Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

11 reviews

noonanjohnc's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abortion, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Medical content, Torture, Abandonment, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Sexism, Drug use, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Mental illness, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Confinement, Racism, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, War, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

chelbawamba's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Just wasn’t for me! The writing style and pace were confusing with massive time jumps that I didn’t realise had happened and had to keep going back and trying to find what I missed. There was also a lack of character and relationship development, with lots of new characters introduced towards the end. There are also constant explicit, rough sex scenes which isn’t a “bad” thing, just not my cup of tea.

I definitely see why there are people that love this book. I love a lot of weird gross unhinged horror books. Just not this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Biphobia, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Rape, War, Body shaming, Drug use, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Self harm, Cancer, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Mental illness, Outing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Child death, Excrement, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Slavery, Vomit, Alcoholism, Cursing, Dysphoria, Genocide, Gun violence, Medical content, and Toxic friendship

mirandyli's review

adventurous dark funny sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Trippy and macabre take on an apocalyptic dystopia where too much testosterone turns people into cannibalistic zombies. Told from the perspective of a group of trans folks, which is a very interesting take. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Violence, Deadnaming, Infertility, Medical content, Murder, Outing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Death, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy

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

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

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

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

birbmcbirb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book made me very uncomfortable, and goes at a pace that makes you feel like you can't catch you  breath. The characters were flawed, sometimes to an annoying extent, but in a way that mimicks a found family of traumitized people. I think it's worth sticking through the hard parts, but make sure youre in a good head space before you pick this one up. Especially if youre someone targeted by TERFS & SWERFS.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Gore, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Deadnaming, Bullying, Slavery, Pregnancy, Outing, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Eating disorder, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Excrement, Body shaming, Body horror, Ableism, War, Transphobia, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Biphobia, Eating disorder, Incest, Cultural appropriation, Racism, and Stalking

audrilou's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

I adore this book. The ending had me heaving big heavy sobs for minutes. Its a dark dark read, especially if you are trans. Because of that closeness, I felt so much more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, War, Sexual violence, Rape, Death, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Deadnaming, Body shaming, Blood, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Infertility, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Drug use, Cursing, Body horror, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Ableism, and Abortion

emmague89's review

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Grief, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Fatphobia, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Transphobia, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Self harm, Mass/school shootings, Gore, Genocide, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, War, Vomit, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, and Death of parent

kshertz's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This is a hard book to review so take mine with all the salt grains. It’s horror and I don’t typically do that. It’s gory. It’s pithy. It’s snarky. It’s in your face. I love the one liners and I love the TERF tell offs. But the world created just makes me all sorts of sad and depressed. It was too much for me! But maybe that’s what makes it amazing? I think if you like really really dark horror that is very unique and different from anything you’ve read before and you support trans people, you will love this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Rape, Physical abuse, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Murder, Medical content, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Body horror, Blood, Torture, Pregnancy, Outing, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Hate crime, Gore, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, and Body shaming

Minor: Antisemitism

kelshef's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

I thought this book would be a fun, misandrist adventure with a diverse cast of characters. I found it to be a much deeper, more thought-provoking work than I expected.

The beautifully descriptive, vividly gory, sensual writing in this book allows the reader to really inhabit the bodies of the main characters in a way that is rare in literature. This was especially enlightening for me, a cis, straight woman feeling a connection to  and understanding of the trans experience of the characters that I’ve never felt before. 

I think the characters and their interiority far outshine their plot and environment of this book. The first third of the book deliberately grounds us in the two protagonists’ experience of their world, but the latter two thirds, where the majority of the plot occurs, felt rushed to me. I understand that what the characters were experiencing was frantic and fast-paced, but I found myself taken out of the story by wondering what the hell was going on and why it was happening. 

I do think the very end of the book did the characters justice, and wrapped up the story with a feeling of some hope that the survivors will be able to find a way to live a life of integrity and truth, at least for awhile.

While the book is gross (in a great way) and extremely violent, I didn’t feel a sense of dread or horror until one of the final scenes of the book. This isn’t the type of horror to leave you with nightmares, it’s the type that will leave you identifying the horror of the world that we live in today, and recognizing that some of us might actually have a better, more respected life in a (more, different) dystopian hellscape.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Transphobia, Body horror, Blood, Deadnaming, Death, Dysphoria, Gore, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Gun violence, Outing, Rape, Self harm, and Toxic friendship

mallory10100's review

it was gruesome, and i honestly got tired of it. there was one chapter (called The Brat) where i didn’t know which characters POV was present until the character was named at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Homophobia, Rape, Violence, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Body horror, Deadnaming, Miscarriage, Murder, Transphobia, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Grief, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault