Femlandia - Christina Dalcher

Genre: Dystopian Fiction | Fantasy | Speculative Fiction

Release Date: Expected 19th October 2021

Publisher: HQ

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS.

CW: Sexual Assault, Violence, Abortion, Pregnancy, Implied underage sexual activity.

"They said a great depression would never happen again. I don't know what was so fucking great about it, but it happened a second time."

The United States have collapsed. The men in charge have led the world into economic and social collapse, and ran away to let the womyn pick up the pieces. Schools have stopped, there's not enough food being produced and the power is running out.

Miranda has lost everything - her job, her husband and even her home. And she can only think of one place she and her Daughter Emma might survive - Femlandia. Isolated colonies exclusively for womyn who live outside the influence of men in a seemingly idyllic paradise. And she wants to believe that, but considering everything she knows about the founder, she's worried that the suffering she's experienced outside of femlandia's walls might be nothing compared to what she finds inside.

"I read somewhere that everyone's utopia is someone else's dystopia."

Dalcher has yet again managed to create a world so terrifying that it feels it could really happen. Finding the line where anger turns revenge, and showing just how easy it can be to fall into radicalism and extremism especially if you've been a victim in the past. The powers-that-be in Femlandia are not feminists - they're misandrists - and it provides anxiety-inducing questions for the reader to try and navigate.

This story jumps into the wasteland of society right away and doesn't let up, and this is definitely not one for the faint-hearted. Full of tension and terror, I was definitely gripped from the start and found myself desperate to know not only how the world had fallen so far but how Miranda was going to survive in this strange cult-like society.

Now, as much as the story itself I in a twisted way enjoyed reading, there were things that didn't sit right with me. Blatant transphobia and sexism to both men and women, and the complete lack of bodily autonomy and I tried to see these being from the points of views of the extremist characters but it just left me feeling uncomfortable for large portions of the story.

However, this speculative revenge fantasy is definitely one of those stories that will stay in your head whether you want it to or not.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Christina Dalcher, HQ and Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

Comments

REVIEW: This Could Be Us by Clare McGowan

Genre: Fiction | Literary Fiction Release Date: Expected 1st June 2023 Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group | Corsair Kate has done the unthinkable. She'd worked hard to build a perfect life for herself, while ignoring her growing unhappiness. But when her second child was born profoundly disabled, reality hit. Unable to cope, Kate left - disappearing without a trace. She ends up in LA, with a glittering career and a new family of sorts, but the guilt is still suffocating. Husband Andrew was left to pick up the pieces and care for their disabled daughter and angry, confused son. Bereft and broken, he leaned on Olivia, Kate's best friend. She's been by his side ever since, ignoring her own needs to meet his. Years later, Andrew has written a memoir about his daughter learning to communicate against all odds. But when Kate's new producer husband decides he wants to make a film of it, their worlds collide once again. Now, Kate must return to the life she abandoned and reck...

REVIEW: Live, Laugh, Lesbian by Helen Scott

Genre: Non-Fiction | Memoir | LGTBQ+ Release Date: 19th October 2023 Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Part memoir, part guide, part conversation and all queer joy — Live, Laugh, Lesbian is a brilliantly warm and friendly journey into the queer experience, not only from the author but from plenty of other lesbian, queer, bisexual and pansexual contributors who bring a unique viewpoint and voice and also show a beautiful diverse, intersectional scope of the queer spectrum and welcomes in queer people and allies of any kind to come feel the love. The book is very conversational, talking to the reader in a fun, friendly way — at times I rolled my eyes as the use of “famalam” but as a previous patron of Colours and Chicagos I’m not in a position to judge the Essex-isms. It’s full of anecdotes and observations that were witty and relatable as well as talking is through the more difficult side of queerness like dealing with workplace discrimination, religious trauma and coming out to family...

BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS: Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen

" This town has secrets that are best left alone." Author Hannah is a success, on paper at least. She's receiving critical acclaim and praise worldwide and her work is regarded as some of the best. She writes literature, not just books. But the reality is, outside of the literary circles nobody actually reads her work. But when she finally snaps at a book event and publicly criticises the genre fiction books that outsell hers, claiming they're easy and mindless she's challenged to write her own crime fiction novel in just thirty days by an author she loathes. Desperate not to lose to him, her editor arranges for her to spend a month in a quiet, cold village in Iceland hoping that the solitude will spark inspiration. But instead of writing a murder story - she's in one . Just before she arrives, the body of a young man is pulled from the icy waters and her search for ideas soon becomes a search for a killer. And if she's not careful, she might end up the...

On Bee's Bookshelf

Search This Blog