Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

20 reviews

apolloann's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was a hard book to read, but wow, was it great. With just enough humor sprinkled in to make the horror digestible, Manhunt left me feeling deeply unsettled. I'm newer to the horror genre, so this was a lot to handle, but the story and characters were so beautifully written that it made the discomfort worth it.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infertility, Self harm, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Excrement, Trafficking, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

plumpeony's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Deadnaming, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Classism

our_lady_of_perpetual_bad_luck's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Outing, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Deadnaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

noonanjohnc's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

birbmcbirb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book made me very uncomfortable, and goes at a pace that makes you feel like you can't catch you  breath. The characters were flawed, sometimes to an annoying extent, but in a way that mimicks a found family of traumitized people. I think it's worth sticking through the hard parts, but make sure youre in a good head space before you pick this one up. Especially if youre someone targeted by TERFS & SWERFS.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Biphobia, Eating disorder, Incest, Racism, Stalking, and Cultural appropriation

sydneynorman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Self harm, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Deadnaming

arrr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow this book is a trip! If you're mad at toxic cis men and terfs, then this book is super cathartic. If you're trans and fragile, then be warned that there is a lot of trauma here. Like. So. Much. Trauma. Queer zombie apocalypse tho, very early 2000s vibes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

babybasil's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

To say the book as a whole was bad would be incorrect. The premise was cool. It could have been so amazing if the writing wasn’t so flat. I nearly DNFd this book, but I hate quiting, so I slogged on to my detriment. 

Firstly, if the book goes more than 3 pages without mentioning sex or someone’s genitals, it was a lucky 3 pages. Like, it’s constant. Everyone is fucking each other all the time. Everyone is thinking of sex all the time. And if they’re not thinking of sex, they’re thinking about how they or the men they’re hunting have genitals. Seriously, it was alright for the first few chapters, but by the middle of the book, I was pretty fed up. We’re introduced to half the cast via sex and, sometimes, it was just flat out weird. I believe it was Fran who just straight out asked the doctor if they could fuck and I nearly threw the book across the room. 

Another issue was the story. There was no real storyline. It was just the plot of “men are monsters now and TERFs want to kill trans people” and that was it. It never felt like there was an actual story happening, just a bunch of people fucking and killing. Even the “romance” in the book felt crazy forced. Robbie saying he loved Fran in 3 days? Crazy unbelievable since we never got the two even sharing a moment besides fucking next to an unconscious Beth the same day they met. There was a point at the book where one of the main characters was working as a prostitute essentially. She seemed to have the attention of the head hancho of a bunker, but then a chapter later, her boyfriend was told she was apparently doing a bad job??? Since when?? The characterization was never pointed out and it was just such lazy writing to move the plot on. The whole book is littered with lazy writing. 

Next, I hate terfs as much as any self respecting person does, but the way the book sought to victimize the characters constantly was a bit boring. It felt like making a terf army was the easy way out, ESPECIALLY when they later just straight up accepted trans people/men if they did grunt work and got bottom surgery. It took away all the danger of their army and was just dull. 

Then there was the perspective jumping. I love books that have multiple character perspectives, especially when we get to see how their stories over lap. But when your perspective shifts 3-6 times (usually just 2-3 paragraphs per section) a CHAPTER? It gets so fucking confusing, especially when some of the sections just start “she”. One was so bad I never really figured out who it was supposed to be. Like, who am I meant to root for? What is even going on? We went from a tense moment to yet another character fucking. It was awful! Just pick a character per chapter and stick with them. Or if you do switch, at least make it make sense. 

Another thing was the nazi imagery. I get that Gretchen was trying to make an end of the world “the terfs are killing all trans women” narrative, but using the holocaust and nazi imagery made me, a Jewish women, incrediably uncomfortable. I hate when people compare things to nazis and the literal extermination of my ancestors. It’s not a necessary allegory and she pushed it SO HARD I was rolling my eyes. At nazis. Like, enough is enough.  

Not even that but Indi’s fatphobia is so unnecessary. Like, as a fat person, I don’t think about it as horribly or awfully as she does. She’s constantly going on about her rolls or how other characters are touching her “deeply buried collarbones”. It’s so bad.  It nearly tipped into racism half the time with how the book treated Indi. 

Overall, I did not like this book at all. It was such a waste of a story idea because the virus was such a cool idea. I really don’t recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Incest

bites_of_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

An apocalypse book where a virus is triggered in people who have higher levels of testosterone, causing them to become feral beasts.

This is a book where the author has zero sympathy for the reader, they describe everything in raw and gory detail and hold back nothing. The atmosphere is rich in the toxic nature of the characters and also the general anxiety that it is to live in a world where various groups of people are trying to survive. We follow Fran and Beth, two trans women who are trying to survive in a world where they hunt men who have turned feral in order to harvest their organs for selling and also to acquire the hormones they need to avoid turning into these feral beasts. To top that, they also need to be wary of a group of TERFs who are building an army, trying to be the new law of the land. 

I highly encourage you to read and listen to trans reviewers since a lot of the book is from that perspective. Trans experiences are not represented in literature enough and even less in horror so this book is highly valuable because it does put those experiences front and center. 

The overall plot of the book jumped around a bit too much for my liking, it seemed like the first half of the book was about one thing while the second half focused on something completely different. While our main characters arcs do take precedence, there were a couple of other characters that came in and out of the story never fully solidifying their connection to the main characters.

I'd highly recommend checking all the content warnings, if you do want to venture into this book. I'd say that if you like apocalypse stories with a completely different perspective, full of gore that doesn't hold back, this might be the book for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

blundershelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny sad fast-paced

4.0

horrific

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and War