Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

170 reviews

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

specklecommittee's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Transphobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Body horror, Outing, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Fatphobia, Medical content, Dysphoria, and Eating disorder

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

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

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

moxiemin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

If you want a stomach turning book.... this is the one... there are times i had to put it down and step away from the book bc I literally had visceral reactions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Blood, Transphobia, Gore, Sexual assault, Rape, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Dysphoria, and Body shaming

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

crimsonreadlips's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Hate crime, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Cannibalism, Body horror, Blood, Gore, War, Torture, Sexual violence, Racism, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Cursing, Classism, Child death, Dysphoria, and Death

mmartinko11's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Body horror, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Vomit, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Outing, Gun violence, Gore, Deadnaming, and Blood

katipheria's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.25

I had a love/hate relationship with this book. The general premise of the world-building is fantastic and unique, and as much as I hate to say it, were it to become our own reality I'm sure that the world would ultimately align itself in a similar fashion

in that cis women would be more likely to fall into a TERF or at least TERF-adjacent stance, if only due to the uncertainty and fear. Even those who consider themselves to be the best possible ally are still at risk simply due to the drive for self-preservation.

It's a terrifying situation and highlights a lot of ugly truths in reality.

However, the actual story within this world just doesn't do it for me. There's a lot of unnecessary sex scenes and as someone who prefers to avoid an excess amount of that (regardless of sex/gender of participants), I found myself skimming a lot to get back to the actual plot and feeling disappointed. While I understand that an apocalyptic setting inspires depravity and these moments highlight an innate desire for comfort and companionship,

the MC Fran's general poor treatment and better-than-you attitude towards her supposed friends makes things even more unappealing.

While it's not necessarily a horrible book, it is most definitely designed to be an uncomfortable read centered around characters who don't have many redeeming qualities.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Blood, Body horror, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Biphobia, Cannibalism, Classism, Death, Sexual violence, Ableism, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia

radtj's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad 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? Yes

4.25

Fuck terfs kill monsters

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, Murder, War, Fatphobia, Dysphoria, Violence, and Outing

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

Moderate: Death of parent and Animal death

Minor: Deadnaming, Excrement, Slavery, and Sexual assault