Book Review: Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

Manhunt
by Gretchen Felker-Martin (Felker-Martin)

Manhunt is one of the most gross and gory books I’ve read. The sci-fi setting is that a pandemic has transformed anyone with high testosterone into monstrous beasts. It’s *almost* a gender plague book crossed with zombie apocalypse. The difference here is that the pandemic doesn’t know anyone’s gender, only their testosterone level. The story centers on two trans women, one trans man, and one cis woman who are trying to find safety in this hellscape of transformed men (mostly) on one side and a military legion of TERF women on the other.

 

From glancing at other reviews, it’s clear that many people dismiss this book as gratuitously violent and insensitive for portraying rapes. It is hard to read; I’ll give them that. For many — even most — readers, this book is not for you and that’s an okay thing for both you and the book. But I think I get it. A while back I read the book Ice by Anna Kavan. That book is also about an apocalypse with horrible sexual violence written by a woman. In both cases, the point is to show something extravagantly horrible on the main stage that we normally expect people to endure, to hide, to be quiet about. We’re comfortable with that status quo: the hellscape already here. Authors should be able to scream about it.

 

Plus, under all the gore, it’s often a funny and poignant book. Strongly recommended to no one in particular.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosiński or Ice by Anna Kavan.)

 

( publisher’s official Manhunt web page ) | ( official Gretchen Felker-Martin Twitter feed )

 

Recommended by Garren H.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Legends & Lattes: A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes (plus Let's Get Book Together book group tonight!)

Legends & Lattes: A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes

by Travis Baldree (Baldree)

 

Legends & Lattes is a book with serious buzz. The author, a professional audiobook narrator, drafted it during National Novel Writing Month in 2021 then self-published it on Amazon in February 2022. It became an instant word-of-mouth success thanks to social media. Traditional publisher Tor Books hustled to put out a trade paperback by November 2022. Nine translations are currently in progress. And, of course, there’s an audiobook version performed by the author. An amazing success story!

 

The story opens with Viv, an orc warrior, delivering the fatal sword strike to an enormous monster. She wrenches a fabled stone out of its head and walks away into retirement on the spot and without explanation to her Dungeons & Dragons style adventuring party. Viv has a secret plan: open a coffee shop in a city where the ley-lines and the stone will bring fortune. She’ll need all the luck she can get, as she has no experience running a business and the people in this city have never heard of coffee. What she does have is patience, strength, and way of sizing up people (all of whom are considerably smaller than herself). Some of the obstacles seem like they’d be easier if she picked up her sword, but she wants a fresh start with herself as well. On top of all this, one member of her old adventuring band is not satisfied with how things were left off.

 

This book is as cozy and warm as the coffee shop Viv and her new friends create.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis or A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher.)

 

( official Legends & Lattes page on the official Travis Baldree web site )

 

Recommended by Garren H.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

 

Join the discussion of this book tonight at the December 2022 meeting of the Let’s Get Books Together book discussion group at the Gere Branch Library, at 6:30 p.m.

Book Review: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

These Violent Delights

by Chloe Gong (YA Gong)

 

This is a noir, mafia/gang retelling of Romeo and Juliet that will break the mold. Not only is it a noir and mafia/retelling it’s set in Shanghai in the 1920’s. Russians play the Montagu’s and the Capulets are Chinese. Our star-crossed lovers join forces to discover what mystery disease is plaguing the citizens of Shanghai. It’s filled with mystery, Shakespeare Easter eggs and historical subplot along with a side of romance and bildungsromans.

 

I listened to the audio version which I would also recommend. The audiobook features Cindy Kay, a conscientious narrator, who makes sure the different languages she uses are pronounced with accuracy. Shanghai-nese, Cantonese and Russian in addition to British accents and Russian accented English are portrayed clearly and beautifully. Wonderful immersive read!

 

(Would recommend if you like Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim or Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco.)

 

( official Chloe Gong web site )

 

Recommended by Caitlin L.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Babel Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators Revolution by R.F. Kuang

Babel Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators Revolution

by R(ebecca).F. Kuang (Downloadable Audio Kuang)

I found this book interesting on many levels. It is an historical fantasy novel about the British Empire but also deals with language, magic and secret societies. It also deals with the problems of colonialism and power. I think it has something for everyone!

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo or Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.)

( official R.F. Kuang web site )

 

Recommended by Susan S.
Eiseley Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!