Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

17 reviews

f18's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I figured this would be the best bet for a gender chromosome hormone apocalypse depiction that I could get behind, and it did address all the stuff that irks me about other versions (discusses how it affects trans people ofc, but also things like pcos). Unfortunately I didn't really find myself immersed in the writing but I'm not 100% sure why. I guess the style didn't click with me or maybe because it didn't focus as much on aspects of the genre I most connect to, like body horror. 

I constantly kept losing track of which POV the story was in at any time. I attributed this to the narrator not pausing long enough between scene breaks, but I see that has come up in reviews of the physical book as well. I think the character voices (not the narrator's but the author's ) blurred together. 

There's just something about the metaphor of

trans women surviving by eating cis men's testes

that is just so interesting but yeah... the book was okay, but I didn't love it like I was hoping for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Cannibalism, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Slavery, Suicide, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Incest, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Cultural appropriation

spoilers for Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier, tooth trauma , misandry, gendered slurs, execution, mention of student/teacher relationship

tieflingkisser's review against another edition

challenging dark

4.5

Reading the first few chapters I was having mixed feelings and wasn't sure I would like this book (especially after the

rape scene

blindsided me) but I really wanted to give it a chance because I like the author, and by the end I was so glad I didn't put it down. I ended up really appreciating this book and will definitely read anything else the author writes!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, and Transphobia

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Cannibalism

peachylite's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Vomit, and Trafficking

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Cultural appropriation

comradeluffy's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-paced

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

1.5

I genuinely was 20 pages away from finishing this book, but couldn't get myself to do it. I should have DNF-ed it halfway through, but hate doing that.

The idea for the book is good and the premise of it is good, but it is not executed well, at all. The characters were impossible to connect with beyond sharing similar labels as a queer person myself. The descriptions of characters and settings were confusing and lackluster and I couldn't keep up with the constant switching of POV's. 

Also, what exactly was the point of all those random sex scenes? I love smut, but come on now. 

Unfortunately, an exhausting read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, and War

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

andykarnik's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

3.0

Mind the trigger warnings! This book was pretty damn intense. The less intense moments where you, the reader, are meant to rest are almost exclusively sex scenes. There were a few satisfying cathartic moments at the ends of part 2 and 3

Bunker brat Sophie getting eaten by her "boyfriend", the ship Galbraith (WTF) being destroyed, and Teach's death

. 

A lot of this book was saying aloud the quiet parts of American society with regards to transgender people so sometimes it was a revelation that other people experience the same things I do and other times horror that things could be so much worse. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Pregnancy, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Fatphobia, Slavery, and Cannibalism

chelbawamba's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Just wasn’t for me! The writing style and pace were confusing with massive time jumps that I didn’t realise had happened and had to keep going back and trying to find what I missed. There was also a lack of character and relationship development, with lots of new characters introduced towards the end. There are also constant explicit, rough sex scenes which isn’t a “bad” thing, just not my cup of tea.

I definitely see why there are people that love this book. I love a lot of weird gross unhinged horror books. Just not this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

theofanis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

READ IT

Are you a leftist, are you a trans ally, do you want to be a trans ally, do you think you’re a trans ally, are you trans, are you genderqueer, are you part of the lgbtq community, do you want an inside look to a part of the trans experience?

READ THIS BOOK

I will be thinking about this book for the rest of my life. It’s terrifying and amazing and so impactful. 

As a trans guy reading the pov of a fictional hot cool and strong trans guy with a similar background was awesome. And the trans female leads are so powerfully written. 

It’s just such an amazing book and it’s gotta be my favorite fiction I’ve ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infertility, and Dysphoria

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

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

lev7hvcqutztp's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use

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