the streets are no longer a safe place to be. Miranda and her teenage daughter Emma soon find themselves out of options with nowhere to turn; except to Femlandia. A self-sufficient haven and female only community, where women live a life free from men. However, there is a reason Miranda has never joined before and given what she knows about Femlandia’s founder, she is right to be wary. But with no other choice available they make their way there. Whilst life outside Femlandia’s gates is fraught with danger, little do they know there is something just as sinister going on within this community...

From beginning to end, this story had me gripped and I found myself racing through the pages to find out what would happen next. I loved how this story was told in the first person from the perspective of Miranda and I could really feel her struggles as she fought with the conflicting thoughts in her head about what to do for the best to keep her and Emma safe. There were also chapters interspersed from the perspective of Win Somers, Femlandia’s founder in the third person. I really liked the insight this gave into her past experiences and her motivations for setting up Femlandia. The exploration of friendships and familial relationships and their evolving nature within this story was also very powerful.

There were so many brilliant twists and turns along the way and I really didn’t want to be right (but I was) about the relevance of the coyotes Miranda could hear every day from her home in Femlandia! Such a clever but dark secret that she uncovers! Reference is made within the book of how one person’s utopia can be another’s dystopia, and this really couldn’t be more true in the case of Femlandia. There is so much to think about when reading this book and it’s scary to think how a movement can go too far in what it strives to achieve.

I also thought that the epilogue provided a clever end to a truly brilliant book. I honestly cannot recommend Femlandia highly enough!

At some point in the not too distant future, the world economy has collapsed and money means nothing. Miranda's husband has just driven his Maserati off a cliff and their possessions have been repossessed. She really has only one option, to head with her 16 year old daughter, to Femlandia, the women only sanctuary created by her mother many years before.. The story flicks between the now and the then. The reader is slowly told how Win, Miranda's mother was forced into a marriage because she was pregnant after being forced into sex. The repercussions of this continue to ripple throughout the years and threaten everything Miranda holds dear today.

This is a thought provoking book and is interesting to see things in the extreme. I read VOX by this author and the misogynistic society is again addressed. I am by no means a feminist, but loved both books.

I loved reading Vox, and looked forward to reading this book. Unfortunately I did not connect with any of the characters, and didn't care what happened to them, I found the pace of the book to be slow, I had 2 attempts at reading it, and just couldn't get into it. Sorry ,not a good real for me.

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I have read the author's previous novels Vox and Q and was hoping Femlandia would be as entertaining. A severe economic crash sends Miranda and her daughter to seek refuge in her mother's feminist commune. The characters lacked depth and descriptions of violence felt gratuitous. Three stars but not worthy of its hype.