This is the first Christina Dalcher book I’ve read and I’ll definitely be reading more! The book is set in the near future in a Great Depression / apocalyptic setting, and I couldn’t stop reading. There were many shocking twists throughout the book and I loved how it flicked between characters and timelines!

This dystopian novel begins with the breakdown of society as we know it. Banks have been emptied, people are starving, feral and ready to do anything to survive. Femlandia is a community where only women exist. Miranda, and her 16 year old daughter Emma, make the long and treacherous journey to seek refuge there.

The premise of Femlandia is a really interesting one and I expected to be enthralled and disturbed in equal measure by this social experiment. The ‘edge of the seat’ moments I anticipated however never really occurred, as I wasn’t invested enough in the characters to care what really happened to them.

I would have liked the pace to be taken down a notch or two. A slow burn might have engaged me more. The story was rushed; the characters weren’t developed enough.

The story seemed to just revolve around Miranda and what she thought, but if we were expected to believe in the other characters, why weren’t we given a window into their stories and views? This would have added greater credibility to the novel as a whole. I am left with so many unanswered questions.

An utter hatred of men was its central theme. There were many disturbing events and the language was difficult to digest at times. Whilst I’m sure many people will enjoy this novel, I’m afraid it wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another easy read from Christina Dalcher. After reading Q I was excited to see this title listed on Netgalley. I really enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down at times.The dystopian worlds created by the author are completely believable and extremely reality based with no fantastical or magical elements which only serves to make them more disturbing to comtemplate.

In Femlandia we see a United States completely collapsed, People have lost their jobs, their homes, their money.,There's no food on the supermarket shelves and the mobile phones we clutched in our hands every day have become useless bricks. Miranda finds herself struggling desperately to take care of her own needs and that of her daughter Emma and as the world becomes more and more dangerous for lone women with no place to go , she makes the difficult decision to seek haven in Femlandia - a female only colony founded by her radical feminist mother.

But it isn't quite the blissful sanctuary they imagined it to be.

A thought provoking book, this was an interesting, if difficult at times, read.

The dystopian (not too distant) future set out in the book is actually quite scary when you stop and think about it, given that the cause is totally plausible and something that genuinely could happen at any time.

FEMLANDIA is a book with a lot of promise, but a messy execution--it's a "feminist dystopia" with an understanding of feminism that feels woefully outdated (the characters use "womyn" without a hint of irony) and a sluggish plot that fails to engage. Dalcher is a capable writer, but the politics of the central setting (extremely TERFy) make me second-guess whether I would read any more of Dalcher's work.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I very much enjoyed Vox so I had high hopes for this, and the author did not disappoint! The writing is fantastic, very descriptive, the character development is also great. This is a real ride though, the first half was harder to get through than the second just because of the content but once you're in Femlandia it's much better. This book is compelling and thought-provoking, I would like to know a little more on the backstory and how the country came to be as it is but still it's a fantastic read.

I will always read any book Christina Dalcher releases having enjoyed her previous books immensely. There's no denying that there is an element of repetition with her stories and they certainly follow the same type of theme but nonetheless, I enjoy them anyway.

While I absolutely tore through this book, I can't deny that I was disappointed in the end. While the concept is an interesting one, I found it odd that we aren't really given much backstory as to why society and the economy has ended up the way it has, which seems strange as it plays such a big part in the book. I also think Nick needed a lot more fleshing out as a character, his death didn't make much sense to me at all and felt a bit convenient.

It's worth bearing in mind that this book covers some really uncomfortable topics and a few of the darker parts of the book made me feel a bit ill.

I liked the alternating points of view of Miranda and Win, the latter of which helped create some understand of the creation of (the pretty badly named) Femlandia. If anything, it would have been nice to have more from Win's POV. I would have liked to know more about how things got up and running. And if I'm honest, this is my biggest issue with this book on the whole. It ends far too soon to make much sense and the characters seem to just switch and change their minds out of nowhere, almost just so the book can quickly finish, which is a real shame. I think this really let down the book. I really think it needed to be longer in order to come to a logical finish and Miranda needed to spend longer in Femlandia too, giving us a deeper insight into both the place and the women there.

I'm still giving it three stars as it's certainly a unique plot but I can't help but feel really disappointed as a few (important) changes could really have transformed this.

With the world in a dystopian turmoil following an international economic collapse, Miranda and her teen-aged daughter are forced to make a difficult decision – stay in Maryland and risk starvation or attack by one of the roving gangs of violent, disenfranchised men, or make a dangerous and arduous journey on foot to Virginia, to a self-sufficient, women-only commune founded by her estranged mother. Whilst it should offer security and community in these troubled times, Miranda soon discovers that there are dark secrets to be found in Femlandia and finds that it may not be that safe after all.

Having read Dalcher’s debut novel, Vox, I had high hopes for Femlandia, but it quickly became apparent that I was going to be disappointed. The novels are similar in that they’re both set in dystopian USA and that they deal with themes of sexual discrimination and feminism, but they’re chalk and cheese when it comes to quality and content. The plot is basic and under-developed, and in parts completely unbelievable. The characters act irrationally – one specific character switches allegiances at the drop of a hat – and the villains have no depth whatsoever. There’s little middle ground – background is either so vague as to be pointless or rammed down the reader’s throat.

I really hope Femlandia is a glitch. With Vox, Dalcher proved that she can do so much more, and I hope she gets back to that level with her next novel.

I received an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What the actual hell did I just read? I thought this would be a feminist book but what I got was a bunch of TERFs running a cult passing it off as a feminist utopia and a spineless protagonist. Honestly, this book had it's messages all mixed up and I am not here for it. We do not need books about extremist feminists. And honestly some of the scenes in this book made me sick.

It's 2022, there's been a financial crash bigger than 2008 and the US has gone to pot. The book centres on Miranda, a woman in her forties pregnant with her second child, heading to Femlandia with her 16 year old daughter Emma after her husband Nick drives off a cliff because he can't handle the financial crisis. Miranda's mother Win founded Femlandia before she passed away, and adopted daughter Jen now runs the place. Miranda never saw eye to eye with her mother, preferring to talk about boys and make-up than be invested in her mother's community ideas.

Anyway, Femlandia isn't the utopia its cracked up to be and some really sick things are happening there.

Basically, the world doesn't need books like this with confused messages about feminism. I don't even know what the author was trying to get out. Defo look for the trigger warnings because this is one of the grimmest, most disgusting books I've ever read.

A dystopian future where a woman and her daughter seek refuge in a safe haven designed exclusively for women.

this was another thought provoking novel from Christina Dalcher; I loved Vox and Femlandia was no exception. Although tough to read at times it was completely gripping and I couldn't put it down; absolutely thought provoking.

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ publishers for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review

I'm a fan of Christina Dalcher's work - uncomfortable reading, yes, but always compelling and hugely thought=provoking. For me this third novel was a book of two (unequal) halves. The first part, before Femlandia, I found much harder to engage with, but I am glad I persisted as the Femlandia part really stepped up a gear and took me in unexpected directions. Again, a very thought-provoking read

Mother daughter relationships are often front and centre if many books I have loved. This one charts the rise and fall of Win, her daughter Miranda, and Miranda’s own daughter Emma.
Trapped into an unwanted marriage Win dreams of freedom, a d takes extensive steps to pursue this dream. She plans a femal only future in a commune called Femlandia, but Miranda is reluctant to buy into this ‘dream’ and distances herself at all levels from her mother.
Then came the dystopian lawless future following a Wall Street crash event, leaving Miranda and Emma with little hope except to try and find Femlandia , a place which will provide food and shelter.
What they find, is not as rosy as they had hoped.

Gripping, sinister, unnerving, brilliant
Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

Well this was an interesting how the abused become the abusers. I let this book ruminate in my thoughts as it was very interesting and thought provoking.

I am going to have to re-read this to really understand all that the book offers and the author's thought process.

I was given an advance copy by the publishers and netgalley but the review is entirely my own.

Another interesting idea and thought provoking read from Christina Dalcher.
A woman and her 16 year old daughter have to leave their home following a devastating economic crash and find a place of safety. Set over two time frames we get to understand why Miranda and her mother before her made the choices they made and the consequences of those choices. An interesting idea. that left me torn. I wasn't entirely sure who to feel sympathy for. This was a good thing - I don't like my reads to be simple. .
I liked it. It made me think and it kept me gripped. It is quite a disturbing read, but if you liked her previous books (I loved Vox) you are going to want to give this a try.
Thank you to the author, her publishers and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read #Femlandia prior to publication.

A grim, dystopian novel for fans of the genre; think Handmaid’s Tale but with a twist. Set in a near-future America where chaos reigns and for some, refuge can be found in Femlandia, a women's commune. However, is all as it seems?

Here, this author returns to her go-to topic of gender, yet this concept could easily be applied to race, religion, or class.

This sinister vision of the world going to hell in a hand cart has the power to make you feel extremely uncomfortable, or it could just make you think about everyone’s place in the world and how some people have to battle so much harder than others. To be honest, there’s every possibility it may achieve both.

Miranda’s mother had a vision too, specifically one that offered protection, self-sufficiency, and empowerment exclusively to females. Within this haven of security and safety women can finally control their own destiny without the interference of a single man.

As with most things in life, those claiming sanctuary soon realise it comes at a price, even a refuge offering perceived autonomy. Sacrifices have to be made. Compromises reached. The difference between success and failure of the ventures means respecting Femlandia’s way or the highway, quite literally.

The whole set up begs the obvious question of how future generations of Femlandians are created, which is a challenging task without any men around, if you catch my drift. Somehow, more little girls are born to pass the torch and reap the benefits of their mothers’ success. But more curiously, there’s not a little boy in sight…

One thing is for sure, Femlandia tackles many disturbing topics. On the whole the plot was unsettling, thought-provoking, and it had an air of bizarre plausibility about it. I can’t say it will be to everyone’s tastes as the plot verges on very clever in places to unpalatable in others.

As a fan of Christina Dalcher I was excited to read this one - however it just wasn't as good as Vox.

The concept was great, but I didn't feel a pull towards it. That being said, it still had all the qualities I've come to expect from Dalcher and I did enjoy it

Do not, under any circumstances, read this book if you're feeling depressed. It's grim. Really, really grim. Following the collapse of the world economy, civilisation begins to fall apart and Miranda and her daughter Emma have no choice but to trek to the all-female colony of Femlandia, established a few decades before by Miranda's mother Win. But while it may seem to be a caring sanctuary from the chaos outside, I'm not giving away anything when I say that all is not what it seems....

There are some interesting points made in this novel, such as the underpinning concept that there's no one-size-fits-all utopia. One person's utopia is another's dystopia: an 'ideal' society is, by very definition, exclusive. But Dalcher's lack of commitment to one side over another does become irritating as the narrative goes on, as all the protagonists' motives are so mixed as to make it impossible to identify with anybody. Indeed, I found all the characters fundamentally unlikeable, from Win's militant women-only feminism to Miranda's stubborn adherence to the concept of femininity. I can only presume that it's Miranda we're supposed to be rooting for, but all her decisions seem to me to stubbornly self-destructive. I get that she's been damaged by her upbringing, but even maternally-inflicted trauma doesn't seem enough justification for some of her actions in the novel. And by the end, the book seems to have settled into a fatalistic position which leaves one only with the question, 'why bother?'.

So....mixed feelings here. I found the novel a fast and easy read, and I certainly wasn't tempted to put it down. Nevertheless, it left me with a sour aftertaste because it just seemed to involve a whole load of suffering for, essentially, nothing.

In this near-future speculative novel, the USA’s financial systems have failed and society has completely broken down. The supermarkets have run out of food and closed down, utilities are being shut off and there is violence everywhere.

Miranda Reynolds and her teenage daughter, Emma, having lost everything, set out on the road in search of a place of safety. Miranda’s estranged mother Win was the founder of a number of safe spaces for women known as Femlandia and, devoid of any other option, Miranda and Emma end up at the gate of the nearest Femlandia asking to be taken in. It’s not too much of a spoiler to say that Femlandia turns out to offer a kind of dystopia within a dystopia.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I love a good dystopian novel and the subject matter (women-only spaces, gender-based violence and so on) was interesting to me, but I was left not really knowing what position the author was taking on any of these issues, or whether she’d kept that deliberately obscure for the sake of the story and making readers think. A couple of the characters in Femlandia certainly take things to the kind of extremes that couldn’t be predicted from whatever life experiences they’d had, so maybe the general point is a more nihilistic one about human nature.

I’m not a big fan of content warnings, but it’s probably worth saying that this book may not be for you if you are not up for reading about distressing topics at the moment, and the one that stood out for me (in quite a sea of upsetting scenes) was child neglect.

Femlandia, for me, has an interesting premise, is well-written and horrifying, and it left me feeling unsettled, which may well have been the intention. Some of my unease, though, came from the treatment of certain of the book’s themes, and I felt like I finished Femlandia with gaps in my understanding of how some of the more extreme personalities and behaviours came about.

Dark, dystopian novel that fans of Margaret Atwood and Naomi Alderman will enjoy. In a near-future America in chaos Miranda and her daughter Emma seek refuge in Femlandia, a women's commune. But is it the answer to their problems? Very thought-provoking.