Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
88th out of 301 books
—
1,972 voters
Nomansland
by
Lesley Hauge (Goodreads Author)
Sometime in the future, a lonely, windswept island is populated solely by women. Among these women is a group of teenaged Trackers—expert equestrians and archers—whose job is to protect their shores from the enemy. The enemy, they’ve been told, is men. When these girls come upon a partially buried home from the distant past, they are fascinated by the strange objects—high-...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
June 22nd 2010
by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
(first published June 15th 2010)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
2,330)
Warning - I gave away some spoilers while ranting
Well, um, I have no idea why this book was written. And this is just one of those books that definitely requires an explanation, it is quite clearly not for basic entertainment value... there's a message in there somewhere, I'm sure of it, a message that's all about women and men and feminism, the way we live now and the way we could live. I'm just not sure what that is. In fact, "not sure" seems too mild a phrase, to say I haven't got a clue wou...more
*Audible Review
I decided to take a chance on this book thinking it'll be like the Walking Chaos trilogy by Patrick Ness, which I loved. Unfortunately, the only similarity was the premise: inability of two genders co-existing in the same town/world. In the case of Nomansland, the island, Foundland, is survived by only women. The man is the enemy, a tainted species. Our protagonist, Keller, is teenager trained to be a tracker, monitoring the borders of Foundland to protect it from the invasion of...more
I decided to take a chance on this book thinking it'll be like the Walking Chaos trilogy by Patrick Ness, which I loved. Unfortunately, the only similarity was the premise: inability of two genders co-existing in the same town/world. In the case of Nomansland, the island, Foundland, is survived by only women. The man is the enemy, a tainted species. Our protagonist, Keller, is teenager trained to be a tracker, monitoring the borders of Foundland to protect it from the invasion of...more
9 likes · like · see review
Set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian society, Hauge's debut novel delves into the inner turmoil of Keller, a young teen, as she struggles with her own values and identity in an oppressive society. In a population made up entirely of women, Keller›s society defends itself vigorously against invasion by men from the outside world. The girls in the society are taught to avoid the seven Pitfalls—Reflection, Decoration, Coquetry, Triviality, Vivacity, Compliance, and Sensuality—and to reject warmth an...more
I began reading this book expecting something like The Hunger Games. The story is in that same vein of dystopian futures that there have been so many books about lately for young adults. But what I found was so different from The Hunger Games and so provocative that I’m not sure I have anything to compare it to.
The premise is that sometime, far in the future, a colony of woman have isolated themselves on an island, living completely without men. In fact, men are the enemy. Everything about their...more
The premise is that sometime, far in the future, a colony of woman have isolated themselves on an island, living completely without men. In fact, men are the enemy. Everything about their...more
I listened to this audiobook, and I didn't enjoy the narrator very much. This was a very atmospheric book with some very chilling scenes, but not a lot of momentum. I am a momentum kind of girl, but some people prefer atmospheric and chilling, so this might be for them. There are also some very interesting themes in here, honestly it would be intriguing to discuss as a book club. But there are some descriptions of women (in this all-women society) that are pretty sensuous... bordering on uncomfo...more
I liked this book. It was an easy read and brought up many questions that kept the book going. That being said, it needs a sequel. Many questions are left for the reader when everything is said and done. What was the horrible event that happened so long ago? How long ago did it actually happen? 200 years? maybe only 75 years have passed? How have other societies coped? They still have gas engines that work, so that means that there are oil refineries and other forms of energy being used, but def...more
Katie warned me and I didn't listen, but it had such promise. Granted this is YA and is not expected to have the Feminist Sci Fi meat that Gate to Women's Country by Sheri Tepper or Walk to the End of the World by Suzie McKee Charnas has (excellent man-hating Sci Fi, btw) but this really fizzles. Keller is a young girl being trained to be a tracker, to protect her world from the enemy - men. The young girls in her group are not allowed to touch or care for one another. Their world is work, sleep...more
I thought that Keller (the main character) was going to be a courageous warrior who fights for what is right. Instead, she is a fearful young girl who is trying to find her way as everything she's ever believed about her world comes tumbling down. She makes bad, impulsive decisions and gets caught up with the rule-breakers. The story takes place in the future after some disaster killed off the "Old People," but it doesn't seem like the future. They don't even have the technology we have now, and...more
Nomansland, written by Lesley Hauge, is a pretty good story about a group of Amazon-type women who live in a postapocaliptic world. Their world is tightly governed by rules and restrictions. Girls are strictly raised with specific tasks in mind. There are the Housekeepers, Librarians, Cooks, Mothers, etc.
The story focuses on Keller, who's function in this society is to be a tracker, trains alongside other teenagers to defend the island where they live from their enemy: man. Upon discovering thi...more
The story focuses on Keller, who's function in this society is to be a tracker, trains alongside other teenagers to defend the island where they live from their enemy: man. Upon discovering thi...more
I couldn't finish reading it. It started off well enough for a dystopian novel, but the concept was just poorly executed. Seriously, it's not exactly cliche, but more unbelievable. However, instead of having the barest of redeeming qualities (making me laugh at trite jokes because the story is OK, or laugh at the poor story because the one-liners make me chuckle).
As a book, I rate it at a C-, a grade that I consider to be generous. It didn't even have the courtesy to be bad from the beginning, s...more
As a book, I rate it at a C-, a grade that I consider to be generous. It didn't even have the courtesy to be bad from the beginning, s...more
2 likes · like · see review
The year is sometime in the future. The place is Foundland, an island somewhere north. There has been some kind of apocolypse, but either no one knows, or no one is telling, what exactly happened. Foundland is populated by the select few. The females that have not mutated. They are taught to depend on no one but their community. They hunt, farm, and have special trackers to watch and chase off the men that may find their shores.
While I found the story interesting, there was a little too much mys...more
While I found the story interesting, there was a little too much mys...more
I found this book on a Powells book list of YAF Dystopia Sci-Fi, as in "Can't get enough of the Hunger Games? Read these books!" In my case, it's more like "Can't get through the hold line at the library for the Hunger Games? Try this in the meantime!" (here's the list for reference). Anyway, usually I really appreciate anything I get off a Powells list, and my library had the audiobook readily available, so I read it.
The premise of the book: Sometime in the future, the world has suffered a grea...more
The premise of the book: Sometime in the future, the world has suffered a grea...more
Dystopian future where most of the world is twisted by nuclear radiation. However, this island, known to its inhabitants as Foundland, has women who are all of good genetic stock. Only women. Because boy babies are left to die of exposure at birth. The women reproduce by artificial insemination, being fortunate enough to have had a sperm bank on the island survive long enough for them to move it into their own version of cold storage.
Women aren't allowed to have friends, or lovers among the oth...more
Women aren't allowed to have friends, or lovers among the oth...more
Going into it, there was a lot about this book to appeal to me. YA Science Fiction is probably my favorite genre, especially the books pitched at girls, and I've *always* been a sucker for a good dystopia. And at the beginning of the book, the main character Keller really appealed to me -- she wants to hide how much she doesn't really fit in within their highly monitored all-female society, and yet she's shocked when she's faced with rebellious behavior by some of the other girls. Keller is pull...more
Disappointing is the best way to describe this book. The end flap made it sound so good with an excellent premise of an island populated only by women who sustain themselves and think of men as the enemy. A few of the girls discover a buried house and with it things of the past (teen magazines, makeup, bicycles, heels) and they start to wonder what is really outside their island.
The story drags along and nothing really happens. There is way too much description that tells the reader nothing and...more
The story drags along and nothing really happens. There is way too much description that tells the reader nothing and...more
Nomansland gripped me and refused to let me go. As a girl who lives in a machismo society, I truly appreciate this novel. It uplifted women to the point of equality that has been desired for many years. Foundland was such a wondrous place despite the strange strict laws that they need to obey. With the buried houses and objects from the Time Before (our time), it was like discovering the present and seeing the things that I know through a foreign pair of eyes. The things of vanity led to awe and...more
I'm a sucker for dystopian lit, even though stand-outs are few and far between. At some level, so many of them are the same. As I read through this one, I was mentally ticking off boxes: "vague future setting? check. Strict governmental oversight--check--of an isolated people? check. Inability to travel beyond that town's borders? check again." In an odd bit of synchronicity, the Boston Bibliophile's husband posted a review today of Justin Cronin's The Passage, a review that included his checkli...more
1 like · like · see review
Sometime in the future after an unspecified catastrophic event engulfed the Earth, a group of strong, fearless women create a society without men. Keller, a young woman, is being trained as a tracker, that is, one who will defend the boundaries of Foundland against their enemy (men). They live a life of no-frills, no vanity, no friends, and joyless society.
Sensing some sort of rebellion in the air, Keller discovers that her fellow tracker-novice, Liang, has found an underground treasure-trove o...more
Sensing some sort of rebellion in the air, Keller discovers that her fellow tracker-novice, Liang, has found an underground treasure-trove o...more
Keller is training to be a Tracker, those who patrol the outer ridges of Foundland for the enemy. In this case, the enemy is Men. Keller lives in a society of only women, hard work, and survival. No one is permitted to have fancy first names, and all must adhere to the Seven Pitfalls (much like the seven deadly sins) if they do not want to be punished. It is a dreary, boring life, but it is all Keller knows. Until one night, when fellow Patrol member Laing takes her to a hidden underground house...more
1 like · like · see review
Keller lives in Foundland, an island peopled by women only. It is years after the Tribulation which brought richly deserved punishment to the Before People or so says Ms. Windsor, the Chair of the Committee. Keller is training to be a Tracker and lives an extremely regimented life. One of her fellow trainees finds a house almost completely hidden and filled with many Found Objects which are toxic and forbidden. Keller and Laing and a few other trainees escape to the house, part of a Gated Commun...more
This is a world that could be our future, the winter seems endless and warm spells last only a brief time. Many people are 'deviants' who are deformed, have mutations and do not survive long. Nomansland is an island community made up of only women, who remain 'pure,' mutations are not allowed; neither are men. The leaders of the society live at a place called Johns, and it is their arrival at Saint Hilda's College for Women, that starts Keller, our heroine, on her journey.
At first Keller fears t...more
At first Keller fears t...more
Lesley Hauge flawlessly brings into the light an idea that has been in the back of all women’s minds at some time or another—a world without men. Through a fascinating portrayal of this society with only females, she makes connections to teens lives in this fantastical thought-stimulating page-turner, addressing our deepest fear of not knowing what to believe. (my YA Galley pre-published review)
The book portrayed an immensely contrasting world to my own. It simulated an idea that had always resi...more
The book portrayed an immensely contrasting world to my own. It simulated an idea that had always resi...more
This falls somewhere between a 3 and 4 star book-
BAsically it was a well developed plot, A great number of interesting characters, a "believeable" history that was intriguing, as well as an intriguing "culture" for this group of women isolated on an island in a dystopian future.
The characters struggled just a little bit to me with being TOO apethetic. Keller reminded me a bit of the female lead in the book "The Forest of Hands and Teeth" in her indifference and apathy, it worked jsut a touch be...more
BAsically it was a well developed plot, A great number of interesting characters, a "believeable" history that was intriguing, as well as an intriguing "culture" for this group of women isolated on an island in a dystopian future.
The characters struggled just a little bit to me with being TOO apethetic. Keller reminded me a bit of the female lead in the book "The Forest of Hands and Teeth" in her indifference and apathy, it worked jsut a touch be...more
Really 3.5 stars
After stumbling upon Nomansland during my searching for new books I added it to my Christmas list and then received it as a gift. It had a very interesting concept and a beautiful cover, what can I say, I'm a sucker for a pretty cover. It was well written but it seemed that it took me much longer to read and I never really got into it. I never became invested in the characters like I wanted. Foundland is an interesting and scary world, but the characters living there were somewha...more
After stumbling upon Nomansland during my searching for new books I added it to my Christmas list and then received it as a gift. It had a very interesting concept and a beautiful cover, what can I say, I'm a sucker for a pretty cover. It was well written but it seemed that it took me much longer to read and I never really got into it. I never became invested in the characters like I wanted. Foundland is an interesting and scary world, but the characters living there were somewha...more
I just finished reading Nomansland, by Lesley Hauge. It was incredible. It was unlike anything I've read before. No Vampires, Fairies, Magic -- Nomansland is unique. The story takes place in the future, on a wind-swept island called Foundland, where there are no men. In fact, the women in Foundland are taught that men are the enemy. Women run the island, grow the crops, tend the animals, and defend the island from an enemy that never shows up.
As I read this book, I kept waiting for action, maybe...more
As I read this book, I kept waiting for action, maybe...more
Keller is training to be a tracker for her community. As a tracker she learns to shoot and ride, take care of weapons and animals. She and the other trackers in training live on an island that is populated solely by women; women who are strong, and have no need for men whom they deem the enemy. When her squad finds a house long buried under the vegetation which contains artifacts of the time before, they fall victim to the mysteries these items (magazines, high heeled shoes, makeup, etc…) repre...more
I had hopes for this book, but it didn't really live up to the hopes. There were a lot of interesting ideas brought up in the book, but they were either just hinted at, dropped all together, never explored, or just poorly executed. The main plot with the finding of the house and the girls becoming obsessed with the makeup and clothes seemed just strange and out of character. So much could have been done with the book and with this world. There were so many things I wanted to know that were never...more
In the future, in a distant land, lives a group of women. These women are warriors of sorts and all of their being hangs on the idea that they are pure and have no need for men. Curiosity, friendship, and vanity are all forbidden; life's duty is to focus on the well being of the group as a whole.
This place is called Foundland. One of the trackers, Keller, has secret thoughts that are different from what she has been taught. These thoughts eventually lead her into terrible danger, and she is for...more
This place is called Foundland. One of the trackers, Keller, has secret thoughts that are different from what she has been taught. These thoughts eventually lead her into terrible danger, and she is for...more
This story seemed to have so much potential, but then the plot just kind of fell short. It is set in the future, where the land is entirely run by women. Children are born through implantation of frozen sperm, and anti-male propaganda is rampant. Society has also taken a turn backwards in terms of technology. The rules are strict, especially about the Pitfalls, which cover everything to do with admiring beauty and being selfish. Fad's are dealt with quickly, and basically, girls are trained to b...more
Nomansland written by Lesley Hauge is set in a dystopian future, on an island populated only by women.
I picked up this book in Barnes and Nobles yesterday because it was under the Teen action and Adventure bestsellers. The cover and back made it seem really interesting but sadly it did not deliver.
Keller, the main character, is a scared unsure girl just trying to fit in with the more popular Laing. The cover made her seem so strong and confident but she is completely the opposite.
This book did n...more
I picked up this book in Barnes and Nobles yesterday because it was under the Teen action and Adventure bestsellers. The cover and back made it seem really interesting but sadly it did not deliver.
Keller, the main character, is a scared unsure girl just trying to fit in with the more popular Laing. The cover made her seem so strong and confident but she is completely the opposite.
This book did n...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Jun 02, 2012 03:53pm
Jun 02, 2012 05:42pm