Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

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

129 reviews

britrcup's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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

lubilu42's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

This book was super engaging, even though it was somehow very repetitive. It was also much gorier than I feel like I needed it to be, although I found I didn’t really mind because of how fast the story moved through it, not past it, through it. I enjoyed this book and will read from the author again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Excrement, Medical content, and Classism

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Grief, and Pregnancy

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Rating: 4/5 stars

Patricia Campbell is a good wife and mother leading a normal life in her quiet corner of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, where her book club devours true crime and thriller novels. But suddenly a mysterious stranger arrives in town, and Patricia becomes convinced the true danger might be lurking outside the pages…

This was my first Grady Hendrix novel but it definitely won’t be my last. I adored the setting, which is equal parts Gothic southern elegance and small town drama, and the writing style, which is somehow both funny and viscerally horrifying.

I did enjoy the first half of this one more than the second, as I felt several characters made choices I didn’t particularly enjoy and the plot moved in some ways that I could have done without. That said, if you want a gory, terrifying, occasionally disgusting, but very well-written horror read, this one is for you. And, as a bonus, the themes are surprisingly deep—particularly the reflections on how quick we are to (unfairly) dismiss the importance of “women’s work” and women’s experiences.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: vampire lore; Gothic horror; humor with a dark edge

CW: Murder/gore (including child death and animal death/injury); suicide/suicide attempt; sexual assault; domestic abuse; gaslighting; dementia; bugs/vermin; discussions of racism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

mr_cain's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad slow-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

3.5

Good plot, but the gratuitous rape and violence was not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Dementia, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Infidelity, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

lindsayerin's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body shaming

aardwyrm's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Like having your teeth pulled out by barbed wire, but they're really polite about it. There is a very scary vampire, but, you know how all good horror is about the unnatural threat AND the real ones? There's more dread in a cocktail party with friendly acquaintances than in most of the scenes with, you know, vampirism. The book juggles its time and place, both as a setting dripping with dread and with a comfortable, sympathetic gentleness that never actually lets anybody off the hook (though Mrs. Green is really much too forgiving in the last act). Does a really interesting job with being horribly physical about the most mundane and most otherworldly manifestations of gore alike. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

I liked this book, but it's billed as more horror comedy, and I do want to be clear, the horrible parts are gonna hit.

juliaaa02's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

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

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