Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

214 reviews

goldilocks420's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

<3

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, and Outing

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Dysphoria

Minor: Deadnaming

rachelcd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

My only critique of this amazing book is that the switch between characters was particularly challenging to navigate and keep track of when listening as an audiobook. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Outing, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

analenegrace's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

This was a uniquely fascinating post-apocalyptic novel, especially to listen to. 

Often, post-apocalyptic novels are focused on survival but not on those whose survival looks very different, and this book, with a trans author and a trans narrator, examined a world where trans people's experiences are dictated by a disease that targets testosterone and turns people into zombie-like monsters. Currently, we are facing a serious problem of TERFS (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) who target trans people simply for existing, at times violently, and this book wonders if how much worse they could get. 

Our characters are not always likable, and it is questionable how many main characters this book has, although I would generally say five. Plot-wise, at times, it felt like things were moving a bit too fast, and the plot never really settled. There are no breaks in this book beyond the sex scenes, which are important to the plot anyway; instead, the characters are constantly physically and mentally on the move, never stopping. 

My biggest criticism was related to the pacing and how the audiobook did the narration. I haven't seen a physical copy, so maybe it's like this in the book as well, but the internal monologue would shift narrators constantly, mid-chapter, without warning, and often shift locations in the same way, and it made it somewhat hard to listen to. The audiobook narrator also did accents for some but not all of the characters, so when she did them, it came as quite a shock. 

I really recommend this one but with heavy warnings for brutality, violence, sexual violence, external and internal transphobia, and death. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Outing, and Dysphoria

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

---

Content Warnings

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

bebidocrimes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.75

A brutal look into how easily TERFs could spread their rhetoric, and just how far they really wish to take it. The horror in the violence and gore was explicit, yet somehow this book kept some levity. After all, what do we have if not the small pleasures and each other? Imagining how JKR died a horrid death was fun.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

acgeorge's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, and Dysphoria

jebowman123's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-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

2.75

I almost seemed to lose interest right when the plot started to unravel. There’s just a bit too much going on in the end there. It feels over complicated for no good reason. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Deadnaming, Fatphobia, Gore, Cannibalism, Dysphoria, and Classism

babayagareads's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.25

I don't think I'm going to make a habit of recommending this read. There are some jarring plot movements without transitional context. 

I'd also add that some of the quirks were a little too on the nose - like naming the ship the Galbraith. That would have been fine individually, but including that detail after specifically killing off Rowling in a side story was a little much. And I'm not a J.K. person either - it's more to say that one of those details would have been a more pure add to the plot and story, whereas both seems too pointed.

This book is definitely not for the weak-stomached.

I'm content with having read this piece, but it's not one that I'm going to recommend to others. If you're thinking of reading something that is going to make you uncomfortable, go ahead. 

The biggest content warning I've got is also a spoiler: very early in this book there is

one of the most graphic anal/yussy rape scenes I've ever encountered in a book or movie.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

You want to feel uncomfortable? This book has it all!

alienguy's review against another edition

the author's barely disguised fetishes just felt gross. none of the story elements were playing well together. i think all horror should be tempered with comedy, but this just felt like trauma porn with a few badly timed, disturbing jokes. 

i think all stories about trans people are important. i'll fiercely defend this book's existence, but it's absolutely not for me, lmfao 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic

glorifiedloveletters'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

5.0

5 stars because I'll be thinking about this one for a long time. I mean, yes, sometimes my toes were quite literally curling at some of violence/body horror, since that's not always my taste, and while I get that everyone is looking for release and escape from this difficult world they find themselves in, wow is everyone horny, but fine. If everyone and everything is trying to kill you somehow, you gotta get that good feeling where you can. I'm not judging, even if I'm an old who'd probably be more interested in stealing sleep where I could.

But all that gory detail is sort of... refreshing, in a way? I tire of apocalyptic stories that dance around the bone-deep difficulty of staying alive and instead focus on, I dunno, trite romance and neat labels. All the characters in this book are complicated and allowed to be difficult. Why should these trans women be some sort of model minority just because they are the protagonists? They have far bigger things to worry about — like feral man-creatures, militarized TERF gangs, and "I'm one of the good ones!" cis girls who would sell you to Satan for a proverbial corn chip. Damn, just give a gal a crossbow and let's get moving.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Outing, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Trafficking

Minor: Deadnaming