Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

279 reviews

sweetestwindmill's review

adventurous dark tense 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? It's complicated

2.0

I just didn't really vibe with this book, although to be fair I did sort of know going into it that it probably wouldn't be my kind of thing. It's obviously incredibly violent and absolutely full of sex of every description - there's not a single protagonist who isn't sleeping with at least two or three other characters, and the sex is often very violent as well. However, it must be said that although neither extreme violence or extreme sexual content is really my jam, those weren't the issues I had with the book in general! I knew I would encounter them going in, and so I was prepared.

My main problem with this book is that I found nearly every single character spectacularly unlikable at worst, and flatly uninteresting at best (with the exception of Beth, who remains the MVP). In spite of the fast-paced action and constant gut-punching twists, I just didn't really care what happened to them, and in some cases

(yes, I mean you, FRAN)

I was actively rooting against them. 

Add this to the fact that the stream of violence, slurs, transphobia, body horror, torture, sexual assault, organ harvesting and countless other terrible things was so constant that I soon became numb to it and therefore it failed to have the shock value it was designed for, and... well, eh. I just lost interest.

It's a shame, because I did enjoy the central premise. And I know a lot of people really love this book, so maybe it's a skill issue! Horror is never going to be My Thing, and I will always, always prioritise careful character exploration over big exciting plot developments. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Gore, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, Outing, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, and War

Minor: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

thewolvesread's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

4.0

What an insane book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

oranospepper2816's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

palomaofthefae's review

5.0

Adored!!!!! V violent, but the violence is so well written! The sex scenes are so tender! 

It’s not an easy read, especially now, but it’s also cathartic to read about TERFs getting the shit kicked into them. The violence isn’t reserved for any one party though, and some of my favourite characters ended up as zombie meat. 

It went places I didn’t even know I wanted it to go. A very satisfying post-apocalyptic story playing out a very contemporary thought experiment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Dysphoria

t3rraf0rm's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Cannibalism, Dysphoria, and War

lordofdisorder's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Outing, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Cancer, Deadnaming, Fatphobia, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

thebearnest's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Transphobia, Outing, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Fatphobia, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

heybethrenee's review

challenging dark sad

5.0

My life going forward can be categorized as before Manhunt and after. This book fundamentally changed something within me. I have read queer literature in the past but I have never connected to characters like this. This is such an unflinching depiction of queerness and complicated relationships we have with ourselves and our community. Wow wow wow the characters in this are everything to me, they are flawed and fucked up and selfish and would do anything for each other. The last hundred pages of this book are a wild zombie dystopian ride and I loved every heartbreaking moment of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

amylfabry's review against another edition

Fascinating world and concept, very funny in parts. It's a comical and grotesque thought experiment taking the logic of anti trans hate to its logical conclusion: what if any "biological male" was literally a rapist monster... the violence was too visceral for me, but it serves a purpose in the story telling. Just like yeah, sickening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

carokv's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Outing, and Dysphoria