Reviews tagging 'Classism'

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

174 reviews

levanthium's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad 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? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Classism

Minor: Ableism and Domestic abuse

hannahhmh's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, and Vomit

chelbelle122's review against another edition

DNF @ 50%

This book should come with a trigger warner for mansplaining.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

_cecilie_'s review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

 If someone had told me this was written by a woman, I would have said 'of course, who else could portray such a story so believably', and that is the highest praise I can give in this context. I came to this book expecting a fast-paced, thrilling and ultimately amusing read like the title suggests. Instead, I was frustrated 80% of the time, cried twice and ranted to three seperate people about the absolute gall this novel had to be actually impactful, thought-provoking and indignation-inducing despite having peaches bleeding from puncture wounds on the cover!

I will not repeat all my rantings and ravings here but compile a few of the points I thought most important. First, I really respect that this story would work almost as well if it had no fantasy in it at all and that it is frustrating but in a good, a real way. Patricia (and the other women in this story) is undervalued, not being believed, made to feel small and helpless and if you have any semblance of empathy it will make you curse and seethe on their behalf while feeling as powerless as them. Not to say that these are unproblematic characters, oh no! If you have a problem with reading about sexist or racist characters then maybe skip this one entirely, especially if you have the feeling that you need to brush up on your media literacy skills. All of these characters are flawed but at the same time distinct, fleshed out and worthy of sympathy. 

I loved (hated, but it was a good kind of hate) that all of them had to sacrifice something, that nothing was sunshine and rainbows at the end but they had to deal with real consequences. Also, I'm not saying that chopping up poeple you hate is a great way to deal with them but some just have it coming.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Death of parent

kaitcope's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism

emilywemily6's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I really enjoyed this book and found it to have many more layers than I originally expected. It started off campy and hilarious, but turned more dark and serious. There is definitely both paranormal and more domestic-style horror elements and it felt like I read two different books between the first half and the second. I really appreciated the messaging about how no one listens to POC (specifically black people in this book), women, or children. And no one cares what happens to the black people in this book, many characters turn a blind eye and just say “oh well, that’s too bad” without giving it more thought. I feel like this book could have been a 5 star if it had been written by a black person and seen from Mrs. Greenie’s perspective. She was my favorite character!! I felt like the author did a pretty good job portraying Patricia in this book, but a lot of the other characters were more superficial. This book inspired a lot of unsettled feelings, both related to the paranormal and the relationships between the characters. It felt a little long and drawn out though, especially with Patricia getting back into the James Harris issue. I wish there had been more actual book club time throughout the book and that the friends could have been better friends to each other. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Pregnancy

lewbug's review against another edition

I think a lot of my frustrations with this book deals with the way it was marketed. I expected a campy and funny story. I was told “Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meets Dracula”. What I read was horrific and gorey and graphic. It started out with funny elements and got exceedingly darker. I tried to tough it out and even got through the truly horrific rat scene (but not without gagging). I finally broke and looked up some more information and there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel. There should have been an EXTENSIVE list of content warning clearly marked on somewhere on this book and they should not have marketed it like they did. There is rape (I stopped before this but I hear it is horrific and awful and doesn’t add to the story at all), racism, sexism, classism, abuse, child murder, child molestation, horrific deaths, body horror, gaslighting, awful scenes with rats and apparently cockroaches later, and so much gore in disgustingly graphic detail and frankly I feel a bit betrayed because I picked this up expecting humor and maybe a little bit of light gore. I’m sure there’s an audience for this book but I am not it and I’m kind of mad I was led to believe I was 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

sar_she_her's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense

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

3.75

Entertaining, angering, and gory.

~ Entertaining at x1.2 speed. 

- Fyi LOTS of gore and Trigger Warnings for many themes. In addition to numerous ones cited below, also creepy/crawly/gross out factor. (Albeit, worst gore is mostly in isolated parts of book: earlier in book as impetus for some call to action, and 1/2-2/3 through book with family endangerment, and 3/4-end with more of the same.)

+ I used to have to skip any books narrated by the much celebrated Bahni Turpin bc her performances of immature, catty, or complaining/whiny characters was too grating. But her array of performances for this book's variety of personalities and ages really impressed me and even converted me as a new fan. impressive performance!

~ While surely part of the author's intentional commentary, his representation of the male partners and how dismissive, condescending, and unaware they were was enraging. His tipping of the scales, whether feeling odds were against certain characters, or the resolution of certain conflicts, felt too steep and stacked, left unfinished or too tidily wrapped up.  I wish these scenarios or interpersonal conflicts were more mixed and balanced.

~ Similarly, for better or worse, predictable. which can be helpful with scary horror, depends on readers' preferences.

+ That said I REALLY enjoyed the main protagonist, appreciated the representation of different aged women and black women, and glaring commentary around racism and classism and their effects. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Dementia, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

torismazarine's review

dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

cyndi1966's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Animal death