mahamreads's Reviews (365)

I mean I don't really know what to say about this book because it was interesting for sure, if at times a bit predictable (especially that final plot twist). The premise seemed quite promising and interesting, but it soon became your run of the mill murder mystery which isn't a bad thing at all, but I do wish there had been a bit more mention of The Herd, which is literally the title. Overall, it was a slightly above average book, which is why I'm giving it 3.25 stars

I had to physically roll up my sleeves before typing out this review because there is SO MUCH I want to say about femlandia but long story short it was absolutely terrible and possibly one of my least favourite reads of the year. I found the stance the author took on feminists and safe spaces designed for women to be extremely biased in a way that vilified feminists, which in my opinion is problematic because of how vilified feminists already are in real life. I'm not saying I expected the book to be extremely pro-female commune because I understand that there needs to be a plot and climax while writing a story, but if Dalcher cannot deal with such nuanced topics in a sensitive and mature way then she really shouldn't be writing about them. 

The terrible and unnecessary representation of women aside, the writing was SO boring. Every 2 or 3 pages Miranda would regurgitate and restate how she worked with apes to the point where every time i saw the word ape on a page i wanted to just skip it. The writing lacked the depth that other works of dystopian fiction usually have, even typically YA works, like the Hunger Games, and there was no real-world building, something that is integral to this genre. 

The characters were extremely one-dimensional and so so bland that I just couldn't be bothered to invest any emotion into any of them. All in all, this book was boring, forgettable and just not very good. would not recommend

extremely boring and slow and the characters weren't fleshed our properly. a real disappointment

its hard to believe that MOOSB is a debut novel because its so absolutely spectacular (pun intended). in fact, after finishing it I think I stared at my wall for a good 5 minutes because I was just so overwhelmed by the sadness I was feeling, and this is coming from someone whose entire brand is reading sad novels. 

to give a quick overview, moosb is about Lia, a wife and mother who has just found out that her cancer has come back and it is now terminal. the book is written in an experimental and lyrical way from various point of views, the most notable being that of the cancer itself. 

there were times when I had to take a break from reading because I was crying to much and I was afraid I'd wet my book but as soon as my eyes were dry I'd go back to it because the way Mortimer writes is just so beautiful. there's something about her writing that is so fluid, its almost like the words float off the paper, which was a treat to read. 

at its core tho, maps of our spectacular bodies is a coming of age story about a woman who's life is about to end, and I can confidently say that it is one of the best books I have ever read. 

this book helped me get out of major slump because of how unhinged it was. it speaks about late capitalism in a very roundabout way and the night I finished it, I stayed up thinking about it because what even was it about?? at the end of the day I wish I had gotten more out of it but it was a fun little book, and as usual Lara Williams' writing was top tier