Reviews tagging 'War'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

129 reviews

sweetestwindmill's review

adventurous dark tense fast-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

2.0

I just didn't really vibe with this book, although to be fair I did sort of know going into it that it probably wouldn't be my kind of thing. It's obviously incredibly violent and absolutely full of sex of every description - there's not a single protagonist who isn't sleeping with at least two or three other characters, and the sex is often very violent as well. However, it must be said that although neither extreme violence or extreme sexual content is really my jam, those weren't the issues I had with the book in general! I knew I would encounter them going in, and so I was prepared.

My main problem with this book is that I found nearly every single character spectacularly unlikable at worst, and flatly uninteresting at best (with the exception of Beth, who remains the MVP). In spite of the fast-paced action and constant gut-punching twists, I just didn't really care what happened to them, and in some cases

(yes, I mean you, FRAN)

I was actively rooting against them. 

Add this to the fact that the stream of violence, slurs, transphobia, body horror, torture, sexual assault, organ harvesting and countless other terrible things was so constant that I soon became numb to it and therefore it failed to have the shock value it was designed for, and... well, eh. I just lost interest.

It's a shame, because I did enjoy the central premise. And I know a lot of people really love this book, so maybe it's a skill issue! Horror is never going to be My Thing, and I will always, always prioritise careful character exploration over big exciting plot developments. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Gore, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, Outing, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, and War

Minor: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

thewolvesread's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

4.0

What an insane book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

oranospepper2816's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

t3rraf0rm's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Cannibalism, Dysphoria, and War

punkeel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Transphobia, Violence, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Fatphobia, Genocide, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Minor: Racism, Self harm, Xenophobia, and Medical content

talullahjane's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

katelynkasem's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

2.25

I struggled though this book. I think mostly because of the narration with bad Boston accents and no distinctions between POV which was giving me whiplash. The premise is interesting but the characters were flat. I enjoyed the sarcastic dialogue but that was about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

callidoralblack's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Minor: Child death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Rape, Forced institutionalization, and Classism

melanied927's review

challenging dark sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

abodoran's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

75% of this book I found to be ok- which isn't meant as a negative because not everything has to be a masterpiece to be enjoyable. I think I personally struggled with some of the because it depicted things that I also struggle with (transphobia and dysphoria). The last 25% of this book, though, managed to obliterate all of my dissatisfaction as well as rip out my heart at the same time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Transphobia, Violence, and War

Moderate: Deadnaming, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcohol