Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - Manhunt

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I am going to be frank - I will likely be processing what I read for a while, so I’m unsure if I’ll have anything coherent to say, other than to check content warnings below (a lot of shock value stuff in this) if you decide to read this book and take care while reading.

I will try another book by the author, but I feel conflicted about this book.

Content Warnings

kimpr0bable's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

Content Warnings

deafsnivz's review against another edition

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dark 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? No

4.0

Content Warnings

jessiecat's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

3.0

Content Warnings

parisgm's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny 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

4.0

Content Warnings

cynthesizer's review against another edition

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I really wanted to like this book and branch out into more horror/thriller writing, but after having a hunch I went to goodreads to see if other people had picked up on what I felt was off about the book and turns out it’s not just me. This book has terrible pacing and unfocused plots and way too many pov shifts within the same chapter that just feel jarring, and don’t get me started on the constant run-on sentences. I’m also relieved to see that other people felt that the constant graphic sex scenes felt gratuitous, bc apparently if you think a book has too much graphic sex then you’re a prude who should go back to reading YA. I will say that there were parts that I liked, especially with the strong opening. The flashback where Beth and the two other trans women were cast out by the tenderqueers (not used in book but they were clearly coded as such) from the so called “safe-space” queer housing haunts me bc this very much happens and I liked to see this tendency of so-called trans inclusive spaces that end up catering to women and the afab enbies they find palatable get called out. That said, there were other moments that felt as if the author was soapboxing her views via the characters, like this one bit how all YA was about “hugging fascists” right in the same page where the character finds out his friend is going to be trafficked; like I read this and couldn’t think of any books that fit that (also the author clearly hasn’t heard of Andrew Joseph White if this is what she thinks this is what YA is about these days) but this line sounds like the Steven Universe discourse that still happens online, like word for word, (which is funny bc SU isn’t even a YA novel) which is what tipped me off to check online what the author is like. It also turns out that the author hates nonbinary folks who are afab, which stings bc again I wanted to like this book and could appreciate the rage against terfs. I don’t know who’s the tenderqueer that hurt Gretchen but I swear that’s not a reason to write off every other nonbinary person as a “theyfab.”Last thing I’m gonna say bc there is so much wrong with this book that other people have elaborated on (who aren’t terfs anyways), but what gets me is that for a character who’s stated in the blurb to not trust others, he is really quick to join a compound with little reasoning other than the trans girl he boned once asked him nicely to stay with her.

Content Warnings

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