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BITE BACK
358 pages, Paperback
Published November 18, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 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
April 23, 2026
Amazing book. Never reading it again.
It's well written, thorough and brutal in its critiques of a patriarchal society. It is still a painful, brutal read, not for the faint of heart. Those trigger warnings at the beginning? Dead dove. Dead dove times a thousand, they are so incredibly serious. Nothing is a light mention or brushed off. It is there, raw and torn, bloodied and exposed with no mercy. I don't have any of the traumas portrayed, not directly, but I am afab, and I know all too well how realistic everything portrayed in this book is, even with a society built on super powers given by cannibalism. It resonates a deep, painful cord that anyone capable of critiquing their world will hurt reading, and it will likely overwhelm anyone who's experienced the traumas portrayed. To those who have traumas they can correlate to scenes in the book, and who still read on, Godspeed. You are either intending to harm your mental well-being, or you are made of unbreakable steel, and either way, I wish you folks all the best and more.
It's well written, thorough and brutal in its critiques of a patriarchal society. It is still a painful, brutal read, not for the faint of heart. Those trigger warnings at the beginning? Dead dove. Dead dove times a thousand, they are so incredibly serious. Nothing is a light mention or brushed off. It is there, raw and torn, bloodied and exposed with no mercy. I don't have any of the traumas portrayed, not directly, but I am afab, and I know all too well how realistic everything portrayed in this book is, even with a society built on super powers given by cannibalism. It resonates a deep, painful cord that anyone capable of critiquing their world will hurt reading, and it will likely overwhelm anyone who's experienced the traumas portrayed. To those who have traumas they can correlate to scenes in the book, and who still read on, Godspeed. You are either intending to harm your mental well-being, or you are made of unbreakable steel, and either way, I wish you folks all the best and more.
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.
April 5, 2026
Character building 10/10 I do wish we got more world building I want to know what the state is like yes they are bad and oppressors. But how’s it run? what’s day to day like? What do the temples look like? Why is the outskirts so run down and abandoned? I guess I just like to know everything. I definitely was expecting a vampire book but honestly it is theres so many types of vampires obviously its bot count Dracula but its definitely vampire adjacent. I read this book after reading you werent ment to be human Andrew white fans would love this book
March 26, 2026
The concept was interesting but the execution unfortunately fell flat.
This book reads like it was written by an edgy teenager, the dialogue is incredibly corny, it reads like a bad fanfiction. Wish fulfillment was prioritized over the plot making sense. The world building is boring and unoriginal.
This book reads like it was written by an edgy teenager, the dialogue is incredibly corny, it reads like a bad fanfiction. Wish fulfillment was prioritized over the plot making sense. The world building is boring and unoriginal.
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
April 1, 2026
small grammar issues, but pretty cool book
March 18, 2026
Holy shit this was the most uncomfortable I’ve been reading a book and i loved it amazing truly amazing story and i love the ending i won’t say more but if you can read it!!!
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 - 12 of 12 reviews