Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

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

228 reviews

sar_she_her's review against another edition

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.

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cyndi1966's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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xeniba's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I honestly don’t know why I finished this. It was unnecessarily gory and the only character I liked even a little was Mrs. Green (and Slick, to an extent). It was supposed to take place in the late 80s and early 90s, but the way the characters behaved felt more like the 50s. A woman’s place was in the home, cooking and cleaning for her philandering husband, etc.

It felt very “white women’s tears” and of course the person who ended up taking charge and doing the dirty work was the one Black character.

I get that it’s probably supposed to be about the patriarchy and racism and gentrification, but I really don’t need to read about that from a white dude. I definitely will not be reading anymore of his books.

This was my first fiction audiobook and I did enjoy the narrator, so that’s something.

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lauraevelyn's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

3.5

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dynila's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

3.75

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danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

4.0

I can always rely on Grady Hendrix for a good time. I wouldn't say this was my favorite of his books, that crown still belongs to "How To Sell a Haunted House," but I still really enjoyed it. A fun southern gothic horror comedy that manages to squeeze in commentary on racism, sexism, who people choose to believe, and how easy it is for us to refuse to see what's right in front of us.

Additionally, I always love how he manages to put a twist either on the lore of the horror he’s tackling, or on the lens it’s filtered through. In this one, I love how he filtered it through the lens of the “true crime” genre. It was unexpected and fun for a vampire novel.

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wheelyautistic's review against another edition

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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.

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