Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

140 reviews

crimsonreadlips's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Hate crime, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Cannibalism, Body horror, Blood, Gore, War, Torture, Sexual violence, Racism, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Cursing, Classism, Child death, Dysphoria, and Death

katipheria's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.25

I had a love/hate relationship with this book. The general premise of the world-building is fantastic and unique, and as much as I hate to say it, were it to become our own reality I'm sure that the world would ultimately align itself in a similar fashion

in that cis women would be more likely to fall into a TERF or at least TERF-adjacent stance, if only due to the uncertainty and fear. Even those who consider themselves to be the best possible ally are still at risk simply due to the drive for self-preservation.

It's a terrifying situation and highlights a lot of ugly truths in reality.

However, the actual story within this world just doesn't do it for me. There's a lot of unnecessary sex scenes and as someone who prefers to avoid an excess amount of that (regardless of sex/gender of participants), I found myself skimming a lot to get back to the actual plot and feeling disappointed. While I understand that an apocalyptic setting inspires depravity and these moments highlight an innate desire for comfort and companionship,

the MC Fran's general poor treatment and better-than-you attitude towards her supposed friends makes things even more unappealing.

While it's not necessarily a horrible book, it is most definitely designed to be an uncomfortable read centered around characters who don't have many redeeming qualities.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Blood, Body horror, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Biphobia, Cannibalism, Classism, Death, Sexual violence, Ableism, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia

nostradamnus's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

3.75

Read this if you: thought Hell Follows With Us was great, but wished it wasn't YA; want to kill TERFs; 

The two strongest elements of Manhunt are its prose and characters, in that order and on purpose; by which I mean, despite having the trappings of a traditional dystopia, Manhunt is a horror novel, and the first priority of a good horror novel (which this is) is making its readers connect with their "ugly feelings," à la Sianne Ngai. To that end, the author prioritized viscerality and humanity (however fucked it may be) over worldbuilding and plot. If you go in knowing that, I think you'll have a better reading experience than if you're expecting something more whimsical. 

What struck me most about the prose and characters of Manhunt was the way that F-M was able to weave them together to create an argument-driven novel that rarely feels like it's trying to convince you of something. One of the most poignant commentaries of the book is its perspective on the violences committed against trans woman, particularly non-passing trans women, in spaces that claim to welcome them. F-M weaves this commentary seamlessly into the narrative 

(I'd even argue that the core conflict of the novel is between trans people and the more nebulously queer, not trans vs. cis.)

demonstrating her knowledge, conviction, and persuasive ability.

(Tertiarily, I also think that the marketing campaign for this book was absolutely brilliant--in focusing on the JKR of it all, the outward appearance of the TERFs within the novel becomes more aligned with cishet women who "have gay friends," which then allows a self-selecting audience of queer people/allies who think they support trans women, only to learn that we're the antagonists. Genius!)

 

Where F-M lost me was when this honestly masterful rhetorical work was interrupted by what I can only describe as cloying complaints about issues that are at best, tertiary to the text and, at worst, self-apologetics that bully readers into compliance under the guise of being equivalent to essential issues of self that are above interlocution.

One passage in particular captures this perfectly: "Indi thought with a bittersweet pang of regret that every time she'd heard the words 'queer community'... every argument she'd had... about whether or not sex should be allowed at Pride parades-fuck you, of course it should-...no one ever had any idea what that meant." Regardless of whether or not the reader agrees with this sentiment, such a direct address combined with the otherwise very throughout considered, carefully written passage has the effect of moral forcefulness (the same kind F-M decries throughout the book), that it is in some way wrong to disagree with sex at Pride in the same way that it is wrong to disagree with the idea that the queer "community" is inherently flawed, carrying over and even creating particularly vehement, caustic environments that are unsafe for trans women. But these issues are just not equivalent in nature and further, the former is a misrepresentation of the argument F-M is trying to counter; People try to ban kink at Pride, not sex. Changing the terminology feels like some haphazard attempt to link this conversation to the narrative (which I don't believe ever says the word kink, but is very interested in sex), but it comes at the cost of my ability to take F-M completely seriously as an author interested in legitimate critique, much less active discussion.

 

My point in all of this is that F-M is an excellent creative writer and rhetorician, and so the moments where she is less than excellent are distinctly unpleasant not in the way that good horror must be, but in the way that real people often are. For a different reader, that could be a welcome thing, but for me, it was disappointing. I'll read more of Felker-Martin's work in the future, but if the flaws of Manhunt carry forward, I'll inevitably tap out of her list. 

Tertiarily: Manhunt reminded me a lot of The Handmaid's Tale, in that it engaged in the white literary tradition of reimagining violence committed in the name of anti-Blackness/misogynoir to victimize white women? It was particularly odd in this case because white trans women (our primary protagonists) face their own contemporary struggles that could have been and were taken to their reasonable conclusions within the text, but those conclusions were kind of replaced in the last act by chattel slavery? Very weird, very white. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, Misogyny, Hate crime, Body horror, Transphobia, Violence, Torture, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Death of parent, War, Animal death, Incest, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Fatphobia

thenonbinaryc's review

4.0

found out author is biphobic and also has some transphobic opinions towards trans men. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Violence, Cannibalism, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Transphobia

jenkinel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Body horror, Transphobia, Hate crime, Fatphobia, Dysphoria, Death, Cannibalism, Murder, Gun violence, Gore, Violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, and Grief

ciaranolio's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

Post-apocalyptic hyper-gory trans horror, about a future where a virus has turned all humans with a certain level of testosterone into monsters. Incredible character writing, especially enjoyed the two trans female pov characters and their views on trans womanhood in their TERF-ruled dystopia in which maleness is actually the ultimate mark of violence. Absolutely not for the faint of heart
TWS: extreme violence, rape & sexual violence (on-page), misogyny, violent transphobia, racism (including lynching), body horror, fascism, frequent and detailed discussions of body image, eating disorders, medical trauma.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, Medical content, Murder, Outing, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Genocide, and Rape

Moderate: Cannibalism

theofanis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

READ IT

Are you a leftist, are you a trans ally, do you want to be a trans ally, do you think you’re a trans ally, are you trans, are you genderqueer, are you part of the lgbtq community, do you want an inside look to a part of the trans experience?

READ THIS BOOK

I will be thinking about this book for the rest of my life. It’s terrifying and amazing and so impactful. 

As a trans guy reading the pov of a fictional hot cool and strong trans guy with a similar background was awesome. And the trans female leads are so powerfully written. 

It’s just such an amazing book and it’s gotta be my favorite fiction I’ve ever read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, Outing, Transphobia, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Infertility, Cursing, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Deadnaming, and Cancer

veridique's review against another edition

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Cannibalism, Violence, and Transphobia

marissa4113's review against another edition

Just not for me :/ I understand that it’s supposed to be a gory book, but it felt unnecessarily graphic during the SA scenes. Although I didn’t get very far (~15%), the plot felt very one-note as they were constantly fighting the men or terfs. I also find the writing to be a little confusing at times, and I sometimes couldn’t really distinguish between the characters. It’s definitely an interesting and unique story with queer representation, so I would definitely give it a shot if you enjoy extremely gory/graphic books! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, Gore, and Rape

totalgreyspace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Blood, Cannibalism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Transphobia, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault