Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

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

3 reviews

ugh1ife's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.25

This book was a ride! First thing to know, these women are SOUTHERN. I was cringing a lot at the blatant classicism/racism/misogyny/etc. But the book did a decent job at criticizing it. AND BOY does the black community get the short end of the stick. Also, this book does kind of fall into the trope of having a black character (Mrs. Greene) do the brunt of the work especially in the aftermath. She also has to be the one to point out the obvious instances of prejudice which the other characters acknowledge in the moment but don’t really do anything about it?

At the end they admit that the black community was hurt the most but it’s in passing. And then that’s it. Like I think it’s meant to reflect that these characters are prejudiced and stuff, as a lot of rich suburb southerners are. There is also graphic violence depicted against black characters and straight up racism. So, this particular aspect fell short for me. Also, I am not black so I can only say the issues that I found with it

All the characters are extremely flawed, and so much of it had me furious (especially the husbands). It was also a deep dive into what being a “housewife” is really like and the learned helplessness of these women who have/had accepted their roles. I really think this book is for the parents: it does a great job at detailing the common worries that parents experience and their short comings. 

A short summary of the book?: a group of southern ladies form a book club that follows true crime novels. Patricia, a typical housewife in a strained marriage, befriends a newcomer to their tight night community. However, she begins to notice strange things happening and becomes increasingly convinced that their little home is in danger. 

The sexual content was a bit hard to get through, but I understand why it was there so I don’t really fault the book on it. Just be warned! 

SO SO SO MANY TRIGGER WARNINGS. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Gore, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Body horror, Gaslighting, Violence, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Blood, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Dementia, Drug abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

reb_curt's review against another edition

Characters clearly written by someone who doesn't understand women. That and  

I couldn't take the out of nowhere child obsession with Nazis and White Supremacy groups and flashbacks of lynchings..just couldn't do it.

First DNF in a few years. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, Torture, Stalking, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Violence, Slavery, Hate crime, Gore, Emotional abuse, Classism, Religious bigotry, Child death, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Dementia, and Colonisation

kaceyjoy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

1.0

This book was not for me. I should have just stopped reading it, but i struggle to ever do that, always hopeful it'll get better. There was just too much misogyny, too much white guilt, too many gorey details, and not enough interest for me. I appreciate the idea, but the execution was just not what I wanted out of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Gore, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Sexual violence