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BITE BACK
358 pages, Paperback
Published November 18, 2025
36 people are currently reading
406 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 30, 2025
I read an ARC of this book (thanks Ess!) and thoroughly enjoyed it! It is graphic, brutal, and very queer: perfect for fans of Andrew Joseph White.
March 9, 2026
It is an amazingly gorey book of feminism, fighting against the patriarchy, family relations, and cannibalism!!! Id 110% read again!!
March 7, 2026
I cannot express how much I loved this book. I found it off of Tiktok and liked the cover, saw a video of the text on the back, ordered it on Amazon a bit later. I just finished it today.
Very very mild spoilers, vague but still.
I've always loved a cult-type book, dystopian horror, cannibalism in literature, but this absolutely tops it for me. Other than maybe a few spelling/grammar mistakes and some dialogue that felt a bit cheesy to me but was harmless otherwise, this is a perfect book to me. The end felt a bit abrupt but I like that it didn't end fully rounded out, I probably would've walked away feeling a bit odd everything just suddenly fixed itself at the end.
My absolute favorite parts were any involving Elysian. I loved their character and arc as a whole, and always loved a mutilation trope, especially in this context as a dystopian horror. It very much reminded me of Hell Followed With Us, one of my favorite books, that uses the same trope and is also a dystopian horror. Follows the narrative of a transgender man, has a similar 'radicalist' approach though HFWU is more apocalyptic and based in false religion. I would definitely recommend if you liked BITE BACK to read HFWU. They're so similar and so different at the same time, very good reads.
I'd definitely wanna hear some recs, whether it be another author or another of McKinney's books that might be a good follow up after this one, because I love their writing and approach to it, even the cover is gorgeous in my opinion.
S
Very very mild spoilers, vague but still.
I've always loved a cult-type book, dystopian horror, cannibalism in literature, but this absolutely tops it for me. Other than maybe a few spelling/grammar mistakes and some dialogue that felt a bit cheesy to me but was harmless otherwise, this is a perfect book to me. The end felt a bit abrupt but I like that it didn't end fully rounded out, I probably would've walked away feeling a bit odd everything just suddenly fixed itself at the end.
My absolute favorite parts were any involving Elysian. I loved their character and arc as a whole, and always loved a mutilation trope, especially in this context as a dystopian horror. It very much reminded me of Hell Followed With Us, one of my favorite books, that uses the same trope and is also a dystopian horror. Follows the narrative of a transgender man, has a similar 'radicalist' approach though HFWU is more apocalyptic and based in false religion. I would definitely recommend if you liked BITE BACK to read HFWU. They're so similar and so different at the same time, very good reads.
I'd definitely wanna hear some recs, whether it be another author or another of McKinney's books that might be a good follow up after this one, because I love their writing and approach to it, even the cover is gorgeous in my opinion.
S
January 17, 2026
Overall Rating: 5/5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Plot Development: 5/5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Ease of Reading: 5/5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I usually don't leave reviews but for this book, I HAD to. First of all, I would rate this book a five out of five. Were there a few editing issues? Yes. Did I really care? No. The story was so interesting that it kept me engaged no matter what type of typo there was.
Maybe I'm new to this genre but I have never read anything like this. The entire concept was like... I don't even know the right word to use? It was captivating.
I don't want to spoil anything in the book or even the main purpose of it because I felt like it was better just going in blind. But I will say... WHEN IS THE NEXT BOOK? IS THERE A NEXT BOOK? I NEED IT.
When I reached the end page, I scrolled to the next one expecting it to continue and then my Kindle was like... "leave a review!" and I WAS DEVASTATED. AHH. Anyway. Lovely book. :)
-- EDITED TO ADD...
I JUTS READ THE AFTERNOTES AND LEARNED THERE IS
Plot Development: 5/5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Ease of Reading: 5/5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I usually don't leave reviews but for this book, I HAD to. First of all, I would rate this book a five out of five. Were there a few editing issues? Yes. Did I really care? No. The story was so interesting that it kept me engaged no matter what type of typo there was.
Maybe I'm new to this genre but I have never read anything like this. The entire concept was like... I don't even know the right word to use? It was captivating.
I don't want to spoil anything in the book or even the main purpose of it because I felt like it was better just going in blind. But I will say... WHEN IS THE NEXT BOOK? IS THERE A NEXT BOOK? I NEED IT.
When I reached the end page, I scrolled to the next one expecting it to continue and then my Kindle was like... "leave a review!" and I WAS DEVASTATED. AHH. Anyway. Lovely book. :)
-- EDITED TO ADD...
I JUTS READ THE AFTERNOTES AND LEARNED THERE IS
February 27, 2026
I finished reading this in 2 days. It was gory at times I didn't really expect, but that's because I didn't take the trigger warnings on the first page very seriously. Cannibalism and autocannibalism are mentioned in that list.
it was a very interesting take on the patriarchy and how it effects everyone whether they're a woman or if they may be trans or even men can be badly effected by it. It got its point across very well and i did start to enjoy it more about halfway through.
the gore did make me feel a little physically sick at times, but that was the entire point of it being there. it's not my usual cup of tea, but it is great writing none the less.
it was a very interesting take on the patriarchy and how it effects everyone whether they're a woman or if they may be trans or even men can be badly effected by it. It got its point across very well and i did start to enjoy it more about halfway through.
the gore did make me feel a little physically sick at times, but that was the entire point of it being there. it's not my usual cup of tea, but it is great writing none the less.
February 18, 2026
it was so good, the representation was amazing, really relateble to being trans and the metaphors for the entire book explained everything so well, not to mention the vessel and omens brother was a great way to add more
January 13, 2026
Perfect
I downloaded this books in hopes of a good story to read after I saw it on Tiktok. I got exactly what I asked for and more. I have never read something more beautiful that somehow perfectly captures the feelings of being a Trans man. I have never seen myself more in a character like I saw myself in Omen (minus the cannibalism lol). This is definitely a favorite now.
I downloaded this books in hopes of a good story to read after I saw it on Tiktok. I got exactly what I asked for and more. I have never read something more beautiful that somehow perfectly captures the feelings of being a Trans man. I have never seen myself more in a character like I saw myself in Omen (minus the cannibalism lol). This is definitely a favorite now.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews