Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

51 reviews

bookynooknook's review

challenging dark funny sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

comradeluffy's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-paced

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

1.5

I genuinely was 20 pages away from finishing this book, but couldn't get myself to do it. I should have DNF-ed it halfway through, but hate doing that.

The idea for the book is good and the premise of it is good, but it is not executed well, at all. The characters were impossible to connect with beyond sharing similar labels as a queer person myself. The descriptions of characters and settings were confusing and lackluster and I couldn't keep up with the constant switching of POV's. 

Also, what exactly was the point of all those random sex scenes? I love smut, but come on now. 

Unfortunately, an exhausting read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, and War

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

scandalabra's review

challenging tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A great read, though not for everyone. The authors writing is very evocative, really bringing you into the world. As a post-viral breakout world, it's not the happiest place to be. There are vivid descriptions of death, so as long as you're alright with that, I recommend this book. Always check the trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

rlycon'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: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, and Abortion

vixenreader's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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

4.5

Despite some lagging in the plot, the characterization and world-building is phenomenal, and the exploration of gender politics and transphobia is nuanced and unabashed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Torture, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Infertility, Vomit, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

The transphobia is intense, and mainly comes from cis-women. Cis-men are now feral, so there is a fair amount of castration.

erindb's review

dark sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Murder, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Cancer, Genocide, Gun violence, Infertility, Slavery, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Police brutality

madzsmiled's review against another edition

dark 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

4.75

Manhunt was an incredibly powerful take on the zombie apolocalypse, centering hormones and gender identity. It was one of the scariest and goriest apolocalypse stories I've read in a long time, and one of the first I've read that features Trans characters. Beth and Fran's struggled not only to survive the zombified men and the TERFS, but also to find community and love. It was a fantastic read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

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

norspider's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• 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? No

4.0

It's not hyperbole anymore; it is all men.

The birth of a virus that targets anyone with high enough testosterone levels, turning them into mindless, ferocious beasts. Things that hunt in packs to eat (and do worse) to any prey. 

The characters we follow most are Beth and Fran, 2 trans girls surviving by any means necessary in the wilderness. A chance encounter puts them in the crosshairs of a merciless army of TERFs. Beth, Fran, and most other characters we're introduced to get a fulfilling amount of depth and development. 

This book is GRAPHIC with its violence and sex. Be aware of that going in, and then expect more. 

There are pop-culture references that may alienate some potential readers but I hope I'm wrong about that. More people should read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Animal death and Death of parent

Minor: Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Excrement

twilightfan420's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad 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? No

4.0

This novel perfectly balanced visceral horror with wit. It took me a while to get through because some parts were just so heavy and familiar; even though it’s set in an apocalyptic dystopia, the homophobic/transphobic rhetoric seemed a little too close to home. I loved the characters and the world building, and I’m always partial to a horror set on New England. Really loved this one and wasn’t expecting to be as moved by it as I was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Rape, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Outing, War, and Injury/Injury detail