Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

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

88 reviews

kmw2017's review against another edition

dark tense 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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Self harm, and Rape

noteleks_terces's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

terrabby's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

3.75

Definitely check out the content warnings for this one! 

While I don't think some of the elements (you know which ones) were necessary and hate when they are written for shock value, it was ultimately a very entertaining read. A page turner that kept me enthralled enough to forget my actual real life problems, which is just what I needed. The characters made the difference because they felt three dimensional and well written. I loved Kitty and Mrs Greene and I think Patricia is a good and complex main character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gore, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Classism, Dementia, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Terminal illness, Stalking, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

motleybooksandtea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Body horror, Murder, Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

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

yungblonde's review against another edition

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Terminal illness, Death, Dementia, Gaslighting, Murder, Rape, Suicide attempt, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Addiction

shieldbearer's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

 

“The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires” is about how a small-town white community reacts when faced with a threat from the outside. How much can one sacrifice for safety and prosperity and who pays for those sacrifices? Who- and what- is worth protecting? How culpable is the one who watches and does nothing? 

This is a book that features deeply human, but nuanced, female characters. The female characters have rich inner lives and personalities even when operating within the social norms of their small Southern town.  This is an nuanced, layered exploration of womanhood- particularly how white womanhood is affected by white privilege. People dismissing the characters as "doormats" have clearly ignored the parts of the book that scream that they are choosing prosperity and security over the lives of Black children, which is easily one of the most realistic parts of the book.   The author is a man, but his mother inspired him to write this book, and it truly shows. I wish more female characters were written with this flawed complexity. I also really felt the author did a good job building and releasing tension. 

Also. Y'all need to get better at adding tags. We get graphic second hand accounts of both sexual assault and racism (a man was literally LYNCHED) and half of y'all only tag the sexual assault?? I think that proves my point. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Racism, Murder, Suicide, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Stalking, Child abuse, Classism, Violence, Death, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Pedophilia

Minor: Alcoholism and Animal death

pclairx's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gaslighting, Rape, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Classism, Cannibalism, Racism, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Stalking, Vomit, and Alcoholism

afelice's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Body horror, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Child death, Sexism, Blood, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Racism, and Alcoholism

Overall, I liked this book more than I thought I would. I’m not typically a vampire person, but Hendrix put a unique spin on the stereotypical vampire we’ve grown accustomed to. I will say, the men in this book are assholes. They’re misogynistic, disrespectful, and mentally/physically abusive. You hate them throughout the book. Something I did like and appreciate was Hendrix touching on topics like gentrification, classism, and racism and what that looks like in suburban Carolina, though I almost wish they dig deeper and did more with that because there is importance in those topics that could be explored. Something else I noticed after just finishing “Final Girl Support Group” (also by Hendrix) is that his female characters are very similar and kind of stereotypical. There’s the woman who is uppity and think is she’s better than everyone, the one who’s just a bitch it seems like for no reason, the sheltered/quiet one, the one who is thought of as crazy for a good chunk of the story then proven right later on. Etc. I do t necessarily like how He Eric writes his women either….like giving man-splaining how women are energy. Still enjoyed it and do recommend giving it a read

philomathean's review against another edition

dark hopeful tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Gore, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Gaslighting, Rape, Terminal illness, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Classism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Physical abuse