Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

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

39 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.5

This book is INTENSE. Kinda hit all of the trigger warnings on the way down. I was surprised how much I liked the author's characterization of the women, though.

But damn, I was so ready for Patricia's husband to bite the dust. He was on my last nerve.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Racism, Dementia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Bullying, Pregnancy, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Body shaming, Confinement, Excrement, Grief, and Vomit

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Abortion, and Drug use

ugh1ife's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.25

This book was a ride! First thing to know, these women are SOUTHERN. I was cringing a lot at the blatant classicism/racism/misogyny/etc. But the book did a decent job at criticizing it. AND BOY does the black community get the short end of the stick. Also, this book does kind of fall into the trope of having a black character (Mrs. Greene) do the brunt of the work especially in the aftermath. She also has to be the one to point out the obvious instances of prejudice which the other characters acknowledge in the moment but don’t really do anything about it?

At the end they admit that the black community was hurt the most but it’s in passing. And then that’s it. Like I think it’s meant to reflect that these characters are prejudiced and stuff, as a lot of rich suburb southerners are. There is also graphic violence depicted against black characters and straight up racism. So, this particular aspect fell short for me. Also, I am not black so I can only say the issues that I found with it

All the characters are extremely flawed, and so much of it had me furious (especially the husbands). It was also a deep dive into what being a “housewife” is really like and the learned helplessness of these women who have/had accepted their roles. I really think this book is for the parents: it does a great job at detailing the common worries that parents experience and their short comings. 

A short summary of the book?: a group of southern ladies form a book club that follows true crime novels. Patricia, a typical housewife in a strained marriage, befriends a newcomer to their tight night community. However, she begins to notice strange things happening and becomes increasingly convinced that their little home is in danger. 

The sexual content was a bit hard to get through, but I understand why it was there so I don’t really fault the book on it. Just be warned! 

SO SO SO MANY TRIGGER WARNINGS. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Gore, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Body horror, Gaslighting, Violence, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Blood, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Dementia, Drug abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

lubilu42's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

This book was super engaging, even though it was somehow very repetitive. It was also much gorier than I feel like I needed it to be, although I found I didn’t really mind because of how fast the story moved through it, not past it, through it. I enjoyed this book and will read from the author again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gore, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Animal death, Sexual violence, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Racism, Animal death, Medical content, Classism, and Excrement

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Dementia, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Excrement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, Classism, Cursing, Death, and Violence

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Addiction, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

squid_ears's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.0

This book is a worthy spiritual successor to Bram Stroker’s Dracula. It expands on the themes of the vampire as the greedy capitalist and the sexual predator, with commentary on systemic racism and how even white people who consider themselves non-racist are complicit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Child death, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Excrement, Death, and Child abuse

Lots of imagery of rats, cockroaches, and other vermin doing some pretty fucked up stuff to people.

lestie4short's review against another edition

Far to descriptive about things that creeped me out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

I had to stop at the description of a roach crawling into MC's ear. It was just to much

yungblonde's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Terminal illness, Death, Dementia, Gaslighting, Murder, Rape, Suicide attempt, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Addiction

didireadthat's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

Loved the premise of the book and couldn’t read through the end fast enough. I loved all the characters in the book. However, I did not like how the book jumped into the future. It was clear that the time laps was necessary later on, but when I got there I felt the story getting was long and I wanted to start seeing things progress a little faster (and it definitely did but I think just a little late).
I haven’t read a lot of horror so I think I missed out on a few references but the horror in the book was compelling. I definitely squirmed a few times and maybe the suspense of wanting to know the ending made me read through it so fast. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, Body horror, Cannibalism, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Gaslighting, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual content, Drug use, Rape, Sexism, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Dementia, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Excrement, and Toxic relationship

goodbyelore's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This is a book for people who enjoy Dead Dove Do Not Eat, dark fiction. Enjoyable if a bit slow but the pace is fitting for the characters, though frustrating at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Dementia, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Violence, Body horror, Suicide attempt, Racism, Hate crime, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

marlenealina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Medical trauma