Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

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

269 reviews

dark medium-paced

After a few reads and DNFs I did not like from last year, I thought maybe I just wasn't a Grady Hendrix fan and was suprised at how much I liked this book, and that maybe it was going to be the one to change to mind. 
I was all in - the ideas were there, it was hitting some meaningful themes even if many characters felt underdeveloped. I loved the way this vampire was juxtaposed against middle-aged suburban southern moms and the vampire was just a "regular guy" wreaking havoc on their lives rather than the usual, more "sexy" depictions of vampires I often read. It touched on racism and class divides, etc - it had a little to say about a lot of things and I was enjoying the read. But it lost me when the vampire attacks were just sexual assaults written in way more detail than I was comfortable with over and over again. I understand there's a point to be made probably, a metaphor about sexual violence, but to hear it described done to multiple women, a teenager, and the implication it was done to many many kids was just so upsetting as a sexual assault survivor there was no way I could positively speak about this book despite the other things I really quite liked about it. In this context, it was infuriating to watch people victim blame, watch the assaulter gaslight and run lives for women he was holding power over.
I've never seen anyone give content warnings about this book and I never would have picked I up had I known, so I really felt compelled to write a review to tell others. 
If you're not affected by depictions of sexual assault I don't imagine it would even be on the radar for you, but for the other people who could get triggered, here's a warning to just stay away. 

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Wow, I hated the men in this book. The way they treated their wives was just despicable. Loved the ending. My book club could never!

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Would have appreciated trigger warnings; the gore is fine, but multiple SA’s are not

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No

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adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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: Complicated

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No

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