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A review by kylamayb
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
3.0
I think this book was fairly good.
I think it touched on transphobia decently, however, I think in some ways it touched on it very poorly.
The way it discussed how if the TERFs succeeded in wiping out every man and trans-woman they would inevitably find reasons to exclude those within their rank from womanhood (like having PCOS) was well done.
However, making the catalyst for the events of the book and the motivation for the TERFs a virus that attaches itself to people with high levels of testosterone (men and trans-women) doesn’t feel like a great choice…
The author wrote multiple trans-women that turned due to the virus and the lack of proper medication, inadvertently proving part of the TERFs motivation correct. (I am non-binary so please don’t take this as me being transphobic)
While the head TERF does in the end narrate that she has always hated trans-people, that isn’t done for the rest of the TERFs.
There was some interesting aspects about passing as a trans-person or not and the privilege that those who pass can hold but it was largely written off as “that’s just how she is” when the main character cannot recognize that.
I think the idea of how if you villainize all men people use it to harm trans-women could have been an interesting idea, however, when you lean so heavily into biology as a driving factor, you lose that ability.
Aside from my issues with the premise of the book, I rather enjoyed reading it.
It was fast paced, there was decent interpersonal drama, and there were some fun mystery elements.
However, the author constantly referenced a big fight between the two main characters, going so far as to refer to it as “the fight” but never telling the reader what it was.
Also, this may just be a me thing but, there was so much sex in this book I was caught off guard by.
All in all, I was a bit underwhelmed by this book based on the blurb but I read it quickly and didn’t hate it.
I think it touched on transphobia decently, however, I think in some ways it touched on it very poorly.
The way it discussed how if the TERFs succeeded in wiping out every man and trans-woman they would inevitably find reasons to exclude those within their rank from womanhood (like having PCOS) was well done.
However, making the catalyst for the events of the book and the motivation for the TERFs a virus that attaches itself to people with high levels of testosterone (men and trans-women) doesn’t feel like a great choice…
The author wrote multiple trans-women that turned due to the virus and the lack of proper medication, inadvertently proving part of the TERFs motivation correct. (I am non-binary so please don’t take this as me being transphobic)
While the head TERF does in the end narrate that she has always hated trans-people, that isn’t done for the rest of the TERFs.
There was some interesting aspects about passing as a trans-person or not and the privilege that those who pass can hold but it was largely written off as “that’s just how she is” when the main character cannot recognize that.
I think the idea of how if you villainize all men people use it to harm trans-women could have been an interesting idea, however, when you lean so heavily into biology as a driving factor, you lose that ability.
Aside from my issues with the premise of the book, I rather enjoyed reading it.
It was fast paced, there was decent interpersonal drama, and there were some fun mystery elements.
However, the author constantly referenced a big fight between the two main characters, going so far as to refer to it as “the fight” but never telling the reader what it was.
Also, this may just be a me thing but, there was so much sex in this book I was caught off guard by.
All in all, I was a bit underwhelmed by this book based on the blurb but I read it quickly and didn’t hate it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia and Violence