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Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
459 reviews
justmys's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
troublesometrios's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Dementia and Domestic abuse
Minor: Classism, Sexual violence, Violence, Suicide, Murder, Sexual assault, Rape, Mental illness, Child death, Stalking, and Animal death
badlucklaura's review
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Classism, Dementia, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Racism
justgraceanne's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
My favorite part of the book? The author's note.
Hendrix mentions how he wanted to pit Dracula against his mom and how it wasn't "a fair fight."
That got me HOOKED.
I enjoyed the first half of this book well enough, but it takes a TURN in the second half.
One important thing I have to emphasize is this:
CW: gore, violence against women, lynching, rape, murder, gaslighting, sexual violence, domestic abuse, child molesting, and probably more things that I'm forgetting
If you have experienced any of these things or are sensitive to any of the above topics for ANY reason at all, avoid this book. Some of the scenes can be very triggering (you don't have to read the rest of my review if that resonates with you).
Let's address another issue for would-be readers -- are all of these other reviews:
Kai Spellmeier says, "I guess what's helpful to know is that the book is set in America's Deep South in the 80's and 90's. But the author took that as an excuse to push Black characters to the sidelines," and "Of course he had to make unnecessary comments about their breasts and pubes, of course horror wouldn't be horror if female characters didn't experience physical violation of their bodies in the form of rape and abuse. No, your book is not feminist just because your female characters say 'That's sexist,' once. I'm really tired of horror authors relying on tropes like the violation of women's bodies . . . to create discomfort. It's like comedians that can only be "funny" when they ridicule women and marginalized people."
And I have to be honest, I agree with him.
I wanted to see Black characters actually fleshed out and fighting vampires alongside the women (who took far too long to actually take action).
Also, the book that I had hoped would be a dark comedy that was simply about a bunch of housewives killing vampires turned VERY dark VERY fast.
This isn't to say that the book is horrendously bad, if you're wanting horror, you get horror! But there are so many other books that do the women-killing plot better.
Fiona had this to say: "Maybe if there had been one decent man in the bunch, or if the terrible men hadn't been so universally terrible (seriously, barring one man who was concerned when his wife was sick, there wasn't a decent moment given to ANY of them), then they wouldn't have felt so unrealistic. There's a reason people stay with bad partners, and it's not because they're cartoon villains who have zero dimension."
I wished we'd had a decent man, too, Fiona. That part was rough.
All in all, I can't give this book any stars. I suppose I could give it 1 star, but there were moments I felt like it was a 5 star book.
Hope this review helps! You aren't a bad person if you liked this book or a better person if you hated it. Just remember that that you should read what you love and love what you read. You deserve no less than that!
Alternative Reading Recs For:
Actual Monster-Slaying Black Women: Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
Women Who Kill: Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen & An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten
Vampire Myth That Follows Native American Family: Manmade Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Rape, Gaslighting, and Racism
brandon_the_beldam2993's review
- 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
5.0
There is some truly dark and sinister things that occur in this book. But it’s not totally hopeless there is a sense of uplifting with these women that just start a book club of mainly murder reads where they create a bond with each other.
And eventually find themselves in a real life horror situation.
Graphic: Pedophilia, Gore, Cultural appropriation, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Classism, and Dementia
Moderate: Alcoholism and Animal death
This book has a lot of difficult moments to sit through because the writing and voices FEEL real..one scene in particular when Slick isrocio07's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Rape, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Blood, Sexual assault, Gore, Sexism, and Gaslighting
athompson0429's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Suicide attempt
loveandolive's review
- 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
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, and Death
cavernism's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.0
Graphic: Murder, Gaslighting, Child death, Suicide, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Rape, Animal death, and Racism
andreyuhh's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Rape, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Murder, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, and Violence