Reviews

Femlandia by Christina Dalcher

mouthfulofsorrow_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

sammymus's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

booknerdzara's review against another edition

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2.0

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

Thanks to an economic collapse, America is on its knees. Shops are empty and the streets are no longer safe. Miranda has lost her home, her job and her husband; she and her daughter Emma only have each other left.

They only have one hope: Femlandia. A self-sufficient haven for women who want a life free of men.

I've been sitting on this review for a few weeks, trying to sum up how I felt about Femlandia.

Unfortunately, I did not like it as much as Dalcher's previous two novels, Vox and Q, which I loved. Although thought-provoking, I found it unsettling and uncomfortable at times; it is certainly not a book for the fainthearted!

The plot promises a lot, but to me, it fails to deliver at times and feels unbelievable and unengaging at times. I did not connect with any of the characters at all - I found Miranda boring and quite one-dimensional - and didn't care what happened to them.

It feels like it's a bit of a Marmite book to me, and sadly it was not for me.

jesshasty's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

lavenderladybugs's review against another edition

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1.0

this book is so bad, the premise sounds interesting enough but the execution is done so poorly. The main character is not likeable and the whole novels pushes the idea that a matriarchal society is toxic also VERY anti-communism. The whole book felt like it was written by a TERF with the constant sprinkled in transphobia. I really didn’t like the main character and felt like this books paints all feminist as evil man killers. truly not good

thesammylife's review against another edition

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1.0

I keep reading Dalcher's novels, and I keep being disappointed by them. The ideas are all there, but the execution is often poor and rushed.

This is very much the same issue with Femlandia. The central issue for the main character being that her daughter has been taken in by the leaders of Femlandia and turned against her. Sounds plausible right? Except this happens instantaneously, the exact moment they walk through the XX gates. This? Not so plausible.

From there it kind of goes downhill.

I also take exception to the portrayal of lesbians, who seem self-interested, delusional and kind of creepy. Point in fact, the adopted daughter who becomes lover.

I get it's meant to be a dystopia, but I don't think that in order to achieve this you need to shit on women who are proudly living their lives without men being constantly centered within that.

saniya18's review

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challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

paigee245's review against another edition

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3.0

Was a bit slow in the first half, felt a little misleading as a lot of the story isn't even in 'Femlandia', but once it was I wanted to know what was going on and found it hard to put down. I also found the main characters slightly insufferable I'm ngl, I didn't feel attachment to anyone in the story.

book_dragon_julia's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wasn't majorly keen on this book but I'm not actually sure why. It felt like I was working to get through it and it took me a while. Just seemed more long winded than it had to be. The premise sounded good but personally I don't quite think the execution was there.

kcory89books's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0