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adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is like the mixture of The Southern Book Clubs Guide to Killing Vampires and Practical Magic. Four Generations of badass women run the only funeral home in a small Texas town, making them the ones i charge of handling those who rise from the dead. The audiobook version of this is AMAZING, Stephanie Németh-Parker knows how to capture southern accents and personalities. I could picture the characters perfectly the way she was portraying them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Mass/school shootings
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
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:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Animal cruelty, Homophobia
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The story is set in small town Texas in 1999 and follows the Evans, a family of women running a funeral home.
The twist is the family does so to make sure the dead stay dead.
This book gave instant southern vampire mystery novel meets Buffy the vampire slayer vibes. The first few chapters were great and had me hooked.
Unfortunately the book has a great premise but ultimately poor execution.
The book has eight povs in just 370ish pages. This helped to progress the plot and really showed the events unfolding through the town from the different characters perspective. It gave the book a bit of a t.v. show vibe and I think this could be adapted well to the screen.
The downside is it made it difficult to develop the characters. At time the characters felt very 2D and flat. The author repeatedly described habits they have in order to give them some life but it felt gimmicky.
An older character is described eating hard candy at least 10 times. It reduced the characters to tag lines/habits rather than fleshed out people.
While there are 4 women in the family I didn't feel I got much of a sense of any of them. Luna the youngest at 15 felt like the MC at points. This gave the book a bit of a YA feel.
Luna's chapters were painful to read at times and the conversations with her friends felt very cringey.
The pov I enjoyed most was a deputy, which I wasn't expecting as I was mostly interested in the family dynamics.
The plot was predictable and felt to an extent like things I've read before. Characters made poor/unnecessary decisions just to make the plot move a long which is a pet peeve of mine.
The book is surprisingly gory. The horror element was well done and if you dont like graphic violence this book won't be your cup of tea.
The "big" fight scene the book builds to though is frankly rubbish. It's clunky and fails to hold suspense. The characters continue to make choices that make zero sense, till it's almost nonsensical.
This book really didn't hit the mark for me. It failed to adequately explore the relationships of the characters, show character development or explore the dynamics of small town 90's life.
The book was quick to read and finishes set up for a sequel. There were hints of something great to begin with but the book really fell apart towards the end for me.
I think this book would an okay pick for an older teen looking to explore horror.
The twist is the family does so to make sure the dead stay dead.
This book gave instant southern vampire mystery novel meets Buffy the vampire slayer vibes. The first few chapters were great and had me hooked.
Unfortunately the book has a great premise but ultimately poor execution.
The book has eight povs in just 370ish pages. This helped to progress the plot and really showed the events unfolding through the town from the different characters perspective. It gave the book a bit of a t.v. show vibe and I think this could be adapted well to the screen.
The downside is it made it difficult to develop the characters. At time the characters felt very 2D and flat. The author repeatedly described habits they have in order to give them some life but it felt gimmicky.
An older character is described eating hard candy at least 10 times. It reduced the characters to tag lines/habits rather than fleshed out people.
While there are 4 women in the family I didn't feel I got much of a sense of any of them. Luna the youngest at 15 felt like the MC at points. This gave the book a bit of a YA feel.
Luna's chapters were painful to read at times and the conversations with her friends felt very cringey.
The pov I enjoyed most was a deputy, which I wasn't expecting as I was mostly interested in the family dynamics.
The plot was predictable and felt to an extent like things I've read before. Characters made poor/unnecessary decisions just to make the plot move a long which is a pet peeve of mine.
The book is surprisingly gory. The horror element was well done and if you dont like graphic violence this book won't be your cup of tea.
The "big" fight scene the book builds to though is frankly rubbish. It's clunky and fails to hold suspense. The characters continue to make choices that make zero sense, till it's almost nonsensical.
This book really didn't hit the mark for me. It failed to adequately explore the relationships of the characters, show character development or explore the dynamics of small town 90's life.
The book was quick to read and finishes set up for a sequel. There were hints of something great to begin with but the book really fell apart towards the end for me.
I think this book would an okay pick for an older teen looking to explore horror.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Homophobia
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-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:
Yes
Fast-paced horror set in a very small town where everyone knows everyone (or do they…?) Do not let the cute cover fool you; it’s quite gory, which was fine for me but if someone thinks it’s a cozy mystery, they’re going to get more than they bargained for. I loved that we got a lot of different POV chapters, although some of their voices don’t distinguish themselves much from each other. Feels like an episode of Buffy at times, which was a huge plus for me (the show gets namedropped, so I’m sure it’s intentional). Ends on a cliffhanger and an unanswered question, so I’m really looking forward to the sequel next year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Grief
Minor: Racism
I just can't. It's so dedicated to awful Southerners.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Vomit, Medical content
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Homophobia
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Homophobia
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
2 Stars
One Liner: Ugh… nope! (Rant coming up)
1999, Southeast Texas
The Evans women own the funeral parlor in town and have been running it for many generations. Ducey Evans spent all her eighty years in the same parlor and keeps it going with her daughter Lenore and granddaughter Grace. Grace has a teenage daughter Luna who will one day join the business.
After the Godawful Mess fifteen years ago, the Evans women are thankful there’s no other drama in the town. However, things change when a body rises from the dead right in the parlor. Deputy Roger brings more news and a body mangled and half-eaten. As more strange events occur, the Evans women have to face the past and confront the Strigoi (dead-un-dead creepies) to take them down yet again. Will they be too late this time?
The story comes in the third-person POV of multiple characters (Lenore, Luna, Deputy Roger, etc.).
My Thoughts:
Alright! I’m curious to know if the cover designer got to read the book or what to work with a synopsis/ theme given to them. The cover does not match the book’s tone. It has lighthearted drama vibes. I expected something similar with a touch of seriousness. However, there is almost nothing humorous in the book. I like dark humor, but I didn’t find anything funny here.
The beginning is slow, which is okay since it establishes the storyline, characters, and their relationships. However, the middle is full of filler. We get the same stuff in slightly altered versions in different POVs. Does it help connect with the characters? Sadly, no. The characters still remain 2D and surface-level (even stereotypical).
The premise is terrific. But the execution is the opposite. Nothing really happens until the last 20% or so. Even then, it doesn’t pack a punch. Something happens, something else happens, some death, and blah blah…
When the book goes on and on about how the Evans women are the only ones to tackle the menace and should keep the town safe, they do nothing until the very end. It’s all about ‘I don’t want to reveal this secret, so what if people are dying?’ If the family had a proper conversation when they should, the book would have been 100 pages. That would have prevented the need for a sequel (why is this even a series?).
Multiple POVs are useful to provide insight into different characters. However, here, we get the same stuff we already know. In attempting to keep the Godawful Mess a secret for as long as possible, the POVs and character development were compromised. If I had read that term one more term, I’d have deleted the book from my reader. Argh!!
The book has quite a bit of gore. I wasn’t bothered, but it can affect some readers. I’m guessing it would be around 5+ on the scale of 10 (don’t take my word for it). Did I find it scary or creepy? Nope. It was a flat graph except for the spiking annoyance at the characters.
Though Luna was a stereotypical teen, she at least had a few expressions and emotions more than the adults. Of course, making bad decisions seems to be a family trait, so… *shrug*
To summarize, Bless Your Heart is mostly a hook to get readers interested in the series and contains more filler than an actual story. It did not work for me, so please check other reviews before you decide. Many loved it and found it humorous.
Thank you, NetGalley and St.Martin’s (Minotaur Books), for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
***
P.S.: The dog lives.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Vomit, Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a fun debut from Lindy Ryan and clearly sets up future novels in this universe. I really hope there are more novels set in this universe because I definitely have questions and there were a lot of loose ends.
Bless Your Heart is a multiple POV novel that pivots between the Evan's women, Deputy Roger Taylor, and various other town's people. We never get a POV from any of the Strigoi which I thought would have been interesting and showed more information about the Strigoi. I see where Lindy has easily set up more novels, but it kind of bothered me that there weren't more answers. The Evans women have essentially been vampire hunters for generations, but they still don't know really anything about Strigoi beyond myths and legends. It just kind of bothered me that there wasn't a stronger knowledge base.
I did really enjoy the central story and the rising panic/anxiety. About half way through as the reader you start putting pieces together and it gave me so much anxiety in a good way. This was the kind of book where I was quickly turning pages and completely caught up in the drama. I thought the ending did lack a little oomph, but again I think it's because the author is setting up multiple story arc. I will be disappointed if I don't see another book in this series.
Bless Your Heart is a fun thriller that will keep you on your edge of your set. Even if I still had questions at the end, I really enjoyed this novel.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Homophobia
This book is not at all what I expected from the cover. It’s much more of a horror novel than the quirky vampire cover, and it’s not really a vampire novel at all— still, it had great characters and fun (albeit incomplete) world-building.
My biggest complaint is that the pacing of every action scene was a bit all over the place, like the author didn’t have experience writing stories coming to a head and not just being characters hanging out, but overall, they worked.
My biggest complaint is that the pacing of every action scene was a bit all over the place, like the author didn’t have experience writing stories coming to a head and not just being characters hanging out, but overall, they worked.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Blood, Vomit, Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Medical content
Minor: Homophobia, Mass/school shootings
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
I adored this audiobook! The narrator perfectly captured the personalities of all of the characters in this tale. Part mystery, part Texas Belles meet Dracula, part story about learning to love and grieve those we’re bound to by blood and tragedy, I devoured this tale. Fans of Grady Hendrix will revel in the Texas rebuttal of Georgia’s Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Killing Vampires without feeling like they’ve heard this story before. This would be a great generational read to share with older YA readers who handle the occult well AND grandmas looking for a fresher read. My only complaint is that I have to wait for more tales from the universe.
Thank you to the author and publisher for advance access to this title in exchange for my honest review 🧛🏼
Thank you to the author and publisher for advance access to this title in exchange for my honest review 🧛🏼
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Violence
Minor: Mass/school shootings
Columbine mentions