Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

140 reviews

caughtbetweenpages's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

I mean, just fucking incredible. This book is not for the faint of heart, and if body horror isn't for you, keep away. Otherwise, if you can read through the trigger warning list and still feel okay to pick Manhunt up, I feel like this book should be required reading. I didn't realize what a perfect backdrop a sexed and gendered bio-apocalypse would be for the exploration of womanhood, but goddamn if it isn't. Also, any book wherein JK Terfling gets mauled in a castle of privilege by a zombie TERF friend of hers is a good book imo.

The bloody, beating heart of this story is the relationship between Fran and Beth, for me. There's a very specific sort of sisterhood they share, one full in turns with unwavering support, bone-deep jealousy, secret disdain, shared shame, and deep, complex love that kept Fran sympathetic even in her worst times (i.e.

treating with the TERF army on behalf of a classist, murderous nepo-baby because she passes for cis where Beth is forced into sex work where she has to playact a man

)... okay, in retrospect, maybe she wasn't all that sympathetic. But Beth loved her all the same, so I did, too.

Reading this felt like being on a rollercoaster. Not necessarily in terms of ups and downs, but in the sense that when you get off a ride that makes your heart pound, you are more predisposed to loving the person you were on the ride with. The bonds between these people, growing and strengthening and breaking, set against a breakneck plot/backdrop of a rapidly approaching genocide against trans women by a TERF army was an absolute thrill. I will be reading more from this author (and I will be doing so on an empty stomach, because goddamn does she know how to turn your stomach with a well placed description). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Gore, Cannibalism, Body horror, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Rape, Misogyny, and Murder

jmarquette's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Transphobia, Body horror, and Cannibalism

sophiesticatedselections's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

4.25

Intriguing premise is what kept my interest throughout. I found a some of the characters (Fran and Ramona especially) insufferable and others (like Robbie for the first 2/3 of the book) dull and underdeveloped. Beth and Indi were my favs and I wish we got more of their POVs. Not sure how I feel about the book overall and whether I would recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Dysphoria, Excrement, Blood, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gun violence, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Sexual content, Vomit, Rape, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, War, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Infidelity, Drug use, Cancer, Racism, Racial slurs, Self harm, Grief, Deadnaming, Confinement, and Alcohol

caseylovett's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, and Transphobia

Moderate: Death, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Deadnaming, Fatphobia, Cannibalism, Blood, and Self harm

arrr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow this book is a trip! If you're mad at toxic cis men and terfs, then this book is super cathartic. If you're trans and fragile, then be warned that there is a lot of trauma here. Like. So. Much. Trauma. Queer zombie apocalypse tho, very early 2000s vibes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Transphobia, Slavery, Medical content, Gore, Death, Vomit, Violence, Self harm, Excrement, Death of parent, Classism, Blood, Rape, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Deadnaming, Chronic illness, Child death, War, Pandemic/Epidemic, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Confinement, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, Bullying, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Child abuse, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Cancer, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Body horror, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Eating disorder, Drug use, Torture, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia

samants's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

A collection of thoughts:

• It felt strangely bio-essentialist for a book with so many trans characters; testosterone is bad, estrogen is good.
• Weird descriptions of fatness.
• This book oozed self-loathing. I can tell that the author is trans from the writing, and the unfortunate thing is that it really comes out in the self-hatred experienced by the trans characters, which is so detailed and thorough that it feels intensely personal. I suspect that the author is also fat and self-loathing, but I haven't really looked her up.
• Burying the lede here: This book is VERY gory, graphic, and honestly gross. Like, the content warnings are very real. It makes it hard to read at times and is worse at the beginning.
• The anger in it is very real and raw.
• The discussions and topics tackled in the book feel very online, as in I'm pretty sure it's what circulates on trans twitter. I know it's post-apocalyptic, but it seems so implausible and nihilistic that it crosses into being a panicked nightmare, reeking of fear, rather than a social commentary in the way dystopian novels usually are. It doesn't feel realistic but it does feel like what social media paints as a realistic scenario.
• Follow-up to the previous point: maybe this is how horror books usually are, but I felt that there was no hope for this society, which is unusual for a dystopian novel. The people seem fractured and it really seems like the end of the world. Pretty bleak. Full credit to the author for painting such a dark picture.
• Not only was there way too much sex in this book (aren't you people tired?) but the sex itself was also graphic and at times violent.
• This book is littered with expletives. So many. It's a little tiring.
• This book definitely makes you think.
• Lastly: This book does Baltimore and Maryland DIRTY. I don't think Baltimore deserved the treatment it got in this book. Baltimore doesn't need any more insults. It's a lovely city and already deserves more than it gets in the media. If anything, Boston is more puritanical. Just saying.

I'm just not a horror person, let alone the kind of person who enjoys stomach-turning gore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Medical content, Suicide, Blood, Physical abuse, Sexism, Ableism, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Dysphoria, Grief, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Murder, Sexual violence, War, Rape, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Cursing, Death, and Genocide

jemmers's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

cw// sexual assault, forced sex work, coercive sex, gore, violence, transphobia, hate crimes, body dysphoria

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Grief, Gore, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Hate crime, Death, Transphobia, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War, Vomit, Death of parent, Sexism, Deadnaming, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Torture, Self harm, Outing, and Medical content

kys_chai_and_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Body horror, Cannibalism, Deadnaming, Fatphobia, Medical content, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Blood, Violence, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Death, Murder, Rape, Misogyny, Dysphoria, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Pregnancy

littleonepaige's review against another edition

Turns out the author is openly biphobic and also doesn’t believe in content warnings, which this book definitely needs, especially as it’s labeled YA. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, Sexual violence, Dysphoria, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Cannibalism

danimacuk's review against another edition

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, Dysphoria, Cursing, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Torture, Transphobia, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Infertility, Medical content, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Cancer, Suicide, Slavery, Chronic illness, Drug use, Infertility, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Confinement, and Lesbophobia