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A review by analenegrace
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
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.
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