ahonazaman's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

chelbelle122's review against another edition

Go to review page

DNF @ 50%

This book should come with a trigger warner for mansplaining.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

therealmsroth's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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

4.25

Great character development! I love how Grady Hendrix writes his female MCs. Fun premise, delightful friends in the book club, awful husbands, descriptive gore and body horror, novel twists on old vampire lore, psychic grannies, racial awareness... What more do you want?

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ejlee111's review against another edition

Go to review page

Too dark and random. Gruesome descriptions. Violence that didn't seem to go with the plot. SA.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sar_she_her's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Entertaining, angering, and gory.

~ Entertaining at x1.2 speed

- Fyi LOTS of gore and Trigger Warnings for many themes. In addition to numerous ones cited below, also creepy/crawly/gross out factor. (Albeit, worst gore is mostly in isolated parts of book: earlier in book as impetus for some call to action, and 1/2-2/3 through book with family endangerment, and 3/4-end with more of the same.)

+ I used to have to skip any books narrated by the much celebrated Bahni Turpin bc her performances of immature, catty, or complaining/whiny characters was too grating. But her array of performances for this book's variety of personalities and ages really impressed me and even converted me as a new fan. impressive performance!

~ While surely part of the author's intentional commentary, his representation of the male partners and how dismissive, condescending, and unaware they were was enraging. His tipping of the scales, whether feeling odds were against certain characters, or the resolution of certain conflicts, felt too steep and stacked, left unfinished or too tidily wrapped up.  I wish these scenarios or interpersonal conflicts were more mixed and balanced.

~ Similarly, for better or worse, predictable. which can be helpful with scary horror, depends on readers' preferences.

+ That said I REALLY enjoyed the main protagonist, appreciated the representation of different aged women and black women, and glaring commentary around racism and classism and their effects. 


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kaylasbewks's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

5.0

stars ,, 5.0
cawpile ,, 9.14

this book was insane ,, i read 80% in one day which explains a lot.

i'm a sucker for 'housewife horror' so i may seem biased when i say this but ,, the characters were amazingly written. were the ignorant? yes. were they stupid at times? yes. were they selfish? yes! but that's what makes reading about them so interesting, instead of seeing people suddenly rise up to the occasion you see the internal battle of ignoring the problem or fighting against it. also, the atmosphere was phenomenal, the amount of times i actually got freaked out was embarrassing ,, and the amount of times i giggled was unsurprising. i also seem to be a sucker for books that heavily lean into horror stereotypes ,, but are extremely self aware ,, so that's always nice to know!

i'd definitely recommend this but please check the tw's before reading, it's a dark book.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

wheelyautistic's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I actually really enjoyed this book. The amount of times I had to put the book down because of how tense it showed just how good the writing is. 

I'm afraid I have to disagree with most of the negative reviews regarding the 3-year skip, where the main character is complacent. Many reviewers viewed it us difficult and unrealistic or annoying however they fail to realise that this book whilst it does have a vampire and the supernatural elements is far more about a serial killer and a murderer then a high energy vampire slashing book.  It feels realistic that no one would believe her or that she would become complacent and subdued because in reality any outburst could land her straight into an institute given the timing. The race aspects were necessary to indicate and portray a very real and common thing seen in real-life killers: that those deemed as less than are usually the ones killed and often their murders are overlooked. I think this book perfectly paralleled the real lids true crime books the characters read with a hind of supernatural influence to increase the severity and difficulty of the situation.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

harley_a_reader's review against another edition

Go to review page

Due to PTSD triggers had to DNF. There are scenes of elder neglect, cannibalism, and sexual assault.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

addysubtracty's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

3.75

This book surprised me! I liked the style more than I expected and felt so viscerally upset with how the main character was treated by her husband and the other men. I really love that the women are such complex characters who aren’t painted as good or bad people, but people who do good or bad things. Grace in particular is shown to be incredibly caring and selfless towards Patricia at some moments while still making decisions that protect her own interests, a luxury of duality not often afforded to secondary female characters.  

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ludwijag's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense fast-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? No

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings