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A review by cateyeschloe
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
4.0
“You always could have done something.
You were just afraid to be uncomfortable.”
Right off the bat, I have to say how much I absolutely love the diverse cast of characters the author included in this book!
It was beyond refreshing to see someone mentioned who had vitiligo, someone using crutches, someone using a cane, someone with chronic pain, sex workers, a fat person, an Indigenous character, Black characters, Hispanic characters, and various other POC characters. This book does a beautiful job of showcasing just how easy and natural it is to include genuine, excellent diversity in a story.
The pacing in the storytelling is a little sluggish at times and slow overall, but if you enjoy a dystopian story setting, this is a great choice!
This book is brutal and downright gorey at times, but I honestly think this should be on the TBR of anyone who can stomach the violence.
The story is visceral and rings extremely close to home, so much of the content materializing in our society today like a horrifying prophecy fulfilled. The threats this book depicts are not simply dystopian, they are not simply fiction, they are very real threats that Trans people are facing every single day, especially in America. They are the signs of a genocide, of a holocaust, and it is all too real.
I really enjoyed the cast of characters we are given to dive into this world with, and I like that they are not perfect, make mistakes, and are wholly human.
The author does a great job of world building, and while I still have a few questions about the details of the pandemic that hit that world, I did really enjoy the stage they set for this story.
Overall, I would absolutely recommend, but definitely suggest checking out the trigger warning list if you have any qualms!
“It is our problem… Them, the people outside… Every dyke and freak and faggot in the world is my fucking problem, and they’re yours too…
“I know the world’s dead, but that means we get more of a say in what happens to the people left in it, not less.”
-
“It wasn’t the few who’d cheered [during a TERF rally] that frightened [Beth (a trans woman)];
“it was the rest watching with guarded expressions,
“not looking at those among their numbers who cried… ‘you fucking Nazis’ and ‘Fuck TERFs!’ …“That was what scared her.
“The women who stayed silent.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Hate crime, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Gore, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Outing, Sexism, Death, Body horror, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Torture, Transphobia, Blood, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Deadnaming, Rape, and Classism
Minor: Racism, Pregnancy, and Self harm
There are really brutal execution style deaths of trans people throughout the entirety of this book.
Violence is very prevalent throughout and is sometimes very graphic, especially in regard to injuries and injury descriptions.
This is a transphobic, TERF-ruled society and every page reflects this.
The use of words like “faggot”, “tranny”, “cunt” are all used throughout as slurs.
The POV from the TERFs rails hard against trans women and often describes them as men wearing “womanface” and they repeatedly mention their belief that trans women are only men who are sexually gratified by “pretending” to be women.
A TERF also refers to a trans man character as a “traitor” and someone so in love with the patriarchy that they betrayed themselves and their sisters.
All trans people are continuously misgendered by the TERFs and sometimes they simply refer to trans people as “the things”.
There is one instance of a cis character intentionally deadnaming a trans character and it is very upsetting. There is somewhat of a warning for it, though, since the chapter title is “Deadname”.
There are many scenes depicting sex between various people. They often reference fingers or mouths or feelings but overall I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s overly graphic in its sexual content.
One of the most upsetting scenes is when a cis woman stabs another cis woman in the vagina with a knife and basically carves out not only her vagina itself but also her entire internal reproductive system. The book specifically mentions the woman’s uterus falling out through the wound. This all happens while the victim is alive and conscious.
A lot of the trans characters deal with dysphoria in some way, a lot of it exacerbated by the fact that they are in a post-apocalyptic world with limited access to anything that would be gender-affirming, even down to basic hygiene and maintenance.
Some of the trans characters deal with self-hatred or self-loathing, as well as jealousy for other trans people who they believe are naturally more passing than they are.
Fatphobia plays a distinct role with certain characters and the way they are treated by others.
Sex work is very vocally despised by the TERFs, and the sex workers that exist in the book seem to be looked down on in general, regardless of their gender identity.
The men in the book are terrifying and violent. They are cannibals and will attempt to rape any living being they encounter. They are depicted as feral, mindless, nonverbal creatures who exist only to kill, rape, and cannibalize.
Even so, the men are still not as terrifying as the TERFs.
Violence is very prevalent throughout and is sometimes very graphic, especially in regard to injuries and injury descriptions.
This is a transphobic, TERF-ruled society and every page reflects this.
The use of words like “faggot”, “tranny”, “cunt” are all used throughout as slurs.
The POV from the TERFs rails hard against trans women and often describes them as men wearing “womanface” and they repeatedly mention their belief that trans women are only men who are sexually gratified by “pretending” to be women.
A TERF also refers to a trans man character as a “traitor” and someone so in love with the patriarchy that they betrayed themselves and their sisters.
All trans people are continuously misgendered by the TERFs and sometimes they simply refer to trans people as “the things”.
There is one instance of a cis character intentionally deadnaming a trans character and it is very upsetting. There is somewhat of a warning for it, though, since the chapter title is “Deadname”.
There are many scenes depicting sex between various people. They often reference fingers or mouths or feelings but overall I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s overly graphic in its sexual content.
One of the most upsetting scenes is when a cis woman stabs another cis woman in the vagina with a knife and basically carves out not only her vagina itself but also her entire internal reproductive system. The book specifically mentions the woman’s uterus falling out through the wound. This all happens while the victim is alive and conscious.
A lot of the trans characters deal with dysphoria in some way, a lot of it exacerbated by the fact that they are in a post-apocalyptic world with limited access to anything that would be gender-affirming, even down to basic hygiene and maintenance.
Some of the trans characters deal with self-hatred or self-loathing, as well as jealousy for other trans people who they believe are naturally more passing than they are.
Fatphobia plays a distinct role with certain characters and the way they are treated by others.
Sex work is very vocally despised by the TERFs, and the sex workers that exist in the book seem to be looked down on in general, regardless of their gender identity.
The men in the book are terrifying and violent. They are cannibals and will attempt to rape any living being they encounter. They are depicted as feral, mindless, nonverbal creatures who exist only to kill, rape, and cannibalize.
Even so, the men are still not as terrifying as the TERFs.