Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

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

115 reviews

madiison's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, Dementia, Murder, Rape, Gore, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Vomit, and Gaslighting

art_books_chemistry's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Blood, Child death, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal death, Classism, Racism, and Rape

Minor: Alcoholism, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, and Adult/minor relationship

linneak's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Violence, Rape, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Child death, Death, Dementia, Gore, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Stalking, Sexism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Misogyny

Minor: Classism, Drug abuse, and Alcohol

my_weird_bookish_heart's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Physical abuse, Classism, Child death, Animal cruelty, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Gore, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, and Death

chezler24's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

A book that puts a new spin on vampires and their victims. It offers believable social circumstances with race, gender, and wealth disparity that proved to be the perfect grounds for the vampire-like being to swoop in and place everyone under his thumb. As with other Grady Hendrix novels, you're going to have those scenes which unsettle and gross you out. (Perfect for horror fans although not everyone's cup of tea.) I enjoyed the progression throughout the book and how Hendrix paced things time-wise. It would have been interesting to see a bit more of the other book club members' thoughts, but, because everything was from only Patricia's pov, we had to balance the book club members, her family members, and various other townspeople who popped up along with her inner dialogue. With that being said, I felt at peace with the ending. To me, it made sense and answered most of the questions about how the ladies carried out their plans; however, I was left wanting to learn more about what exactly the vampire creature was - that's just personal curiosity though. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Rape, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Suicide, Murder, Medical content, Infidelity, Gore, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Death, Child death, and Blood

moonlitemuseum's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

Sometimes a book hits at exactly the point in time that you need it. I was hooked on this from the opening paragraph—it has a cinematic, snappy quality that lesser writers try and fail to capture, paired with breakneck pacing and witty, grounded dialog. A friend said that the author specializes in emphasizing human horror despite the supernatural goings-on, and I felt that here. The vampirism aspect was gripping, but it didn't compare to the cold misery of realizing this poor Southern housewife was a relative alien in her own home and life and with very few people at her back. 
There are elements of this book I disliked, but they were small enough that they didn't spoil my overall enjoyment. (Some parts that I was dissatisfied with might have even made the book stronger in the end. I'm not sure how satisfyingly the book could wrap up the ambient half-arcs of Patricia's children, and although I thought it unnecessary for the book to linger so long and lewdly on the rape segments I won't deny that they were effectively grim.)
A fast, exciting, and deliciously tawdry read that made me excited to read more. I can't give much higher praise than that!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Dementia, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Racism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Misogyny, Addiction, and Sexism

Minor: Religious bigotry and Animal death

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

5.0

while there are many parts of this book that i didnt like, that was kinda the point. this was gross, absurd, and just downright disturbing. i could not put this down and have not been able to stop thinking about this despite reading it like a week ago. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Stalking, Blood, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

cuddlygryphon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Self harm, Blood, Body horror, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Infidelity, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Sexism, Racism, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Death, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Alcohol, Child death, Medical content, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Mental illness

katrinasherise's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Medical content, Addiction, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Mental illness, Rape, Stalking, Child death, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Gore, Blood, and Gaslighting

_lera_'s review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Blood, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Infidelity, Pedophilia, Medical content, and Death of parent