Nomansland

Nomansland
By Lesley Hauge
Henry Holt, 2010. 243 pgs. Young Adult

In a future world, on an island that has been populated only by women for hundreds of years, a group of teenage girls come across an underground shelter filled with strange objects from the time before the Tribulation. These objects are considered Pitfalls—things that will distract them from their purpose and unity, like mirrors and makeup. After finding this stash of objects and witnessing other events on the island, Keller, one of the girls, begins to question her allegiance and if what she has been told all her life might have been a lie.

The premise intrigued me—a society with no focus on beauty and life’s frivolities. But the book left me with more questions than answers; there seemed to be something missing in the story. I think part of the reason I also did not enjoy it was the character Laing. She reminded me of the stereotypical cheerleader in most teen novels, the mean girl everyone wants to be friends with. Teen girls who want a different take on the dystopia genre might want to pick this up, but I would not recommend this to teen guys because they might be uncomfortable with some of the subject matter.

KK