Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

102 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

ceecomini's review

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

Torrey peters i just wanna have a chat about you calling this book “fun as hell”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, and Cannibalism

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

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

thebearnest's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Transphobia, Outing, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Fatphobia, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

amylfabry's review against another edition

Fascinating world and concept, very funny in parts. It's a comical and grotesque thought experiment taking the logic of anti trans hate to its logical conclusion: what if any "biological male" was literally a rapist monster... the violence was too visceral for me, but it serves a purpose in the story telling. Just like yeah, sickening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

arinheck's review

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Animal death, Fatphobia, and Alcohol

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

actuallyirina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

This was a challenging read, often quite upsetting. The writing style was a bit jarring at first. If you're in a place where you can stomach it I think it's a good read to help you examine your biases and internalized transmisogyny. I'm trans and there was still stuff in here that I was like oops didn't realize I'd internalized that gotta keep that in check. It's a heartbreaking gutwrenching book, Beth and Fran are messy and complicated and imperfect but my god do you just want these women to catch a fucking break.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, Outing, Dysphoria, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jojothefool's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.25

I really enjoyed this novel and had so much fun listening to it. I’m not a huge apocalyptic genre fan or like war heavy stuff so some parts of this were rough to get through or just not my cup of tea, but this will definitely stick with me for a while and I did enjoy myself. Heed the trigger warnings!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infertility, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting