r's Reviews > Manhunt

I’ve restarted this review more times than I can admit. This book is going to live with me forever, which sure is cliche as fuck to say, but I genuinely mean it. This book is empowering, grotesque, devastating and so utterly captivating that my review won't do this novel any sort of justice.

Manhunt is a post-apocalyptic novel that follows several characters who are trying their absolute best at surviving in a world filled with ravenous men and shit-eating TERFs. We get to meet Fran, Beth, Robbie and Indi, as well as several other characters who, and I promise you, will make you want to throw your book at a wall, either due to how much you love them, or how much you utterly fucking despise them.

As someone who’s been queer for over 15 years, and been out as trans for eleven years, I’ve never came across a dystopian novel that’s...so unapologetic with its queerness, so open and raw, as well as filthy and unforgettable. Sure there’s some queer dystopian novels I’ve read, but nothing like this. I promise you, there is nothing you will find that can be related to this book. I mean, this book hit me like a sack of bricks, it’s the first time that I’ve felt free & unburdened while reading a story surrounding trans characters, it’s the first time that I’ve felt normal while reading trans characters. Maybe that's because I don't read enough books with trans MCs, or it’s the fact that Gretchen did not hold back with her writing, she didn’t shy away from using certain words, or making characters do certain things, fuck me, it was so gods damn validating.

Now, this is something I’ve been raving about since finishing this novel. I want to send a huge thank you to Gretchen, for using the word ‘clit’ for a trans man and all the other ‘dirty’ words throughout this novel. This might seem like a small, odd thing to put in my review, but I remember being a baby queer, using words like ‘mound’ and ‘clit’ for genitals, and being absolutely hounded on for the fact I was using those terms for myself, and how I was phobic for uttering them. It took me quite sometime after the onslaught of online abuse, to gain the courage to start using those terms again. Now that I’m much older, reading Manhunt was like a huge breath of fresh air. Reading words like ‘clit’, ‘cunt’, ‘scrotum’, ‘dick’, ‘anus’ was an absolute joy to see, because let's face it, most book sex scenes suck. I’m tired of the watered down, painfully straight sex scenes in books (and even queer books.) This book has some of the most realest and genuine sex I’ve ever read in a book, and there’s a fuck ton of it.

You know what else there was a fuck ton of? Gore. Pain. Slurs. Transphobia. Love. Found Families. You name it, this book’s got it. It’s a heavy story, filled with things that stuck deep in my chest, that made me seethe, that made me cry, but most of all, made me feel like I belong on this shitty-ass earth.

Manhunt is a ruthless novel that nobody is prepared for. This is going to change horror for the better. This is a dystopian work filled with bloodshed, engaging characters, and showers the reader with trans normality, queer love, diversity and the oppression that one has to suffer through for being true to themselves. Gretchen Felker-Martin has outdone herself with this novel, and I can’t wait to see what else she conjures up in the future.

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