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nixieba25f's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
laurenkimoto's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
This dystopian/horror is the first one I have really enjoyed in a long time.
I will be thinking about this book until the apocalypse comes
Very minor spoiler: JKR gets her comeuppance.
Graphic: Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Outing, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
emmague89's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ruthlessreads's review against another edition
The writing was extremely poor. So much so that it was incredibly difficult to tell whose viewpoint we were in at any given point. The characters relied very heavily on stereotypes & were generally one dimensional. The one character that was given more dimension was consistently treated poorly & discussed negatively even by people that she was supposed to be close with. The body horror was near constant & added nothing to the plot. Every single sexual scene was written to shock & disgust not just the reader but also to make the characters feel shame & disgust with themselves & people like them. Not only that but the aftermath of the sexual encounters left either one or both characters involved feeling violated in some way. Again, this book relies on and heavily perpetuates negative stereotypes about trans people specifically and the LGBTQ+ community & women in general. (I came across this while writing this review but this is the same author who proudly proclaimed on Twitter "I'm a woman, and a professional author, and I've never written anything without at least one rape scene in it." which she defends by saying that not writing these scenes in media is pretending it it doesn't exist in real life. So, that sounds like a lot of internalized misogyny to me & it really comes across in her writing.) This book was marketed as a narrative that would turn the gender plague trope on its head but I don't believe that the author succeeded in subverting a single thing about it. Beyond that, the writing was just bad. It's the literary equivalent of movies like Human Centipede which have no cinematic value and only want to shock, disgust, and upset the viewer. The authors desire to upset the reader overwhelms anything else she might have to say about...anything. As such, it seems that plotting was planned around specifically horrible things that the author wanted to describe but that don't actually make any sense in respect to the narrative.
I, frankly, can't believe this book was published. It's bad from a technical standpoint. The writing, pacing, plotting, and character development are all over the place. The horror serves no purpose to the plot & the author seems to be seeking up upset, overwhelm, or disgust the reader. But's it's also bad from the standpoint that it relies on & perpetuates negative stereotypes about marginalized communities that already suffer a lot of harm & hate. I think we can do better in 2022.
Please check the content warning. I tried to tag literally everything I could for readers who might struggle with the graphic nature of the book.
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
rosesofthespring's review against another edition
- 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
1.0
I cannot overstate the disappointment.
There are moments of shining brilliance in this novel. Gretchen Felker-Martin can write incredible scenes when she's empathizing with the characters and not working out some kind of miserable grudge. The worldbuilding is absurdly bioessentialist, something which I was terrified of when I heard the premise, but I remained hopeful that she'd avoid the pitfalls. She does not. There's no room in this world for nuance, for the reality of the hormone spectrum, or for any amount of kindness or nostalgia. When the author attempts to engage with controversial real-world issues, it falls flat, coming across as two-dimensional.
This book is effectively a longform fiction version of the author's favorite online conspiracy theories. But I suppose that's redundant. I can see how this might seem fresh and edgy to anyone who hasn't been mired in online trans subcultures, but to someone who knows where the lens originates, it seems tired and bitter. Sometimes that's a basis for a solid book. I wish this was one of those times. This one goes out to the truscum and transmedicalists, the bioessentialists who believe gender is stored in the hormones, radical "feminists" who believe the genders are "oppressor vs oppressed," and the members of sad little forums who are stalwartly barricading themselves in the darkness of their worst days. I hope it gives them what they're looking for.
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Death of parent, and Alcohol
milkybootscomix's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Outing, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
orla_h's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Torture, Grief, and Dysphoria
Minor: Deadnaming
kingweirdo's review against another edition
- 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
but
This is one of the most touching, heartbreaking, brutal books I've ever read. I was so in love these characters, and even sickly attached to the villain narrator. Every chapter held a gut-punch, whether it was a horrible death, or act of violence, or a transphobic microaggression, or just the horrible things that the characters said to themselves while surviving the actual end of the civilized world.
And while this book is PACKED with blood and guts, bullets and knives, and breathtaking fights to the death, the world is so smartly built and the premise is SO wrought with symbolism. The entire conceit establishes a Binary sex problem and then immediately starts dismantling it and showing a dozen gaps in that easy essentialism. It asks us horrifying questions about identity and community, it leaves no population unscrutinized, it reminds us of how much there is to fear from our fellow humans, and it also gives us such remarkable tenderness.
I wept. I usually hate series, but I'm honestly begging the author to extend this universe and give us more.
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Outing, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Self harm, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
criticalgayze's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Holy heck. As you can see from the litany of "trigger warnings" appended to this review (on Storygraph, if viewing on another platform), this book is a minefield of topics. Felker-Martin is most definitely not aiming for inclusion in your local right-wing library.
If you read last year's bestselling and highly lauded Detransition Baby, then you have already been in conversation with many of the ideas presented here. In fact, Felker-Martin both quotes and credits the author, Torrey Peters, within the work. Like Detransition, Baby, Manhunt is actively wrestling with both how trans people, specifically trans women, are socialized amongst each other and among the broader (specifically female-identifying) population.
By mutating all peoples producing high, masculine-assigning levels of testosterone, Felker-Martin is able to grapple almost exclusively with how trans women, and their allies to a lesser extent, are treated by the femme-assigned-and-identifying by allowing the latter group to have reason to make their discomfort and disdain explicit. As these trans women could be biologically betrayed into regressing to masc-presentation levels of testosterone, which would force them to succumb to the novel's male-mutating pandemic. With this excuse, femme-assigned-and-identifying women seeking gender purity and previously denied power structures are able to finally dissociate from tacit allyship in favor of a sex-based caste system.
This book is shamelessly targeted. Felker-Martin repeatedly calls out known TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) J.K. Rowling, who has on multiple occasions sought to delineate trans women from biological women, like herself. Because of this pointed critique, this book will face its share of intense backlash and vitriol from those who claim themselves allies (or those who purposefully do not) yet want to exclusively own their biological title as "woman" in an attempt to win the "oppression olympics."
Consider this my Surgeon General's book stamp: Approach with caution, but approach.
Quotes:
Pussy certified all-natural by the Daughters of the Witches You Couldn’t Burn or whatever Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival bullshit the TERFocracy in Maryland bowed down to. (Location 82)
She always scarred like that, as though her body had known ahead of time that it was going to be torn open. As though it were prepared for mutilation. (Location 603)
“Oh, honey.” Indi settled deeper into the chair, shifting back and forth inside its confines. “The world is over. Who cares how fast you go?” (Location 1061)
She’d been like that for as long as Fran had known her, as meticulous about her clothes, her hair, her makeup as she was careless about her house, as though she were a topiary: not quite static, but reliant on the illusion of it. (Location 1321)
She had a whole drawer full of different smiles for when she needed them. (Location 1386)
Fran could see the blank “Sex” boxes on the intake form, twin islands all-encompassing in a sea of ephemera. How many times had she dithered in the blank quarter inch between them? (Location 1560)
“I’m trans. I’ve had first dates with more crying than that.” (Location 1998)
It’s just a way to keep from being drawn and quartered by the Knights of J. K. Rowling. (Location 2217)
“Them, the people outside, the people in Boston and Concord and Worcester. Every dyke and freak and faggot in the world is my fucking problem, and they’re yours too, Fran." (Location 2599)
Community is when you never let go of each other. Not even after you’re gone. (Location 3965)
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and War
Minor: Deadnaming, Self harm, Trafficking, and Death of parent