Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

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

38 reviews

thedinosaurkid's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The book was good. 
The main reason I am giving this book a 3.5 instead of a 4 is because the majority of the action took place in the last 1/4th of the book. I wish that there was more action in the first 3/4ths. Other than that this was a really good book. 
As always Hendrix is great at pissing me off with the assholes he writes in his stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Body horror, Cannibalism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Pedophilia

shieldbearer's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

 

“The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires” is about how a small-town white community reacts when faced with a threat from the outside. How much can one sacrifice for safety and prosperity and who pays for those sacrifices? Who- and what- is worth protecting? How culpable is the one who watches and does nothing? 

This is a book that features deeply human, but nuanced, female characters. The female characters have rich inner lives and personalities even when operating within the social norms of their small Southern town.  This is an nuanced, layered exploration of womanhood- particularly how white womanhood is affected by white privilege. People dismissing the characters as "doormats" have clearly ignored the parts of the book that scream that they are choosing prosperity and security over the lives of Black children, which is easily one of the most realistic parts of the book.   The author is a man, but his mother inspired him to write this book, and it truly shows. I wish more female characters were written with this flawed complexity. I also really felt the author did a good job building and releasing tension. 

Also. Y'all need to get better at adding tags. We get graphic second hand accounts of both sexual assault and racism (a man was literally LYNCHED) and half of y'all only tag the sexual assault?? I think that proves my point. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Racism, Murder, Suicide, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Stalking, Child abuse, Classism, Violence, Death, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Pedophilia

Minor: Alcoholism and Animal death

kam_pearson's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Vomit, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Dementia, Addiction, Blood, Animal death, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, and Toxic friendship

caitlin_doggos's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Dementia, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Rape, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol and Medical content

Minor: Animal death

sunsetcity's review

challenging dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Dementia, Toxic friendship, Violence, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Classism, Gaslighting, Gore, Infidelity, Medical content, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

snowforest's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, and Xenophobia

fallandfox's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

marthadude's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

I was absolutely hooked on this book. I abandoned all my responsibilities and got through it in two days. The title absolutely gives away the plot, but the tension makes up for it and keeps you guessing on what's going to happen next.  I would definitely check the trigger warning because it hits a lot of them. I will also say that there are parts where the author relies a lot of stereotypes and archetypes, which isn't necessarily always handled well in my opinion. I also think that

the sexual assault and the way the vampire feeds goes too far. Instead of going for the neck, as traditional vampires do, he goes for a vein in the inner thigh. It really makes it sexual for what seems like just shock value, which is especially concerning given the fact that most of his victims are underaged. Likewise, the rape that occurs in the book, while not needlessly graphic, was wholly unnecessary in my opinion. Apparently, this is what is required to turn a person into a vampire, and, honestly it doesn't make a lot of sense. It felt like it didn't need to go in that direction. In addition, I don't understand why Patrica's son was obsessed with nazis and why it wasn't really addressed in any meaningful way. It was just an odd choice.

Overall, this book was a fun and faced paced read and I had a good time reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Dementia

A main character is raped by a supernatural creature. While the rape itself isn't graphically discussed, the aftermath of it is. Because of this, the character is sick for a long time and eventually dies. There is also a jarring scene where the same supernatural creature (who is a grown man) feeds off of a high schooler. This scene is almost sexual in nature, as both of these characters are naked in bed. No actual sex happens but it's very suggestive as the creature feeds on the inner thigh. The creature also feeds on a 9 year old, but this scene is much less suggestive in nature.

gnomepartay's review

adventurous dark tense

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

laurena's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Violence