Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

85 reviews

taiy's review

dark emotional sad 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

3.5

Y the Last Man but more intense and horror! I really thought this was a good story, but the writing style was difficult for me. It felt very choppy and hard to follow for my brain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Hate crime, Fatphobia, Death, Sexual content, Transphobia, Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Rape, Deadnaming, Homophobia, and Pregnancy

katyamarcelle's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Murder, Death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Cannibalism, Medical content, Gore, Torture, Rape, Dysphoria, Homophobia, and Pregnancy

foxmulders's review against another edition

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

2.0

listen i wanted so bad to like this book bc the premise had me so sold... but between the internalized transphobia, the splatterpunk horror, the deeply ingrained fatphobia, the quasi-redemption arc for a terf, and the poor pacing... i just had a god awful time with this one. two stars for the plot and the quips about jk rowling, but the book itself is just not worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Medical trauma, Violence, Transphobia, Homophobia, Gore, Sexual content, Murder, Fatphobia, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Dysphoria, and Body horror

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

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

sunfl0wermax's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Transphobia, Gore, and Homophobia

Minor: Self harm

inkandfig's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Blood, Fatphobia, Self harm, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, War, and Transphobia

Moderate: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Pregnancy

earnthefuture's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

 I'll start by saying that I am a cis, heterosexual man, so I'm not really the target audience for this book (which is okay!). Also, I am intentionally not referring or considering the author's alleged harassment of other LGBTQIA+ authors in my review. I don't really find it relevant nor do I care to involve myself in that issue.

Manhunt is a harrowing experience. I was so invested in main characters that the terrible things that happened to them affected me deeply, and kept me thinking about the realistic potential for such cruelty to occur in reality. Fran, Beth, Indi, and Ramona (the four characters we get the most insight into) are deeply complex; they each have their own needs and desires, but also realistically commit heinous acts in pursuit of their goals (moral or otherwise). 

The action and violence is appropriately brutal, but that said, I needed to take frequent breaks when reading this novel. The brutality and cruelty with which some characters treat others is grim yet realistic, so it is important to know before you read that the experience will not be enjoyable. Be that as it may, in my opinion, this novel is essential reading for forming a broader outlook on trans issues. 

The sexuality of the characters is also thoroughly examined. Some may find the graphic detail of these sex scenes distasteful, but my approach was to understand that I am but a guest in the house of this novel's perspective. Despite the scenes' intensity and graphic nature, a through-line of tenderness and vulnerability extends through all of them. 

4/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Dysphoria, Grief, Body shaming, Violence, Homophobia, Vomit, Death, Torture, War, Blood, Genocide, Gore, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Transphobia, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Deadnaming

pclairx's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Cannibalism, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Sexual assault

mistawenis's review

challenging dark sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Blood, Biphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Gun violence, Drug use, Xenophobia, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Gore, Torture, Rape, Violence, Vomit, War, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Deadnaming, Cursing, Cannibalism, Body shaming, Alcohol, Addiction, Abortion, Abandonment, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Murder, Fatphobia, Dysphoria, Classism, Alcoholism, and Ableism