Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

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

92 reviews

atowns_oh's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, and Murder

daffodilcherry's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

Really enjoyed this book that took a new perspective on the horror of the vampire through the eyes of the domestic housewife. It took me a little to get into this book, but about 20% of the way in I got hooked and devoured the rest of the book. I loved the way the plot zigged and zagged just when I began to think things would go the way I expected them. I liked how realistic the characters were, they were all truly flawed and fleshed out.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Rape, Suicide, Cannibalism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Cannibalism, and Murder

Insect based horror, rat based horror,

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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

mosscliffs's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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

ruthmoog's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

4.75

This gave me chills. Once I was invested I whizzed through the story, whisked up by the relentless challenge to overcome the vampiric.

The group use their women's work skills to fight, but this was a bit cliché for me - and you could play content warning bingo with it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Vomit, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Car accident

Nazism

aardwyrm's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

Like having your teeth pulled out by barbed wire, but they're really polite about it. There is a very scary vampire, but, you know how all good horror is about the unnatural threat AND the real ones? There's more dread in a cocktail party with friendly acquaintances than in most of the scenes with, you know, vampirism. The book juggles its time and place, both as a setting dripping with dread and with a comfortable, sympathetic gentleness that never actually lets anybody off the hook (though Mrs. Green is really much too forgiving in the last act). Does a really interesting job with being horribly physical about the most mundane and most otherworldly manifestations of gore alike. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

I liked this book, but it's billed as more horror comedy, and I do want to be clear, the horrible parts are gonna hit.

booksnooksandcooks's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.25

Do you ever read a book and afterwards, take a moment to pause and reflect how it was so clearly written by a white man? Truly, this was one of those moments.

I would like to personally thank whoever told me this book would be great for my thesis. On one hand, it gave me nothing. On the other hand, it gave me everything. The religious aspect was weak. The sexual violence of vampirism? Chock full. I especially hated the unnecessary rape scene and sexual aspects of the bloodletting.

And especially the white saviorhood combined with the strong black woman trope. Please, please, I beg of you, let black women have agency outside of a white woman's story. The whole "these rich white Southern ladies discover the meaning of true friendship and racism" schtick was just not it! Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, this will be part of the thesis.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Racism, and Forced institutionalization

lesbegays's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.75

for the first few chapters i almost forgot this was a horror novel because i was so invested in these housewives’ drama. but then things got dark FAST. i don’t think i’ve ever been angrier at a fictional character than i was at the husbands in this book. if i could have skinned them all alive i would have. i HIGHLY recommend the audiobook. 
side note: it is so nice reading a book set in south carolina????? like, i know the towns they’re talking about! they shop at bi-lo!!! the bit about the whole town being busy watching the clemson v. carolina game!!!!! is this what people who live in states that are more frequently featured in fiction feel like all the time??? 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Infidelity