Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

112 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

fanni_ambr_'s review against another edition

slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Hate crime, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Pulling teeth, breeding farm, forced sex work

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

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

actuallyirina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

This was a challenging read, often quite upsetting. The writing style was a bit jarring at first. If you're in a place where you can stomach it I think it's a good read to help you examine your biases and internalized transmisogyny. I'm trans and there was still stuff in here that I was like oops didn't realize I'd internalized that gotta keep that in check. It's a heartbreaking gutwrenching book, Beth and Fran are messy and complicated and imperfect but my god do you just want these women to catch a fucking break.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, Outing, Dysphoria, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

sampirecutie's review against another edition

There was a lot of explicit content that didn't really feel necessary to the story. I'm all for smut, but I was expecting an apocalyptic read or something more like Handmaid's Tail.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Sexism, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

mayarosa's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring reflective tense 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

5.0

This is one of the best horror books I've ever read. This book is emotional, funny, action packed and so unique. The characters are the most diverse and interesting I've ever seen. The writing style is great, funny and descriptive. The overall story is exciting and heartbreaking. Love love love 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Deadnaming, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, and War

scheierndevin'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Cannibalism, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism