In the current climate this book spoke to me. A world without men seems pretty good right now.

The books premise is excellent and really makes you think. It pulls no punches and includes some extreme themes but not gratuitously, they add to the story.

Thought provoking read.

Femlandia looks like a modern Handmaid's Tale with lots of disturbing moments.

The premise was good but the execution is not what I expected. It seems like a book about hating men and using victims to keep on hating them and create a world only made and ruled by women.

There are a few comments about transgenders that are not needed at all. It made me mad!

I do believe an epilogue should not be at the end of a book unless it adds something to the story. I didn't feel this one added much...

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate this book but I didn't love it either. Was I hooked? Yes. Would I recommend this one? Sure, everyone has to make their conclusions!

What I found interesting was to see a community ran for and by women, with limited resources from the outside world even though some of their ways were so wrong.

However, I was slightly disappointed by this one, to be honest.

We meet Miranda and her sixteen-year-old daughter fighting for survival in a now dystopian America. After an economic crash, life has descended into chaos. With barely any money and forced out of their home, Miranda and daughter Emma need to find safety. Being outside after dark is dangerous, and there are no shelters with space to take them. They decide to go to Femlandia, a female-only commune and “paradise.”

A fascinating premise for dystopia fiction, this is disturbing in parts and not for the fainthearted. There are scenes of violence (assault and torture) that left me uncomfortable due to their extreme nature and, what felt to me like a cult. The idea of a woman-led environment is thought-provoking, but the depiction is rather gruesome. The fanatism and extremist of views are distressing, as the abused become the abusers, which can be seen as a warning of what extreme views can result in. A difficult read for me, feeling the whole gamut of emotions and, I suspect, very similar to the author's previous books. Dark, tense and distressing, not for me I'm afraid.

A dystopian? Handmaids tale-esque? A fabulous author? What more could you ask for!!! I had such high hopes for this book but unfortunately I don’t think it was the right time for me to read it, I just wasn’t kept engaged or engrossed. I managed to get through it but I didn’t maintain any information so I will definitely try it again in the future!! The bits I do remember were fabulous though and very well written

When I found out Christina Dalcher had a new book coming out I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, and when it appeared on NetGalley you can only imagine how much more excited I got. I had a quick read of the of the description and even before I got to the end of the description I ended up clicking on that request button.

Fast forward a few weeks and here we are with my thoughts. I’m afraid it’s not as positive as I was hoping it would be. Despite the intriguing dystopian premises, I really struggled with this book. Don’t get me wrong it’s not a bad book but overall failed to keep me engaged and interested, and definitely not what I was expecting. I thought this was going to be about feminism and equality instead it was all about making sure that there are no men and how women are better off without them. Although I struggled with the plot Dalcher has done some things right and for me the biggest was the world building. She does a great job in explaining and describing the dystopian world but it’s just the rest of the book that is a little disappointing.

When it comes to the characters I don’t even know where to start! I found the majority of them to be quite unlikeable, to the point that they became very unbearable, in turn making it impossible to care about what happens to them. However, even though I wasn’t a fan of the individual characters I did find the relationships between the different female characters to be interesting, I do wish these were explored more.

This is one review that I’ve struggled to put my thoughts into words, but let me tell you one thing for sure. This time round this book not have been for me, but I’ve definitely not been discouraged from reading anything else from this author in the future and am also certain that I’ll be in the minority of readers who didn’t love this book.

I would like to thank the publishers HQ and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

This is the first book I have read by this author, and it will not be my last, think Alice in Wonderland meets the Handmaids tale, superb

Well, this really is the disappointment of the year. I don't usually give books 1 star because there is always something that redeems them. I might really dislike a book but I can admit that book might become someone's favourite. However, I just don't want to give it more stars because I want people to know I don't want them to read this book just because they thought I saw redeeming qualities in it.

The worst thing about this book is the marketing behind it. That's not the author's fault so I won't blame her for that. When you write a book that ends up being called "feminist", people assume you'll write another one that is similar. If they see the title "Femlandia", it'd be even more clear to them. The marketing team will use the success of the previous book to promote this one in a similar fashion. It all makes sense. HOWEVER, this book is not a feminist book, it is an anti-feminist book.
If this was promoted as a thriller with an evil group doing evil things, I wouldn't mind it too much. But people, and mostly women, will read this expecting it to be something very different. And many won't care because their "feminism" is full of empty slogans that do nothing to fix the problem, so I'm sure they'll love the misogyny of this book. But critical thinkers like myself...well, we see things differently.

In VOX, our main protagonist used to not see the harm the patriarchy does to the world. She used to laugh at her feminist friend until shit hit the fan and oh well, maybe the crazy feminist was right.
That book was not perfect and I personally didn't love the ending. But I really enjoyed it and thought it started really interesting conversations. And that's what I want when I read a fiction book with feminist undertones. I don't need a guide on how to be a feminist. I need fiction to be used to start conversations that we need to have.
I actually thought something similar might happen in this book. We got Win, the woman who had very extreme ideas and who had a daughter that fought her because of those ideals. Then the world becomes absolute hell, Miranda has to face adversities for once and...she realizes that the world isn't as pretty as she thought? Nah, that would involve character development and she was the flattest most annoying character I've read in a long while.

This book mentions all the reasons why women feel unsafe, it acknowledges them...only to then discard them in the next paragraph. If someone told me this book was written by a man, I would believe them.
And the key to all of it is in the author's note. The author tells us that she didn't like how some people reacted to her book VOX. And that's fair. As a writer myself, I can understand being annoyed by people misinterpreting your work or using it for a purpose you didn't intend.
However, what the author says is that because she wrote a book about men oppressing women, a lot of women read it and reacted to it by realizing that, shocker, men oppress women. And so a lot of people assumed that the author hated men. Cause you know, feminists hate men. And so, rather than explaining her point, she decided to write a book where the feminists women are as evil as you can imagine, and of course, she repeats multiple times that they hate men. Not her, the author, and not her main protagonist. Never them, because we can't make men uncomfortable by talking about the patriarchy or anything like that.

One of the worst parts of the book is how the idea of being a "victim" was used. I bet psychologists who have to treat very damaged women loved to hear that talking to them about their trauma is basically manipulating them. What a lovely thought!

In the end, the epilogue tries to show something that could have made the book so much better. But of course, it did that wrong too.
Radical feminists don't want to murder men. I know, wild. They want to change society, mostly through education, so the differences between sexes (not genders, gender is the problem) disappear. It's a long boring process, but it's the way to see change at some point. Exploring that through the concept of Femlandia, acknowledging the many hurdles that would appear, could have made this book a super interesting and important read. But that would probably make more men mad with the author and you know, women live to serve, not to be annoying.

As I have read and loved VOX and Q both amazing, thought-provoking books by Christina Dalcher, I was eagerly awaiting her next book release. I have seen two different covers for this book, both have pinks and reds heavily featured on them, representing the female orientated community called Femlandia which is central to this book. I have to be totally honest that I do much prefer the HQ publishing cover. I prefer the harsher lines and the subtle X depicted within the cover. I feel this cover is a stronger representation of the tough, hardened by their encounters with men, women that live in Femlandia. The other cover by Berkley also suits the book in its own way but its perhaps softer in representations, using the feminine facial profile and the two lonely figures (representing Miranda and her daughter Emma). It refers more to the women creating a happy male free existence living in peace and harmony together. The genres I have seen listed for this book are General (Adult) Fiction, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy, but I personally think it is so much more. It is Futuristic, it’s Speculative Fiction, and I would also say it has some elements of horror in there too. I think it will appeal to a wide variety of readers.

The main three central, most important characters in this book are Win, her daughter Miranda, and Miranda’s daughter Emma. The world has literally been brought to its knees and it’s a survival of the fittest scenario. Miranda’s husband of 20 years, Nick has always enjoyed spending money and living the good life, all that was required of his wife Miranda was to look pretty on his arm and take care of their daughter, Emma. When the money dried up, and those that invested on Nick’s recommendations grew angry, Nick took the what would be viewed as some as, the easy way out and committed suicide, leaving Miranda and Emma with the angry friends and neighbours. However, when everything goes to nothing, when stores have no produce to sell, and neighbours are choosing to make suicide pacts with their partners as they can no longer face life as it is now, Miranda has two choices. She can be like some of her neighbours and give in shooting first her daughter Emma and then herself or she can gather what little supplies she does have and make the journey to a place she never dreamt she would ever consider going to, Femlandia. Miranda’s mother Win created Femlandia with another young women called Jen. Femlandia is a community of only women, most of whom have had bad experiences with men. Some of the women have fled domestic abuse, rape, molestation and other such abuse metered out by the men in their lives.

Miranda had a falling out with her mother Win when she shockingly discovered the truth behind her own father’s suicide. Miranda doesn’t like Jen, the “perfect daughter” that Win always wanted her to be. Miranda had been a daddy’s girl, loving pretty dresses, playing with dolls. As Miranda got older. she wanted nothing more to meet the love of her life, marry him and have children. Miranda grew into a “lady that lunched” with a small group of similar minded friends. Win was sorely disappointed, she wanted a strong, forthright, daughter who dressed in pants or dungarees, refused to play with dolls, who would grow into being an independent woman who refused to rely on a man to look after her. When it became blatantly obvious that there was no way Miranda would be the person her mother wanted her to be, Win turned her attention onto Jennifer Jones. Jennifer Jones, didn’t play with dolls, she eagerly took the part in Win’s “act” playing the daughter Win wanted Miranda to be. Miranda was happy enough at the time to step back and let Jen be the “perfect daughter.” Jen became the person to help

It shows how desperate things have become for Miranda that she would even consider travelling to Femlandia in the hope of being able to have some safety and a future for her daughter Emma.
It’s not an easy journey, especially when Emma is about to be attacked by a group of men. Miranda has to make a split second decision, to aim and fire the gun that belonged to her husband Nick, that he had left for her with his suicide note. By the time the two women reach Femlandia, Emma has strangely regressed to being mute, communicating only via a sign language that Miranda taught her as a child. The same sign language that was the basis of the way Miranda communicated with the chimpanzee at the zoo where she worked.

When Miranda and Emma reach Femlandia they are given no special treatment for being the daughter and granddaughter of the woman that founded the community they are about to enter. It turns out both females have been hiding a secret from each other, perhaps that is one of the reasons that they eventually being eagerly welcomed into the female only society that is surrounded by barbed wire topped electrified fencing.

Though initially life seems almost idyllic within the boundaries of Femlandia, Miranda soon begins to see the negatives of her decision to join the society of women. Emma seems to be quickly, and easily spirited away from Miranda. The relationship between Jen and Emma becomes ever closer, with the pair having their own routines and secrets. The irony of Jen stealing away another member of Miranda’s family from her is one Miranda sadly accepts as the price of the safety of her daughter.
It’s made quite clear by Jen that she is in charge and that what she says is taken as “law” within Femlandia. Miranda is presented with a long list of expectations and rules that have to be fulfilled in order to stay in Femlandia. Rulebreakers are punished, and Miranda ends up being first fairly gently admonished, then upon a second offence she is disciplined more harshly and threatened that another infraction will result in her being set out of Femlandia. There are lots of secrets being held within the community, Miranda tries to discuss things with her old friend and ex lady who lunched Sal, but it seems Sal is Femlandia through and through and just accepts what has to be has to be. In fact, Sal warns Miranda not to rock the boat. It turns out all those years ago Win really did underestimate her own flesh and blood because Miranda refuses to just accept what she is told and goes in search of the answers to the many questions she has about the truths behind Femlandia and its occupants. It does eventually turn out to be the case that not everyone is truly 100 percent happy with how they are living within Femlandia and they end up kind of championing Miranda, and when a choice has to be made, and Miranda puts her mother daughter relationship and her own life on the line she ends up receiving a little help from slightly unexpected people.

I could seriously go on and on about the world building, the society, its rules and the fantastic characters in this book forever but of course I can’t and I also do not want to reveal anything that would spoil the natural unfolding of this book when you read it for yourselves, because, yes I definitely recommend reading it!

I felt immediately pulled in and intrigued by what direction this book was going within its first few pages. The book held me tight until the very end and the epilogue. I’ll be totally honest the “final showdown” between Jen, Win and Miranda had me guessing which way it was going to go. It’s difficult to talk about without giving away spoilers but I thought it was going to go down more of the route of Win & Jen being like two sides of the same coin and always being together in life/death in this stark new apocalyptic world.
My immediate thoughts upon finishing the book were, Wow! Its was a great read, but then I thought more about the book, the final showdown between Miranda and Jen…..and I couldn’t help mulling it over and over. In fact that’s why it’s taken me longer to eventually sit down and write my review.

So summing up, and I know this may seem like I am being super picky but I truly feel like I would have preferred the book to not have the epilogue, as it felt like it was a bit rushed and almost like a list of tied up loose ends readers may have had. The epilogue like it existed to just answer the questions readers would wonder about, which could have been left open to each individual readers own interpretation. Yes, it’s good on one hand for the author to wrap everything up as they see it but on the other without an epilogue, I can’t help wishing that there perhaps could have been a book 2, part 2 or a novella, which dealt with how things continued on in Femlandia. I honestly felt that I didn’t need all the information in the epilogue, or perhaps not as much of it, I wanted to be left pondering what I thought may have happened. Having said all of that I truly, highly recommend reading this book. It would be a fantastic book club read, there are so many discussions that are raised by it. I can imagine different readers having a lively debate about the characters as well as the themes of the different types and levels of abuse. I honestly cannot wait to see what is going to come next from this author. I am finding myself drawn more and more to this type of speculative fiction, I adore reading and discovering the different characters thought processes for their individual actions and decisions.

I really enjoyed, “Vox,” by Christina Dalcher and, although I haven’t yet got around to reading her previous novel, “Master Class,” I was intrigued to read and review her latest. Like “Vox,” this is dystopia, but set within the boundaries of a society that we recognise.

Our main character is forty-one-year-old Miranda Reynolds, mother of sixteen-year-old Emma and recently widowed. Her husband Nick had recently committed suicide, leaving them with nothing. Her mother, Win Somers, was the founder of ‘Femlandia,’ a female only community with no men or inequality. This was a society that she had set up nineteen years ago with her deputy, Jennifer Jones, and now fifteen US states have a Femlandia community, with ten more planned.

Miranda had many run ins with her feminist mother. She enjoyed the things that Win frowned upon – from pink, frilly dresses as a young girl, to motherhood and marriage as a woman. However, now she finds herself homeless, unemployed, with a daughter to support and in a lawless country. Men, it seems, have destroyed the economy and, with nowhere to go, Miranda and Emma head for Femlandia. Of course, this is not a utopian society and, before long, Miranda realises that things are very wrong indeed.

This novel looks at the lives of Win and Miranda, of issues surrounding motherhood, pregnancy and cults. On paper, it looked interesting, but I failed to engage with the characters and struggled with this. It may have just been this didn’t have the shock value or “Vox,” or just that the society Dalcher drew in that novel, seemed frighteningly more likely than in this. Or, perhaps, the central idea was just too similar. Still, an interesting premise and I would try another by this author. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

This book is massively problematic. Apart from being a dry and disjointed read, Dalcher's protracted rant about how all men are evil, her comments about transgender people left a bad taste in my mouth. Her earlier two books were OK but entertaining. This was just bad. I'll never read a book by Dalcher again.

Woah. Okay. I’ve had to let out a few measured breaths before starting to process this one.

The premise is exciting - a woman-only community living freely, separate from men. The founder’s daughter finds her way there as society breaks down on the outside. The adaptation to new rules, a new way of living. The promise from the book’s description that I was about to experience a women’s only ‘safe haven’. Sounds cool, sounds like something I would happily consume, hell, maybe I’d even consider launching my own commune. Right? Wrong. I had so many issues with this which I’ll relate to you, whilst attempting to keep the vitriol from my voice.

Firstly, the title and the name of the commune - Femlandia. FEMLANDIA. FEM! I don’t have the energy to go into all the issues I had with this, but I will say it gave me distinct memories of a revered 90s YA author who would have his characters go to the mall and visit shops called things like CD World.

Despite the fascinating dystopian idea Dalcher has here, she fails to make it in any way engaging. The plot is dry, peppered with memories which sometimes don’t feel relevant, or which are there to reinforce a point already made, as though readers are too stupid to have clicked onto it the first time. Our main character, Miranda, is unlikable as hell, and no one else fares any better in the popularity stakes, making it impossible to care what happens to anyone.

What I was really interested in here was how the community functioned in comparison to the outside. What are the rules and why have they been enforced? What are relationships like? It seemed there was very little democracy, with the women being ruled over by a leader, but there was no real exploration of this. If this is being depicted as a cult, I want to know more about it.

Which brings me on to my next point - portraying this whole community as a cult, and choosing to name their leader Jen Jones, is incredibly tasteless. I find it impossible to believe this is a coincidence, and I find it painfully unnecessary and cheap.

The whole thing smacked of transphobia to me. When our insipid protagonist reaches the gates, she questions the women-only rule, and specifically asks about trans women. She’s told trans women are too grey an area, and they deal with only absolutes. If they start letting trans women in just because they identify as women, then where will it stop? BIG YIKES. A disgusting statement, which happens in the first quarter of the novel, so I had my back up the rest of the way. Trans men are never mentioned, and seem not to exist in Dalcher’s world.

I’ve spent enough time talking about this, and I’d like to move on. In parting, I’d like to express my hope that the use of XX as a women-only symbol is removed from the marketing materials, as not all women have those chromosomes. It would also be lovely if we all started to think a little bit about other groups in society before thrusting something like this into the world.

Well-written, thought provoking and challenging.

Dystopian novels are one of my favourite genres and the premise of this one was intriguing. Set in a future where the American economy has collapsed, Miranda and her teenage daughter Emma are left with nothing. In this dystopian world where there is danger around every corner and scarce resources there is one place that just might save them. For Miranda it is a last resort but with little other choice they set out for Femlandia, a self-sufficient women-led, women-only complex. Safe haven, or something else entirely?

Well-written with interweaving backstories alongside the main story, this book was gripping, although given the themes and the massive issues it touches on, it is dark, challenging and disturbing. I swept through the book and found myself thinking about it when not reading it. I would recommend this book and will be checking out Christina Dalcher's other novels.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book for review.

Miranda’s and her mother Win have never really gotten along but their relationship is finally at an end when Win sets up Femlandia a women’s only comune. Many years later when the world collapses into economic despair Miranda and her daughter decide that although it doesn’t sit right with their beliefs that fleeing to her mothers comune of Femlandia is their only option to survive, but once they get there things are not what they expected. I enjoyed most parts of this book but felt a little more backstory could have been given about certain characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So to start off I would like to say that this book was very intriguing and interesting throughout the book though it was slightly confusing at the start! However having read the author’s previous work, this was not my favourite read by Christina Dalcher.

The start is sad and slightly confusing but once I got into the book it all became more clear and the point of view changes made sense and gave me a bigger insight into what happened and why the main characters are going to Femlandia. Femlandia is a sort of utopia for females however, nothing is without its flaws and that became more apparent as the book went on, keeping me interested in the book right to the end.

The book is slightly morbid, sad and has an overall “something’s not right” feel to it. You feel for the characters from the start. There has been an economic crash and things are very bad for Miranda and her daughter Emma, the spiral of things getting worse prompts them to go to Femlandia. The book tackles difficult topics, and really makes you think about your life and appreciating it. It is a heavy read, more than Dalcher’s other book, Vox, and follows the same dystopian motif as well as topics of abuse, sexism and misogyny, or misandry in this books case.

I am giving this book three stars and I would recommend this book to those who have read and enjoyed Evacuation Road by HM Waugh.

Christina Dalcher is the queen of dystopia!
This book begins as Miranda and Emma have bailiffs come to clear anything of value from their home and we soon learn things have changed in the world.
We never actually find out what has brought about these changes but that doesn’t really matter as a great picture is painted of how things are now, and they’re not good!
Miranda’s mother set up a group called Femlandia some years earlier and this offers a sanctuary of sorts for Miranda and Emma…
or does it!!!
The story has a lot of violence, rape, mental and physical abuse, neglect. There is nightmare inducing stuff right here on these pages. I loved it!!!
5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I didn't finish this book. I didn't enjoy this authors writing and overall what I did read felt so rushed. I'm sure this is perfect for some readers, just not for me. Amazing concept though.

As the world descends into chaos following a global depression, Miranda and her teenage daughter Emma are forced to seek refuge at Femlandia, one of the all-women anti-men communes that Miranda's mother helped create.

At first Femlandia feels like a sanctuary after the dangers of apocalyptic America. However, Miranda quickly begins to lose Emma to the misandrist zeal of leader Jen Jones and finds herself increasingly wary of the secrets inside the compound and the eerie sounds she hears at night...

This is a disturbing read which sympathetically captures the pain and desperation of women who have been victims of men whilst warning of the dangers of a radical female world which treats all men and boys with violence and cruelty. Femlandia cannot be a place of peace for women if it is fed by hate.

Gradually Miranda begins to see how Femlandia might be a haven for women and why her mother acted as she did. However, the secrets behind conception and birth at the commune and their view of all men, even little boys, as animals or pets rots that possible sanctuary from within.

Against the terrible simmering hatred of the women of Femlandia, stoked and fed by Jen, Miranda remains a voice of reason which reminds us that humanity does not begin and end with gender.

A chilling and layered read which I couldn't put down. A true modern horror which exposes the dangers of a world without gender equity and ends with a horrifying sense of circularity.

Sometimes I read a novel and I absolutely get the point the author is making with the story, and occasionally I think “who am I supposed to be rooting for, all these people are awful?” Femlandia is such a novel.

The main character, Miranda, is a smug tradwife, newly widowed as society breaks down, but seemingly only sad about the loss of her financial security rather than her husband. Miranda and her daughter join Femlandia, the cult started by her mother, a ‘feminist’ utopia run by TERFs.

Miranda who despite witnessing the attempted rape of her daughter, and listening to both her daughter, mother, and other women’s tales of sexual assault, is unable to say anything other than “men aren’t all bad”. Rather than empathising with these traumatised women (including her own daughter), Miranda is, at all times, unable to contemplate that others hopes for their lives could be as valid as her own. Everyone is ‘jealous’ of Miranda for her feminist choice of (formerly) being a rich stay at home mom who is constantly reminiscing about Starbucks and getting her nails done. Starbucks is mentioned so often in this novel that I became suspicious that Dalcher might actually be sponsored by them.

As you may have gathered, for most of the novel Miranda is a deeply unsympathetic character, and it is only the final act reveal that validates her actions. The reveal, that the leaders of Femlandia have been indulging in both hitherto unmentioned psychological conditioning and for decades have been stealing male babies and treating them like dogs is underwritten, and far-fetched.

While I thought the novel set up the tension between Miranda’s view of the world and her mother’s extremely radical feminism well, I wanted that tension, and their relationship, to be the core of the story. The final acts reliance on horror style theatrics undermined what could have been a much needed exploration of how trauma has a lasting impact on your sense of safety and security.

Who would have the thought things could get any worse? But in Femlandia, Christina Dalcher serves up a dystopian look at the utter breakdown of society. It’s a violent world where the economic infrastructure has collapsed. The power has run out and utilities have run dry. The shops have been looted and it’s every man for himself. Literally.

Miranda’s husband, a dotcom entrepreneur, took the quick way out (like many others) and drove his Maserati off a mountain. Miranda and teenage daughter Emma hold out for as long as they can but soon take to the road to seek sanctuary at one of the country’s female-only compounds: Femlandia. Slight problem. Femlandia was founded by Miranda’s mother Win, and to say they don’t get along is a stretch.

Accepted into the womyn’s enclave, Emma, who has heretofore been an absolute angel goes into feral-teenage mode and Miranda is sneered at by her stepsister Jen who runs the show. Miranda is just a shade too trophy-wife for everyone and her skills are limited to the somewhat indulgent ‘primate-communication-specialist’. But soon, Miranda smells a rat in the womyn-haven.

There are tense acts of violence and an unfolding of many sad tales of women’s oppression at the hands of men. Though set up like a Cormac-McCarthy-meets-Handmaid’s-Tale this is no literary tour-de-force. The surprises of the denouement greet the reader a mile off and it is not an adventure-strewn nail-biter. But still, the concepts introduced by Ms Dalcher about humanity and its lust for power and its struggle to organise properly are profound. Femlandia serves up an ending in the tradition of Shirley Jackson – not nicey-nice at all.

I am sure book groups from age 14+ will revel in the amount of discussion they will get from this book. For that reason alone, you should put it on your purchase orders. But be warned, it’s not about feminism, it’s about the human ability to create a mess and not clean it up. Thanks to NetGalley UK and HarperCollins eARC. It was a frustratingly enjoyable read I finished in a single sitting.

Whilst 'Vox' and 'Q' are dark and disturbing portrayals of human nature, they are solid dystopian novels which I rather enjoyed. With 'Femlandia', Christine Dalcher has gone one step further is trying to leave her reader deeply unsettled and questioning everything they believe about human nature. The main plot line is an interesting premise, but I warn you now that, by the end, this novel strays to a bizarre place which does not feel as enjoyable as Dalcher's other novels.

We are introduced to Miranda and her daughter Emma as the world (for some unexplained reason) has fallen into debt and chaos. Supermarkets are low on food, electricity and running water are a distant memory, and people are either killing each other or themselves. Rather than face the danger of this grim reality, Miranda and Emma seek refuge in a local 'feminist' commune, Femlandia. These, as established through flashbacks, were founded by Win, Miranda's mother. What appears to be a safe paradise for broken women clearly has some dark things bubbling under the surface...

All in all, the premise is solid and we have some interesting characters in the mix. I thought the flashbacks to Win's formative years and the abusive treatment which shaped her, were particularly well written. Even if she experienced some horrific things, Win becomes an awful villain, a vile person amongst a generally awful cast of characters. The very end is clever, and makes society feel like a grim cycle of misogyny. It is just a shame that the plot on the way there is... bizarre!

3 stars for Dalcher's latest work. Fingers crossed we have a better return to form in her next novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.