Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Manhunt

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

85 reviews

veeples's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I ended up reading this book alongside a friend, which has made it more delightful. We’re both trans/nonbinary and laughed about the viscerally honest glimpse into queer and trans drama you only get when you’ve lived the experience. So if you are queer or trans, I think parts of this will be deeply relatable, which is lovely. I love the complexities of the five main POV characters, especially

Ramona, a trans chaser, who is just as complex and yet still unforgiveable, which the author does not shy away from at all. I appreciate that: the people we hate the most have complex inner lives and that does nothing to abate their part in the violence they partake in and allow to happen.

My main gripes with this story is plotting falls in part 2 of the book. Lots of things happen, and I wish it were written in a fashion that grounds the reader more than it did. I also found myself wishing for more insight to personal relationships between the characters to better appreciate the tragedy of events that happens. Because it was not developed as well, the back half of this book lost a bit of emotional potency.

Content Warnings

bestofsons's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

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

2.0

Content Warnings

cateyeschloe's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

“You always could have done something.

You were just afraid to be uncomfortable.”

Right off the bat, I have to say how much I absolutely love the diverse cast of characters the author included in this book!

It was beyond refreshing to see someone mentioned who had vitiligo, someone using crutches, someone using a cane, someone with chronic pain, sex workers, a fat person, an Indigenous character, Black characters, Hispanic characters, and various other POC characters. This book does a beautiful job of showcasing just how easy and natural it is to include genuine, excellent diversity in a story.

The pacing in the storytelling is a little sluggish at times and slow overall, but if you enjoy a dystopian story setting, this is a great choice!

This book is brutal and downright gorey at times, but I honestly think this should be on the TBR of anyone who can stomach the violence.

The story is visceral and rings extremely close to home, so much of the content materializing in our society today like a horrifying prophecy fulfilled. The threats this book depicts are not simply dystopian, they are not simply fiction, they are very real threats that Trans people are facing every single day, especially in America. They are the signs of a genocide, of a holocaust, and it is all too real.

I really enjoyed the cast of characters we are given to dive into this world with, and I like that they are not perfect, make mistakes, and are wholly human.

The author does a great job of world building, and while I still have a few questions about the details of the pandemic that hit that world, I did really enjoy the stage they set for this story.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend, but definitely suggest checking out the trigger warning list if you have any qualms!

“It is our problem… Them, the people outside… Every dyke and freak and faggot in the world is my fucking problem, and they’re yours too…

“I know the world’s dead, but that means we get more of a say in what happens to the people left in it, not less.”

“It wasn’t the few who’d cheered [during a TERF rally] that frightened [Beth (a trans woman)];

“it was the rest watching with guarded expressions,

“not looking at those among their numbers who cried… ‘you fucking Nazis’ and ‘Fuck TERFs!’ …

“That was what scared her.

“The women who stayed silent.”

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Hate crime, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Gore, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Outing, Sexism, Death, Body horror, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Torture, Transphobia, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Deadnaming, Rape, and Classism

Minor: Racism, Pregnancy, and Self harm

There are really brutal execution style deaths of trans people throughout the entirety of this book.

Violence is very prevalent throughout and is sometimes very graphic, especially in regard to injuries and injury descriptions.

This is a transphobic, TERF-ruled society and every page reflects this.

The use of words like “faggot”, “tranny”, “cunt” are all used throughout as slurs.

The POV from the TERFs rails hard against trans women and often describes them as men wearing “womanface” and they repeatedly mention their belief that trans women are only men who are sexually gratified by “pretending” to be women.

A TERF also refers to a trans man character as a “traitor” and someone so in love with the patriarchy that they betrayed themselves and their sisters.

All trans people are continuously misgendered by the TERFs and sometimes they simply refer to trans people as “the things”.

There is one instance of a cis character intentionally deadnaming a trans character and it is very upsetting. There is somewhat of a warning for it, though, since the chapter title is “Deadname”.

There are many scenes depicting sex between various people. They often reference fingers or mouths or feelings but overall I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s overly graphic in its sexual content.

One of the most upsetting scenes is when a cis woman stabs another cis woman in the vagina with a knife and basically carves out not only her vagina itself but also her entire internal reproductive system. The book specifically mentions the woman’s uterus falling out through the wound. This all happens while the victim is alive and conscious.

A lot of the trans characters deal with dysphoria in some way, a lot of it exacerbated by the fact that they are in a post-apocalyptic world with limited access to anything that would be gender-affirming, even down to basic hygiene and maintenance.

Some of the trans characters deal with self-hatred or self-loathing, as well as jealousy for other trans people who they believe are naturally more passing than they are.

Fatphobia plays a distinct role with certain characters and the way they are treated by others.

Sex work is very vocally despised by the TERFs, and the sex workers that exist in the book seem to be looked down on in general, regardless of their gender identity.

The men in the book are terrifying and violent. They are cannibals and will attempt to rape any living being they encounter. They are depicted as feral, mindless, nonverbal creatures who exist only to kill, rape, and cannibalize.

Even so, the men are still not as terrifying as the TERFs.

readerofdafuk's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Ok so I lost everything that I wrote in this since it didn't save so I'm just gonna blast through it stream on consciousness style

I'm not sure how to feel about this book

Things I like:
1) gore was good. Horror zombie virus that only affects men, good. The gorely disgust details of how the men act and feed very interesting to have
2) I like the world building of how this new society acts and is rebuilding into factions and kingdoms and different roles that works well
3) I like the individual characters. I might now understand them completely, but they have their own wants and desires and are fully people that made me like or dislike them as people

But those are good points, cause then it gets complicated

Things I don't like:
1) I don't understand how the main cast relates to each other. We don't see them interact as a group. Like seeing Fran and Beth together in the beginning, that was good. But then when Robbie appeared it just went so fast with introducing new characters that we don't have time to breath. We don't see the 4 friends (Beth, Fran, Robbie, Indi) actually talk with one another as a group. We don't see them learn about the other people. Like Robbie is brand new to this group you would think there were questions. But that doesn't matter because we move instantly to the second arc and see their individual dilemm s and problems. But they never talk about it together at all. Most i see is 2 characters and thats it. Not a lot of strong ties as a group

like it really does seem that Robbie only joined just for the sex. And Beth and indi only confess their love in the final act even tho I had not read ANY HINTS surrounding that

2) all the intimate relationships are sexual. I get that sexuality and sex can be a big part of identity, and you can see what the characters thing of their gender and sexuality through sex. Thats a good conversation. But like, every relationship is sexual, has sex, and only shows intamicy through sex. Like no other quiet moments or feelings, just sex. I get this isnt a romance book, but it ties back to the first point of How do they relate to one another, why are they together, do they only see each other for sex?

Also, the author is putting her kinks in there there is a lot of spitting and drooling in these sex scenes

3) there is a lot of pointed commentary in this book and also a lot of references with no purpose. For the references they will say things like "I put away books like new moon with the angst teenage romance." Which doesnt serve anything. They said a thing, and I know the thing, but where does it go with it? For the pointed commentary the narration or flow will stop just to give like a sum up of a person or thing they see or remember. Like there will be a paragraph about the type of white woman that you would see in a small town church. They are good descriptions, but there's a lot of them. And with these little scenes being at most 2 pages it it very noticeable. that have them going o. Their own individual assignments and paths

Case in point the bad guy fascist group is called TERFs. Which yeah they would be but like, not gonna be subtle about it. As villains they are decent since they are like fascist soldiers so they are terrible people but are using this to basically be transphobic and stay in power. Also they showed Teachs poverty at the end of the book when things are going to shit instead of the beginning or middle of the book where it can be used to explain her motivation for past and future actions.

Their hypocrisy is intriguing tho. They are trying to convince boys to take hormones and begin treatment to transition into women so they can be saved from the virus. Even have a person Kilroy be their mascot example for it, the perfect female body vs being a caged zombie monster. But they only like Trans women when it is in their image of being a woman and who they deemed valid and safe. So I really like that.

5) there are also some ideas and plot points that seem to just disappear like I don't know where or how they came up it just is

like where did the baby girl go to? You would think if a zombie carrier gave birth to a girl then it would be a main focus but she just got wicked away even tho that's a miracle baby right there.
No idea how Teach knew Beth's dead name. Like how? Why? Also, why the FUCK was Kilroy a sleeper agent this entire time? Damn I want to know his story, how to live he was forced to transition but basically sabatoged the shit out of the terf ship. Again no hint or lead up to it, it just happens

So yeah, it was ok to read. I was intrigued but not interested

Content Warnings

onbeasbookshelf's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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? Yes

5.0

a gripping, sharp, horrifying examination of gender in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world. the characters were so vivid and the writing was phenomenal. horror as horror should be.

Content Warnings

orireading's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was the goriest book I’ve ever read and I almost hit my limit a few times. HOWEVER! I kept going because I also found it to be an achingly beautiful reflection on kinship and systems of care 🥲💔 Major major content warnings.

Content Warnings

klwilby's review

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dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Dark, gruesome, and unflinching. I don’t read much horror but I could not put this book down. There was beautifully, brutally complex relationships throughout — I will say I would’ve loved to spend even more time with the three main characters, particularly Robbie. I’ll also say that I was surprised to see so many negative reviews of this book. It seems many readers violently missed the point of this book, or simply find depictions of queer bodies and intimacy to be inherently more graphic than cishet bodies and intimacy. Don’t let that stop you from picking this (admittedly bloody) gem.

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wildeflower's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.25

I thought this book was really well done and very interesting. It was extremely gory, and there was one part in the end that grossed me out a lot, but overall I thought it was very impactful and seemed to me (a cis woman) to have good trans representation. It also provided a lot of social commentary on not only lgbtq rights but also classism, racism, sexism, and nationalism. Overall was definitely worth the read!

Content Warnings