Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

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

365 reviews

gabertron's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Racism, and Domestic abuse

kaylasbewks's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

stars ,, 5.0
cawpile ,, 9.14

this book was insane ,, i read 80% in one day which explains a lot.

i'm a sucker for 'housewife horror' so i may seem biased when i say this but ,, the characters were amazingly written. were the ignorant? yes. were they stupid at times? yes. were they selfish? yes! but that's what makes reading about them so interesting, instead of seeing people suddenly rise up to the occasion you see the internal battle of ignoring the problem or fighting against it. also, the atmosphere was phenomenal, the amount of times i actually got freaked out was embarrassing ,, and the amount of times i giggled was unsurprising. i also seem to be a sucker for books that heavily lean into horror stereotypes ,, but are extremely self aware ,, so that's always nice to know!

i'd definitely recommend this but please check the tw's before reading, it's a dark book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Gore, Rape, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, and Forced institutionalization

alybarnett02's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

Didn’t love the audio. But the story was captivating! Even during the gross parts, I still wanted to listen more. Recommend if you want a good story about vampires, and taking place over a few years. It was a long audiobook, but I did enjoy getting to know Patricia and her character in depth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Rape, Blood, and Sexual content

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Animal death

ariana3's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I was really excited to read this book, especially given the hype I've seen around it for so long. I was pretty disappointed in it, and I just don't think it was my kind of book. This is the first bloody horror book I've read, and it didn't mind that so much as the gaslighting, misogyny, and explicit descriptions of sexual violence. I think a book can be really good without all of that. I'm glad I gave it a shot, and I did read it pretty quickly (mainly because I was hoping it would turn around at the next chapter...).
Plot summary:

Set in this utopia-like southern town near Charleston, SC, weird occurrences start to happen when someone new moves in. Patricia, the main character, sees a man in need and with her southern hospitality helps him out. He immediately ingrains himself into the community, despite Patricia feeling weird about him and trying to make him leave. All of the men, including her terrible husband, gaslight the group of women friends into thinking it's just one of their true crime books affecting them. Turns out Patricia is right, and James Harris is a vampire and has lived for 400 years, and Mrs. Greene (the only person of color and of course the cleaner for the community) is the only one who believes her and wants to help. Gaslighting and misogyny continue, Patricia tries to kill herself because no one will listen. Several years go by and Patricia finds out her now teenage daughter is serving as a "food source" for James Harris, and her son is obsessed with him as well. James Harris attacks one of their friends, and they decide to kill him. Patricia serves as a sacrifice while the others knock him out, dismember him, and burn him/drop him down a pit where ashes are stored (I'm not super clear on if he's ashes or if the several bags that are his body are just down a big hole). Their friend dies and decides to be cremated so the "thing" that James Harris impregnated her with also dies. Things seem to go back to better situations, despite the community now being poor. Patricia thankfully wanted a divorce and the kids decide to live with her. I am glad it had a happier ending. I was waiting the entire time for the other shoe to drop, saying that James Harris found a way to continue living and that he'd be back for Patricia's kids or grandkids or something. But it didn't!! And I liked the little additional notes and letters at the end, I thought they were clever and a nice touch to the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Violence, Child abuse, Rape, Gore, Child death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Dementia, Sexual violence, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death, Infidelity, Classism, and Excrement

Minor: Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, and Car accident

aboo99's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Animal death, and Dementia

Moderate: Gaslighting and Rape

codyboteler's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I think this might qualify as the first horror book I’ve read. It was an enjoyable (??), creepy and tense read. But it was also, like, jarringly graphic. I’m not so sure I really cared for any of the characters. The only time I actually felt an emotional response other than disgust was when the kids spent time with the dying dog. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Body horror, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Rape, and Animal death

Minor: Alcoholism

lauraevelyn's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Chronic illness, Rape, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Gaslighting, Death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racism, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, and Murder

andreanneveillette's review against another edition

1.5

Killing the dog in the last pages was uncalled for and didn’t do anything for the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Violence, Rape, Gaslighting, Gore, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Child abuse, and Body horror

queerfucker's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Southern ladies, a charming mysterious stranger, and missing kids with a new take on the vampire. 

This book feels like it’s aware of its privilege, but just misses the mark by having a middle aged white woman “saving” children of color from the rich white man instead of having the perspective more from Mrs Greene who seems the most aware ? I would’ve been interesting to hear Mrs Greene’s internal thoughts as a woman of color in south during the 90s.

I enjoy how Patricia and Grace are confronted with the fact they turned their backs on the murders until it threatened their own though. 

Overall a good scary story that builds up the dread perfectly in a way I rarely feel with books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Animal death, Dementia, and Racism

Minor: Medical trauma

heyjaneysmith's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Classism, Rape, Death, and Gaslighting

Minor: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Body horror, Dementia, and Physical abuse