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katreena's review against another edition
2.5
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
lmcoleman2's review
- 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
3.5
I feel like the book would do better marketed as a sort of guilty-pleasure read (gory, fun, quick) instead of “book of the year” horror story for everyone to read (just thinking about Roxane Gay’s review on the cover). Often the writing felt really detailed and descriptive but ultimately fell flat for me when it came to character relationships and dialogue.
Graphic: Rape, Transphobia, and Violence
kylamayb's review against another edition
3.0
I think it touched on transphobia decently, however, I think in some ways it touched on it very poorly.
The way it discussed how if the TERFs succeeded in wiping out every man and trans-woman they would inevitably find reasons to exclude those within their rank from womanhood (like having PCOS) was well done.
However, making the catalyst for the events of the book and the motivation for the TERFs a virus that attaches itself to people with high levels of testosterone (men and trans-women) doesn’t feel like a great choice…
The author wrote multiple trans-women that turned due to the virus and the lack of proper medication, inadvertently proving part of the TERFs motivation correct. (I am non-binary so please don’t take this as me being transphobic)
While the head TERF does in the end narrate that she has always hated trans-people, that isn’t done for the rest of the TERFs.
There was some interesting aspects about passing as a trans-person or not and the privilege that those who pass can hold but it was largely written off as “that’s just how she is” when the main character cannot recognize that.
I think the idea of how if you villainize all men people use it to harm trans-women could have been an interesting idea, however, when you lean so heavily into biology as a driving factor, you lose that ability.
Aside from my issues with the premise of the book, I rather enjoyed reading it.
It was fast paced, there was decent interpersonal drama, and there were some fun mystery elements.
However, the author constantly referenced a big fight between the two main characters, going so far as to refer to it as “the fight” but never telling the reader what it was.
Also, this may just be a me thing but, there was so much sex in this book I was caught off guard by.
All in all, I was a bit underwhelmed by this book based on the blurb but I read it quickly and didn’t hate it.
Graphic: Transphobia and Violence
wyckedwynter'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Transphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Rape and Sexual content
Minor: Suicide attempt
songofsyenite's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Rape, Transphobia, Violence, and Murder
scarletranger's review against another edition
However, that doesn't make the writing solid. Even given the unique genre, things like similar sentence structures, bland, one-dimensional characters, and an over-reliance of forcing the message down the reader's throat make this an unenjoyable experience. And as someone who identifies as non-binary, the message of "all cis-het people suck!" is just as harmful as the reverse.
The worst offense, though, is that in the writer's anger (and it's clear that she wrote this out of anger), she somehow found a way to make TERF's hatred make sense? For context: this is a world where anyone with too much testosterone turns into a zombie that rapes, kills, and eats anyone they smell estrogen on. Trans-women have to find ways to keep getting estrogen, or else they are doomed to the same fate.
In a zombie apocalypse, it would be dangerous and stupid to harbor someone with a bite simply because you don't want to seem like a bigot. Why, then, should TERFs allow trans-women into their compounds, to live near their groups, when at any moment they could turn into the dreaded man? TERFs are some of the worst scum on earth, and yet this book makes their fears and hatred legitimate.
It doesn't help that one of the main characters (a trans-woman) immediately starts fantasizing about raping the TERFs the moment she sees them because she's so horny, all the time. When this book isn't preaching at you, it's throwing rough sex in your face with no lead-up. Just a "Wanna fuck?" and there they go! Whether that's because of the genre or poor character-building, I don't know.
This book was clearly written in anger. If the author had any joy in this project, it would have been the sadistic glee of saying "all men are murderous rapists just waiting for an excuse" and being able to make them suffer. At least, that's how it reads, and that experience sucks.
To any writers out there: when you try to force your message too hard, not only does it feel like you're talking down to the reader, it leaves you open to "proving the point" of whoever you're opposing. And that can offer dangerous ammunition. This is a book TERFs could easily hold high and say, "Look! Even they know we're right! They're dangerous and should be kept away from us." And that is one of the worst things a book can do: hurt the very people it claims to represent.
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic
aneagleslament's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Transphobia
bookhails's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Fatphobia, Rape, and Transphobia
apolloann'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infertility, Self harm, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Excrement, Trafficking, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
bangarangbec's review
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Dysphoria