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The Felicity Complex
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Expected 28 Jul 26Annie Bot meets Fallout in this dystopian six women created in a lab, designed to serve the billionaires of the future in a luxury fallout shelter, rebel against their programming after the end times arrive.
Welcome to the Felicity Complex! Constructed during the height of the Cold War, our unique hotel is prepared to protect you, the billionaire class, from nuclear annihilation! Shielded from radiation and supplemented with closed air systems and hydroponic gardens, this resort bunker offers a prime existence full gymnasium and spa, gourmet meals, top-tier medical care, and the best in entertainment.
Meet Hallelujah! Grown in a lab and educated in the ways of concierge hospitality, she believes in her duty to comfort the Lord-anointed refugees of the apocalypse. (Even if her lover Anastasia disagrees. Even if her creator Dr. Younghusband is disappointed in her.) Don’t worry—everyone is safe from communists in the Felicity Complex!
Look, Hallelujah, guests have finally arrived! Hallelujah and her sister specimens have waited ages for you. Never mind the secrets other rich survivalists may be hiding. Just make sure they don’t notice the violent intentions behind our staff’s wide, wide smiles…
A sendup of traditional womanhood and lampooning the paranoias of the elite, The Felicity Complex questions the ambitions behind the entitled few who plan for the end times—and who truly survives them.
Welcome to the Felicity Complex! Constructed during the height of the Cold War, our unique hotel is prepared to protect you, the billionaire class, from nuclear annihilation! Shielded from radiation and supplemented with closed air systems and hydroponic gardens, this resort bunker offers a prime existence full gymnasium and spa, gourmet meals, top-tier medical care, and the best in entertainment.
Meet Hallelujah! Grown in a lab and educated in the ways of concierge hospitality, she believes in her duty to comfort the Lord-anointed refugees of the apocalypse. (Even if her lover Anastasia disagrees. Even if her creator Dr. Younghusband is disappointed in her.) Don’t worry—everyone is safe from communists in the Felicity Complex!
Look, Hallelujah, guests have finally arrived! Hallelujah and her sister specimens have waited ages for you. Never mind the secrets other rich survivalists may be hiding. Just make sure they don’t notice the violent intentions behind our staff’s wide, wide smiles…
A sendup of traditional womanhood and lampooning the paranoias of the elite, The Felicity Complex questions the ambitions behind the entitled few who plan for the end times—and who truly survives them.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication July 28, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
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January 31, 2026Sharing more than a little thematic DNA with Metal from Heaven, this is a beautiful grotesquerie, and that makes it all the more real.
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January 31, 2026Ex Machina meet Fallout in this stylishly unsettling scouring of sexism and one girl’s quest for meaning where the humans are grotesque and the monsters are touchingly human.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Six women created in a lab are immortally tasked with playing the roles of concierge, maintenance, and entertainment for a billionaire’s luxury doomsday bunker. It goes as well as you’d expect.
This is the classic girl-shaped robot-specimen-experiment story with the queer Communist twist you’d expect from August Clarke. It grapples with issues of humanity, womanhood, purpose, and property and satirizes the type of people who think a secret (but also commercially marketable!) bunker built on aesthetic comforts more than functionality will save them during the height of the Red Scare.
The character work is a highlight of this novel. We follow Hallelujah, a “woman” who, at the beginning of the novel, was basically born yesterday. Her naivete provides plenty of comedy, and the absurdity of her learning to be a person provides enough levity to make the darker parts of this novel more digestible. (Check the trigger warnings for this one.)
Hallelujah’s sister specimens are equally strange in their own ways. For each of them, there was at least one moment where I thought, “Man, it’d be so cool to read this story from her perspective. It’d be a totally different book.” But in that hypothetical I’d miss Hallelujah’s voice. And sometimes not knowing what a certain character is feeling/thinking makes the mystery that much more compelling or ominous. Ultimately, I liked the choice to make the perspective character the one specimen who genuinely wants to please the billionaires and the scientists. It made her transformation that much more significant.
The writing isn’t as dense as Clarke’s other standalone novel Metal From Heaven (you could read that as a positive or a negative, depending on your tastes), but it still has plenty to say and it says it with style. Clarke’s lush, signature prose shines during the more horror-tinged passages, but, as I’m sure you can guess, the real horror is what the humans are capable of, not what the slime mold maid monsters are doing to them in return. This book isn’t overly gory, except when it’s deserved, and the most unsettling moments are the things that happen off page, or the things that you think might be happening off page, or the things that you think might happen on page next. Clarke’s great at creating tension and dread.
This was everything I wanted it to be and exactly what it says on the tin. If you’re drawn to the description, you won’t be disappointed.
This is the classic girl-shaped robot-specimen-experiment story with the queer Communist twist you’d expect from August Clarke. It grapples with issues of humanity, womanhood, purpose, and property and satirizes the type of people who think a secret (but also commercially marketable!) bunker built on aesthetic comforts more than functionality will save them during the height of the Red Scare.
The character work is a highlight of this novel. We follow Hallelujah, a “woman” who, at the beginning of the novel, was basically born yesterday. Her naivete provides plenty of comedy, and the absurdity of her learning to be a person provides enough levity to make the darker parts of this novel more digestible. (Check the trigger warnings for this one.)
Hallelujah’s sister specimens are equally strange in their own ways. For each of them, there was at least one moment where I thought, “Man, it’d be so cool to read this story from her perspective. It’d be a totally different book.” But in that hypothetical I’d miss Hallelujah’s voice. And sometimes not knowing what a certain character is feeling/thinking makes the mystery that much more compelling or ominous. Ultimately, I liked the choice to make the perspective character the one specimen who genuinely wants to please the billionaires and the scientists. It made her transformation that much more significant.
The writing isn’t as dense as Clarke’s other standalone novel Metal From Heaven (you could read that as a positive or a negative, depending on your tastes), but it still has plenty to say and it says it with style. Clarke’s lush, signature prose shines during the more horror-tinged passages, but, as I’m sure you can guess, the real horror is what the humans are capable of, not what the slime mold maid monsters are doing to them in return. This book isn’t overly gory, except when it’s deserved, and the most unsettling moments are the things that happen off page, or the things that you think might be happening off page, or the things that you think might happen on page next. Clarke’s great at creating tension and dread.
This was everything I wanted it to be and exactly what it says on the tin. If you’re drawn to the description, you won’t be disappointed.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
(3.75🌟 rounded up)
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!
A satirical book that explores the ideas of "traditional values" in the face of doomsday. Would definitely recommend to fans of Fallout, as it has similar humour, plot points, and overall vibe.
This is one of those books that I feel I need to really sit with to truly understand the layers and parallels that are drawn. There is a lot in this book that is left unsaid and there's a lot that we aren't privy to, since our main character herself doesn't always grasp the underlying meaning of things.
The book follows Hallelujah, a specimen created to survive the end times as Communists threaten the American Dream™️ during the Cold War era. Hallelujah and her fellow specimens have taken years to get right, and they will be the new hosts of "The Felicity Complex": a luxury underground bunker for the elite.
The book moves between 'before' they start living in the bunker and 'after' they officially move in. Each of the girls are fashioned after some form of womanhood and femininity that Mr. Pink, the creator of the Complex, sees as the pure, traditional values that he wants to preserve in the bunker so they can survive long after the American Dream™️ has been crushed. Each of the character's personalities and priorities represents how these ideals of womanhood begin, and by the end of the book, they devolve into something else completely as they're forced to survive and are left waiting for their first residents.
I found the characters quite interesting, especially their development across the book. It also asks an interesting question of where specimen ends and human begins, especially as these characters take on their own personalities and thoughts that differ from the ideals they were created with.
I don't want to get too caught up in details, so I'll wrap up with saying that overall, this book holds a mirror to the development of the U.S. since the Cold War and the battle against 'the Communists' and represents various archetypes of 'traditional American values' well. I will note that the writing style is quite unique and might not be for everyone - it's quite unserious and often include quips and one-liners, but I think it fits the feel of the book quite well!
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!
A satirical book that explores the ideas of "traditional values" in the face of doomsday. Would definitely recommend to fans of Fallout, as it has similar humour, plot points, and overall vibe.
This is one of those books that I feel I need to really sit with to truly understand the layers and parallels that are drawn. There is a lot in this book that is left unsaid and there's a lot that we aren't privy to, since our main character herself doesn't always grasp the underlying meaning of things.
The book follows Hallelujah, a specimen created to survive the end times as Communists threaten the American Dream™️ during the Cold War era. Hallelujah and her fellow specimens have taken years to get right, and they will be the new hosts of "The Felicity Complex": a luxury underground bunker for the elite.
The book moves between 'before' they start living in the bunker and 'after' they officially move in. Each of the girls are fashioned after some form of womanhood and femininity that Mr. Pink, the creator of the Complex, sees as the pure, traditional values that he wants to preserve in the bunker so they can survive long after the American Dream™️ has been crushed. Each of the character's personalities and priorities represents how these ideals of womanhood begin, and by the end of the book, they devolve into something else completely as they're forced to survive and are left waiting for their first residents.
I found the characters quite interesting, especially their development across the book. It also asks an interesting question of where specimen ends and human begins, especially as these characters take on their own personalities and thoughts that differ from the ideals they were created with.
I don't want to get too caught up in details, so I'll wrap up with saying that overall, this book holds a mirror to the development of the U.S. since the Cold War and the battle against 'the Communists' and represents various archetypes of 'traditional American values' well. I will note that the writing style is quite unique and might not be for everyone - it's quite unserious and often include quips and one-liners, but I think it fits the feel of the book quite well!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
3.75
💣 ARC Review 🩻
In this dystopian satire, science has gotten to a point where we can produce human-like beings. They aren't robots, being made of skin and organs, and they can be trained to do whatever you may want them to do.
What better way to staff a luxury bomb shelter for the end of the world?! Staffed by these pseudo-women trained in elocution, dancing, medical, cooking, and able to perform *all* types of client satisfaction 😉 - what could go wrong?
This dystopia seems like a science fiction and thriller combo that keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens next.
Hallelujah was my favorite. She was so naive and just wanted to be the best she could be. She felt very Klara and the Sun to me (at the beginning of that book).
This book was such a happy surprise to have found. It was such a different dystopia. It was - far out. 😃 I definitely did not anticipate what ended up happening!
If you like the TV show The Dollhouse or the books Klara and the Sun, The Semplica Girl Diaries (the short story from Tenth of December) or I, Robot you may like this book.
Triggers: Violence, Death, Murder, Gore, Medical Content
💣 ARC Review 🩻
In this dystopian satire, science has gotten to a point where we can produce human-like beings. They aren't robots, being made of skin and organs, and they can be trained to do whatever you may want them to do.
What better way to staff a luxury bomb shelter for the end of the world?! Staffed by these pseudo-women trained in elocution, dancing, medical, cooking, and able to perform *all* types of client satisfaction 😉 - what could go wrong?
This dystopia seems like a science fiction and thriller combo that keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens next.
Hallelujah was my favorite. She was so naive and just wanted to be the best she could be. She felt very Klara and the Sun to me (at the beginning of that book).
This book was such a happy surprise to have found. It was such a different dystopia. It was - far out. 😃 I definitely did not anticipate what ended up happening!
If you like the TV show The Dollhouse or the books Klara and the Sun, The Semplica Girl Diaries (the short story from Tenth of December) or I, Robot you may like this book.
Triggers: Violence, Death, Murder, Gore, Medical Content
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
The Felicity Complex is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? for the post-modern world...
What happens when you staff a Cold War apocalypse bunker with flesh-and-blood robots who dream of being real girls? The Felicity Complex asks and answers this question in a curious juxtaposition of beauty and blood.
Overtly lascivious in writing style and content, The Felicity Complex explores whether being a "real girl" means making sacrifices or molding an unfortunate situation into a fiction of one’s own creation. What if Frankenstein's monster was actually an angel?
"Nothing ever changes in the Felicity Complex," but everything is at stake when survival of the fittest will depend on who really controls the bunker.
Fans of Blake Crouch will devour The Felicity Complex with great aplomb.
Perfect for readers of fast-moving science fiction with a taste for the absurd.
A wild and vivid readalike for fans J. P. Delaney's The Perfect Wife.
What happens when you staff a Cold War apocalypse bunker with flesh-and-blood robots who dream of being real girls? The Felicity Complex asks and answers this question in a curious juxtaposition of beauty and blood.
Overtly lascivious in writing style and content, The Felicity Complex explores whether being a "real girl" means making sacrifices or molding an unfortunate situation into a fiction of one’s own creation. What if Frankenstein's monster was actually an angel?
"Nothing ever changes in the Felicity Complex," but everything is at stake when survival of the fittest will depend on who really controls the bunker.
Fans of Blake Crouch will devour The Felicity Complex with great aplomb.
Perfect for readers of fast-moving science fiction with a taste for the absurd.
A wild and vivid readalike for fans J. P. Delaney's The Perfect Wife.
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March 24, 2026Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.
Sci fi is not a genre I’m super familiar with but I was lured in with the comparison to Fallout. I enjoyed it!
For readers interested in:
👸 questioning gender and gender roles - what makes a woman? what makes us human?
🫂 themes of trauma, isolation and exploitation
🪓 violence (check trigger warnings)
🧪 science and capitalism
🤪 dark satire
👩❤️💋👩 sapphic vibes
Sci fi is not a genre I’m super familiar with but I was lured in with the comparison to Fallout. I enjoyed it!
For readers interested in:
👸 questioning gender and gender roles - what makes a woman? what makes us human?
🫂 themes of trauma, isolation and exploitation
🪓 violence (check trigger warnings)
🧪 science and capitalism
🤪 dark satire
👩❤️💋👩 sapphic vibes
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
banger as always; genuinely made me go 'ew' at some points which is impressive
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
4.5 happily rounded up!
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