Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

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

89 reviews

labinsky's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

2.5

first off there are just so many content warnings for this book so check that because you think you know what you’re getting into and the contents of the book does NOT match the tone of what’s on the tin.

this book is definitely a page turner, it’s over 400 pages and i finished it in under a day and i’m definitely not a fast reader. but just because it’s a page turner doesn’t make it good or mean that this book is well executed. it’s supposed to be a social commentary about racism and sexism and the way we accept the stuff of horror stories because we live in an unjust society. and it almost does that. but it’s written by a white man who capitalises southern and not Black. 

of course a horror novel is going to be graphic. of course it’s going to be gory and isn’t for the faint-hearted.

but there’s graphic depictions of lynching, rape, statutory rape, suicide, and suicide attempts. the main character’s white, christian adolescent son has an obsession with nazis that is entirely unnecessary, treated as only slightly concerning by his parents, and was stomach-churning for me to read as a jewish person.

and there’s plenty of run of the mill horror genre gore on top of this, which i fully expected going in, but everything else felt like when tarantino writes himself into a movie and his character says the n-slur with the hard r at least a dozen times. 

if someone with the lived experience of racism and sexism had written this book and if it was told from the perspectives of multiple characters (ie, mrs greene), it would have been a better book. it could have made the point it was trying to make. but instead of being a commentary about not only the horror genre but the society we live in, hendrix missed the mark.

in his version, a single vampire, not the world we live in, is identified the source of the violent racism and sexism and it goes away when they slay the vampire.

it falls short and it’s so frustrating because it could be such a good book, but it isn’t.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, and Suicide

socialpsysteph's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

Grady Hendrix is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. This book was so much fun. On the surface, this is a vampire story, but once you dig a little deeper, it has so much to say about women, motherhood, friendship, race, and southern culture. Also, this isn't your typical vampire story. Grady Hendrix definitely has his own ideas of these monsters and I loved it. Definitely not for the faint of heart, there were moments I had to put the book down and compose myself before continuing (gag). 

This book was supposed to count for Bookoplathon and Magical Readathon for September 2021 but I didn't finish in time (womp womp).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicide, Rape, and Blood

Moderate: Physical abuse, Alcoholism, and Suicide attempt

odrib's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

dudadiamonds's review against another edition

mysterious 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? No

2.75

eu to com muito ódio desse livro. ele não entregou Nada do que prometeu, amizade feminina foi feita da maneira mais porca possível, não tem mistério nenhum (muito menos gore), tem uma cena de estupro totalmente gratuita que não acrescenta em nada pra narrativa, e falando em coisas que não acrescentam em nada PRA QUE o blue era obcecado com nazismo? era pra ser algo Quirky?não tinha relevância nenhuma pra história mas mesmo assim fui obrigada a ler fatos & curiosidades sobre o holocausto. outra coisa que me incomodou muito foi a gente saber mais sobre o marido da patricia do que sobre qualquer uma das “protagonistas”, todas elas são extremamente one-dimensional,  seguindo uns estereotipos tipo a dona de casa religiosa e a dona de casa perfeita (e uma delas é estuprada e outra  apanha do marido), elas tem ZERO personalidade e qualquer coisa que faça com que se pareçam pessoas reais, isso sem contar com o white savior complex e lowkey racismo. ele sabia que iam pertubar por não ter personagens pretos de destaque na narrativa, já que todos são pobres e só estão ali pra ser mortos, e deu um papel maior pra mrs greene (que quase morre pra salvar a velha branca e constantemente pede ajuda das outras brancas), acaba que ela nem é tão desenvolvida e mesmo assim acaba sendo muito mais interessante que qualquer uma das protagonistas. a ambientação também é muito podre, nao tem nada de anos 90 ali e eu fiquei o livro todo com a impressão que eram os anos 60. não vou nem comentar sobre a morte totalmente desnecessária do cachorro no final do livro.

pelo lado positivo a escrita é muito boa e me engajou bastante :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Dementia, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Child abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, and Domestic abuse

maramergens's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

Moral of the story: TRUST WOMEN! I was so into it but felt like the ending was a little anticlimactic!

I think they could have done without James taking advantage of Korey. It felt like he threw in the sexual assault of a minor for shock value. I’m glad Patricia divorced Carter, but I honestly was kind of expecting him to die! It would have been very satisfying for the men to learn that their wives were right all along, but they didn’t end up getting any credit for saving everyone in the town

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Mental illness, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization

annir's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Self harm, and Sexism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Cannibalism, Medical content, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Vomit

syfylauren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

4.5

This book is fun, for those who love a good horror movie set in the 80s and 90s. It is gory, and it there were moments when I had to take a break, but I loved this journey. At it's core, this is a story about a woman listening to her gut, being supported by her friends, and reclaiming her agency. Honorable mention to Kitty for bringing the most laughs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Dementia, Gaslighting, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Animal death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Racism, Murder, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Minor: Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Pedophilia

readingrainbot's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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: Blood, Sexual assault, Violence, and Rape

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcoholism

abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Murder, Body horror, and Torture

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

dorianlecter'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Murder, Rape, Suicide, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexism, Racism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, and Drug abuse