Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

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

129 reviews

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Whenever I read a book by a man lead by women, I’m always a little nervous. So let me just say I was more than pleasantly surprised to find a realistic view on women and their struggles from this book.

The book moving from a more lighthearted and occasionally comedic tone at the beginning before moving into the darker contents of the story was done so well. The shift was well executed and prose that once had ny laughing and smiling soon had me on the edge of me seat with anxiety and dread. Such a wonderful picture of emotions and conflict was painted and so much of it felt like something myself or my fem presenting friends would talk about struggling with.

The nuance and care in telling a story about sexism and racism in the 80’s-90’s and the deep south was appreciated. While I myself am white and can’t speak for the experience of POC reading this book, the angle on sexism and women’s struggles in that was very well done. It felt like each character face and struggled with societies poor views on women in their own way. While I wish we had seen more of the other women than just our leading lady Patricia, each one felt like nuance and care had been put into her character. I specifically remember telling my friends and praising how well the author captured what it feels like to be talked down to and condescended by men in your life. Every bit resonated with me and I cannot praise the author enough for managing to capture the experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Medical content

Minor: Domestic abuse

leahkarge's review against another edition

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

a child is obsessed with Nazis and starts being unkind to animals, multiple children are preyed on by a literal monster

astareads's review against another edition

WTF, this book was pure anxiety. Toxic masculinity, racism, gaslighting, references to the ADHD-"craze" of the 90s, with hardly any actual vampire action. I think there was an effort to be like Dracula?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Cannibalism

madiison's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting

art_books_chemistry's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Rape, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Cannibalism

linneak'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Classism

my_weird_bookish_heart's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Classism

chezler24's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

A book that puts a new spin on vampires and their victims. It offers believable social circumstances with race, gender, and wealth disparity that proved to be the perfect grounds for the vampire-like being to swoop in and place everyone under his thumb. As with other Grady Hendrix novels, you're going to have those scenes which unsettle and gross you out. (Perfect for horror fans although not everyone's cup of tea.) I enjoyed the progression throughout the book and how Hendrix paced things time-wise. It would have been interesting to see a bit more of the other book club members' thoughts, but, because everything was from only Patricia's pov, we had to balance the book club members, her family members, and various other townspeople who popped up along with her inner dialogue. With that being said, I felt at peace with the ending. To me, it made sense and answered most of the questions about how the ladies carried out their plans; however, I was left wanting to learn more about what exactly the vampire creature was - that's just personal curiosity though. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

moonlitemuseum's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

Sometimes a book hits at exactly the point in time that you need it. I was hooked on this from the opening paragraph—it has a cinematic, snappy quality that lesser writers try and fail to capture, paired with breakneck pacing and witty, grounded dialog. A friend said that the author specializes in emphasizing human horror despite the supernatural goings-on, and I felt that here. The vampirism aspect was gripping, but it didn't compare to the cold misery of realizing this poor Southern housewife was a relative alien in her own home and life and with very few people at her back. 
There are elements of this book I disliked, but they were small enough that they didn't spoil my overall enjoyment. (Some parts that I was dissatisfied with might have even made the book stronger in the end. I'm not sure how satisfyingly the book could wrap up the ambient half-arcs of Patricia's children, and although I thought it unnecessary for the book to linger so long and lewdly on the rape segments I won't deny that they were effectively grim.)
A fast, exciting, and deliciously tawdry read that made me excited to read more. I can't give much higher praise than that!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death and Religious bigotry