Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

52 reviews

lorinew1's review against another edition

dark lighthearted tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Cannibalism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Murder, Body horror, and Torture

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

lilasky's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Self harm and Torture

Minor: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I liked parts of this book, but overall it disappointed me. The little flairs to remind you the book is set in the 90s are pretty cute. Some of the scares really worked for me (there is a scene where the main character is trying to escape a location without being seen that is both so tense and SO gross, and I'm not usually squeamish), and the idea of a vampire that is hunger personified (he just always wants more no matter what) was interesting. When the book club finally gets together for the plan I had been waiting for the entire book, it's great. The intro mentioned that the book is kind of a tribute to the author’s mom and I could really feel it in those moments.

I appreciate what the author was trying to do with the Mrs. Greene character and the vampire going after children he thinks won't be missed but the execution didn't really work for me. Mrs. Greene had to take charge of everything all the time and it basically circled around from her being part of the team to her having to coddle and take care of all the white characters. The women in the book club were thinly drawn and not very interesting. I only finished the book a couple of hours ago and I can only remember that Slick is religious, one is named Kitty, one wears whimsical sweaters and Grace is the biggest jerk. Patricia is a huge doormat and the husbands are universally terrible. It was weird to me that the parents weren't more concerned with their son’s nazi obsession, aside from it being mildly embarrassing in public.

My biggest negative though is the use of rape in this book. It really feels like it's just there for the shock scenes, and the way the women's (and girls’) bodies are described during those scenes is really voyeuristic and weird. The worst of the rape scenes takes place off-screen and the author STILL manages to describe the victim’s breasts and the state of her pubic hair. What happens to the character afterward is also weird and felt pointless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Animal cruelty, Excrement, Fatphobia, and Vomit

There are some pretty gross "critter" scenes in this involving rats and bugs/spiders.

cana_worms's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Toxic relationship

whimsylindsey's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Death, and Blood

falchionm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Sexism, Blood, Gore, Misogyny, and Racism

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Torture, Vomit, Dementia, Animal death, and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicide

I thought this would be a fun book. It is clever and references other works of literature along the way that wink to the reader. It features a true crime book club of moms, the main character starts noticing odd behavior of a newcomer that might be suspicious. There is pushback and gaslighting, and the book is sometimes stressful, though very skillfully written as a thrilling narrative.

kacylynne's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

When a tall, pale and handsome stranger moves next door, housewife Patricia invites her new neighbor into her home. A decision she will come to regret.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Antisemitism and Forced institutionalization

cp_frey's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Did becoming a mom this year make me bias to believe this book was perfection? I absolutely loved Patricia and her will to not stop until she knew her kids were safe. That “Mom,” at the end had me sobbing.

Ugh! You go mama! Be terrified, but go anyway!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

alreads13's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Very fun and terribly disgusting. Couldn’t put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Vomit, Rape, Racism, Misogyny, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Death, Animal death, Child death, Child abuse, Dementia, and Torture

Moderate: Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Medical content, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and Infidelity