On an apocalyptic Earth, all cis men either are infected, or are on their way to becoming infected, with a virus that turns them into savage, revolting, mindless creatures that are only interested in eating, hunting, and ravaging women. Full of incredibly graphic imagery, I loved how disgusting Manhunt was. I definitely whispered the word ‘gross’ or ‘ew’ several times as I read this in the office during my lunch break, along with the occasional, ‘That’s messed up’. I would almost classify this novel as not safe for work, as there are depictions of consensual sex, rape, drug use, and a great deal of violence, which is really no ones business as no one would know any of that unless they were reading over your shoulder. However, the cover itself had me wondering a few times whether or not I should keep it hidden. I loved how the cover art made use of a slang term to give you a hint of what lies within, but I also found it humorous as I enjoy watching a certain trio of British car enthusiasts and they refer to their male parts as plums.
This book was really real. By that I mean nothing was sugar coated. The way the author wrote this sounds exactly like I imagine things would probably be if something like this ever actually happened. There was a lot of brutality, even the few moments of peace that the characters had were blanketed in roughness. This novel was a considerable change to the type of material I have been reading lately, and it was riveting. Trans supportive and girl power themes are present throughout.
I really only had two issues with the story as a whole. Towards the end there is a scene where the wrong character’s name was used, the character in question wasn’t even in the same town, and that bothered me a lot, way more than it should. But I caught it immediately, I even went back and read the scene again to make sure I wasn’t crazy. I don’t know how the author or an editor didn’t catch it but Beth’s name was just thrown in there and the only people in that particular scene on the balcony were Fran, Viv, and Ramona, I’m not counting all the other women that were inside the building. This small mistake just ruined the continuity for me.
Spoiler warning, don’t read this next part if you intend to read the book. I wasn’t going to even mention this when I started writing, but I’m puzzled so now I do want to talk about it. At the very, very end there was a scene between Beth and Teach in which Teach calls her Branden, and I didn’t know what to make of it. Did Teach know Beth/Branden from some chance meeting in the past, and in that moment recognize her? Or was Beth/Branden her brother, which I thought maybe the author was trying to hint at seeing as Teach was thinking back on her trans brother shortly before this encounter. Beth says, ‘No’ when Teach calls Branden. Was this because she did not want to be called by her male name, that Teach somehow, miraculously, guessed, or just because she did not want to be called any male name seeing as she identified as a woman? Maybe I just missed the meaning of that entire part.
Nonfiction and Nonsense 