What's so great about I Who Have Never Known Men? 

I loved it, but also felt unsettled by the lack of information. But I think that’s part of the point, and I appreciated the artistry

I - who normally really enjoys a plot-heavy story - was absolutely mesmerised by this book. It’s contemporary feel while being so deeply rooted in its historic time… Thanks for always finding the right words, Willow!

I'm so glad I went into this book blind. It was such a powerful and emotional journey, I couldn't put it down. This is one of those rare books that stays with you long after you finish it.

I just finished this book and it left me speechless (in a good way). I relate to the narrator quite a lot because I've been living alone for many years (away from home), and sometimes I wonder the same thing: does it matter how I live if I'm the only one around? We follow so many rules created by society, and we are so used to obeying them because we're too afraid of being the odd one, so we never question them! What makes us human in the end is our pure existence, not something that has to be completed by others.

This book is SO GOOD! I'm a girl who loves character so this book was perfect for me. It borders on horror in my humble opinion because it's so liminal and so dream like and so haunting.

I read this book about 2 or 3 years ago and I was invested but in the end I had so many questions that I felt like I lost something important to understand the story, but I couldn't find a convincing explanation. I was left very confused and frustrated, and I still don't know how I feel about the book.

love your enthusiasm to broaden literary canons 😍📚

I would like to recommend these short sci-fi books- 1. Rosebud by Paul Cornell 2. Emergent Properties by Aimee Ogden 3. Trafik by Rikki Ducornet

Just from your review I ordered the book, can't wait to read it

No wonder I haven't had luck finding it at the shop ! I thought it was fairly new as well. I'm looking forward to finally reading 💙

I also was thinking, that it was written recent years and in English, till your video. It is also really hard to discuss this book without spoiling everything what happens after alarm. I haven't felt that the novel focused exactly on feminism (for me, it also was proved by their findings in the second part). But it really changes few things, to have a community only of women: if they don't find other people, they all will slowly die, all of them, they know and accept that (also reproduction topic is out) and it's totally other social dynamic in the group without any men. Thanks to this choice, we can concentrate on other topics of our lives, existence.

I read this a few years ago and loved it!

Reading this book led me to "Herland" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Written in 1915, it makes me laugh out loud at how accurate and relatable it still is. Modern feminist can learn so much from our elders. Thank you for your review, Willow.

I have just finished reading this book and found it absolutely stunning.

Just bought that book! Can't wait to read it

This is such a big book for me! It feels like a dream to read - unsettling and unnerving, but not strictly a nightmare. Just a deep sense of wrongness. I love love _love_ that we get no answers! We end up with far more questions, in fact! We have to let ourselves go and flow with the book. We have to accept that we're never going to understand everything. Even though they're nothing alike, it reminds me of Piranesi (another favourite) in that we have to stop fighting the book, to sink into what we're reading and let it carry us away. This is the kind of book that can/will affect a person differently depending on the stage of their life they read it in, I think. I can't wait to reread it again and see what I learn anew. 🍄

I read this book almost a year ago and I can’t stop thinking about it 😢 It left me questioning, breathless, thoughtful. It’s such a short book, but a really powerful one.

Ohhhhhhh I didn’t know about this author’s past - the book means a lot more to me now .

I read it last year. I can't stop thinking about it and how sad and upset that book made me feel. I really liked it. 💜

I continue to periodically think about this book months after reading it

Have you read The Wall? A different book but similar themes, very good!

I read this last night and I think you’re spot on with the theme of humanity. I had dreams in the setting and with the women and it was absolutely nuts but also feminist which was cool. I think it’s also sort of poses so many social questions almost in a Jean Jacques Rousseau sense or maybe even a Foucault. What happens when all structure is torn away? What remains? Obviously eating and primal needs can’t be stripped away like eating and the need for shelter. The big theme is love as with in the erotic sense (meaning Eros/desire) but also in a wider sense. It’s absolutely brilliant and will recommend it henceforth.

I loved the book, but the mystery is killing me. I want answers!

Ok! Another book on hold at the library...

Yes the book was written in French . The English translation is actually very good. I ‘ve read both versions . I do not agree with the book being a feminist one. I can not go into it without giving spoilers but you know very well what they see on their journey. Talking about feminism is again looking to something from the past and trying to manipulate it to squeeze it into your own mindset . Feminism has literally nothing to do with this book. The Holocaust has ! The camps, the treatment, the division …. Credit to you that by the end of your video you can recognize that . The background of the writer is very very important in this case. Greetings from Belgium from someone who grew up listings to first hand experiences about the camps

Time to read Orlanda by her, Willow ❤

What also kept coming to mind as I read this was Poor Things. So if we look at the idea of what makes humanity, humanity and what makes a woman a woman, without social constructs that all looks very different. Willow, your mention of how humans argue about what is natural or normal but in the construct of commercialism and consumerism is so interesting and essentially what Bella goes through on a level as well. She has no idea about what it means to be a "woman" she has no social understanding and simply does things for pleasure, knowledge, or exploration. The only true difference is she has an audience and that shapes her as she grows into her "womanhood" our main character has no audience per se so her type of "womanhood" looks very different. She never went through puberty she never menstruated, does that make her any less of a woman? To her, no but in this new rigid sense of gender the world is trying to force does this change what womanhood means (we all know the answer is no, but its good to pose the question). Thanks for another lovely review, I have learned about so many amazing new authors and works since following your page.

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