Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

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

38 reviews

editorsansserif's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

NB: This book deserves a host of content warnings before reading. If you are a sensitive reader, please check those before starting this book - it escalates the deeper you get. It is not a "light" read.

General overview: A book that is, actually, about a vampire, though not in the way you might expect - pitted against a community and a group of women (the 'book club') who are deeply flawed and fail several times, at a great cost, before finding the courage to do what is right. Strong themes of racism, sexism/misogyny, and child predation. 

Emotional impact: I loved this book, despite not being able to love its characters. The main cast, and protagonist, are flawed, sometimes very deeply. They do show growth over time, while many of the side cast do not (or deteriorate), and it works - but they never truly become heroes. I spent a lot of reading time being angry and incensed, not toward the villain, but toward the main characters of the book, and the families that surrounded them. I feel like that's part of "the point."

Visceral impact:   The body horror, and gore, did make my skin crawl, but never felt explicit enough to make me want to stop reading.  The author sometimes went a little 'over the top' with the terrible events that happened in the novel, to the point of unbelievability and disgust. Spoilers/CW for child death:

Most of the children's suicides were remarkably unbelievable, outside of the boy that jumped in front of a truck. The evil rat infestation was also extremely supernatural to unbelievability, despite the fact that the supernatural was the ultimate explanation. No one would find these events to be credible, even in the 1990's southern American world.

Counter thoughts to some criticism:

• On the 'Stepford wife' nature of these wives and mothers in the 1990s: I found this not only believable, but incredibly realistic. I grew up in the 90s with a southern-trained mother and a southern grandmother, and around many families who had the same 'sensibilities' drilled into them. The way that these women acted in the book felt like a genuine flashback to what it felt like growing up around women who played pleasantries and kowtowed to men and never wanted to disturb the status quo. While I can see why they might not come off as believable to those who haven't experienced what I have, I felt it was authentic. CW (suicide/minor spoilers):
  My mother didn't protect me from the predator in my own family, and she dismissed my earnest pleas for help when I was battling depression and suicide as a teenager. My father always knew what was best to the point he'd become threatening if he was questioned. They wouldn't have protected me from a vampire.
• On the misogyny: See above - this felt very real to me thanks to my own lived experiences. Of course there are good men. It's just that none of these husbands were good men. It would have been nice to have a good man join the women to counter the culture around them - one husband who really did believe his wife and didn't fall for the trap - and that does feel like a disservice.  I can also see that the author was trying to really lean in to the power of women and their shared bonds, so it could be a tricky balance to find while keeping the message the same.
• On the racism and racist stereotypes: As a white person, I can't and won't speak to representation of the POC in the novel.  I do feel, however, that the quiet racism that was expressed by the white women in the book was genuine and called into question several times. These white women do not ever go through a full anti-racist transformation, but they are confronted and, I believe, do make some steps of growth. We're never shown anything more than a reckoning with their unspoken attitudes and the result of those actions, though. 
• On animal death: I thought that the final animal death scene was touching, actually, and made both sense rationally and plot-wise. That's not for everyone though: if you don't like pets dying, you're going to hate that portion of the book. 

Additional criticism: Addressed in my content warnings, but there is a side plot during which the main character's son is becoming increasingly obsessed with Hitler + Nazis. This isn't treated seriously at all by the characters in the novel and is not resolved by the end of the book. This should have either been dropped or handled with more severity, and that's a major lack of sensitivity to the implications the author adds with this plot element.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Classism, Racism, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Gaslighting, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Body horror, Death, Terminal illness, Dementia, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Addiction, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Antisemitism

Re: Antisemitism:

One of the minor characters of the book, a teenage boy, is falling deeper and deeper into Nazi rhetoric and worship. This is never resolved by the end of the book. There is no overt antisemitism expressed, but his continued obsession with Nazis becomes very uncomfortable very quickly. His mother does not try to stop it, and feels relieved that another character is able to share his interest.

justmys's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

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

hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

Grady Hendrix, you absolute buffoon. There is indeed a book club, the ladies are southern, but there is one solitary vampire and he certainly wasn’t slayed. How did he goof the damn TITLE?

Dislikes:

• All the characters + the weird choices they made. Has Grady Hendrix ever met a woman?Inquiring minds want to know.
• The misogyny and racism. It’s just so casually there and not addressed properly. Grady always misses the mark on these topics. Almost as if he isn’t qualified to be writing about them. Weird!
• James is just a shit vampire

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Violence, Abandonment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Child death, Addiction, Death of parent, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, and Blood

Minor: Antisemitism and Terminal illness

Tagged with antisemitism due to the son being OBSESSED with nazis. It’s weird and no one addresses it correctly.

competitive_reading_is_a_sport's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.5

It had me shouting at the characters, which means I cared about their survival. A tribute to the strength of the overlooked woman. Can a group of Southern housewives take on a vampire, in spite of the obstacles posed by their husbands? Why do you even have to ask?!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, and Bullying

lauraevelyn's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Chronic illness, Rape, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Gaslighting, Death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racism, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, and Murder

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

2.75

This is a book full of tediously bland and aggravating characters. All members of the book club turn on each other the second someone perceived better disagrees with them. Especially if it is the husbands. The only reason the book club experiences any success against the vampire is because of Mrs. Greene who embodies the 'magical negro' trope. She is also the only person of color who is a part of the story. You see a few younger people, embodying a gang type behavior in Mrs. Greene's home community. You see a mother of one of the victims immediately lose her child- because she is a Person of Color and her daughter has what turns out to be a telltale mark on her inner thigh. Other POC characters are all victims that died via suicide, save for the one that was presumably murdered due to an interrupted feeding.
Patricia's son spends the majority of the book unhealthily attached to WW2 and Nazism. All he talks about prior to

his mother's suicide attempt

is Hitler and Nietzsche. 
There are 2 notably gory scenes. One involves rats and features dog vs rats violence and also rats snapping at the two people involved like a stereotypical school of piranha. I was not at all pleased to read about the snapping of necks and chunks taken out. The other gory scene is at the end of the book and I won't spoil it. If you can handle the rat scene you will be able to handle this scene too. It is slightly more 'meat processing' than medical. One other scene that is a bit intense is

Slick

recounting her SA by way of the antagonist. 
I did not appreciate how the majority of the victims were children, especially at the reveal that the bite creates a sexual euphoria that leads to addiction. This is described in detail for two characters, one who is an adult and the other who is in their late teens or early twenties. 
Just about all the male characters embodied stereotypes and were as present in the story as they were in their kids' lives. They either drank, beat their wives, had an abusive amount of control over their wives, or gaslit the ever-loving joy out of their wives. 
The book club are all fair-weather friends. The husbands band together to gaslight and call Patricia crazy and despite the proof they had in their hands at the time, all of the rest of the book club agree. Then at the end while four are struggling in the fight against evil one of the others shows up like she is the saving grace, despite doing next to nothing to help for the entire book. By the end all the surviving book club members seem to still be meeting up as if all were normal. There was small implication that something is going on with the dog, Patricia, and her daughter but it may have been meant as a 'some wounds never heal' kind of thing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Rape, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault, Child death, Gaslighting, Suicide, Antisemitism, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Vomit, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Racism, Confinement, Medical content, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Dementia, Death, and Classism

Minor: Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Several characters are stated to have committed suicide in minor detail. One character attempts, also in minor detail.

marieeveparentroy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Gore, Grief, Vomit, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Infidelity

maxattack's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.0

“He thinks we’re what we look like on the outside: nice Southern ladies. Let me tell you something…there’s nothing nice about Southern ladies.” 

See content warnings. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Classism, Death, Gore, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Antisemitism, Child death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and War

Minor: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury

Re: antisemitism — a young boy forms an obsession with Hitler and the Nazis, which is treated by his family members as a morbid fascination and a source of annoyance rather than a major concern. There are no blatant acts of antisemitism, and apparently the boy grows out of his fascination, although he remains a major edgelord. There are themes of racism throughout, as this is set in 1990’s American Southern suburbia. I don’t believe that racist or antisemitic behaviors are being promoted in this book, but of course read with caution.

jukebugging's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

hendrix definitely seems confused and juvenile in his perception of black people and the time period he’s writing about (why does he have black people referring to themselves as colored if it’s supposed to be the 90s) but he definitely knows how to appeal to the horror genre (as well as its stereotypes unfortunately) and how to make you hate a man so much that you want to puke 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, and Antisemitism

lauren610's review against another edition

1.0

 The author steps out of his lane a bit too much in this book and it was very much not enjoyable for me. The son's interest in Nazis is not treated with appropriate concern from the parent, which was red flag #1 to me. The women are all catty and one-dimensional. Every victim is Black. It's like he picked all the weird gross parts of the 90s to include, but not to provide any meaningful commentary on them, just to have racism, antisemitism, and abuse present. As another reviewer stated so well, if the book is going to have a vampire in it, we don't need to stick to historical accuracy here. We could have a successful Black character at least? But no. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Antisemitism, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse