Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Southern Gothic - Das Grauen wohnt nebenan by Grady Hendrix

408 reviews

kgpierce's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Interesting, fun read that kept me locked in till the end. I like how Hendrix really commits to the perspective of the protagonist in his novels, drastically shifting the protagonist’s positionality between stories and yet it always seems as though he is so familiar with that particular life experience that it is his own. It speaks to his deep familiarity with the region and timeframe (SC in the 80s/90s) in which he sets his books. He’s also, as always, extraordinary at creating a captivating nostalgic world of the pre-Y2K southeastern United States.

One critique I have of this book is how one dimensional the only POC character is. I know there’s intention to properly depict the social reality of the white, middle-aged protagonist in this setting, but the one Black character is given this random bizarre character trait that is left unexplored unlike the traits of the other white women in the book. Throughout the novel I felt she was left as a glaringly one dimensional character in contrast to all the other well fleshed out white characters. Which again could’ve been an intentional immersive tactic on behalf of the author in order to truly convey how the protagonist’s worldview does not allow for BIPOC to be seen as more than one dimensional, but if that were the case I feel the author could’ve done a better job of conveying that throughout the course of the story opposed to simply reproducing the age old racist trope of the 1 dimensional Black character amidst a strong cast of complex white characters. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death, Racism, and Stalking

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.25

Much better than I thought it was going to be, mostly because I found the title so ridiculous. Turns out that the book was a lot of fun to read and that the title is very apropos. It was a little longer than I would’ve liked - I would’ve removed some of the events, maybe even whole chapters, because the first third of the book had me rolling my eyes. But I had enjoyed How to Sell a Haunted House, so I stuck with it, and I’m so glad I did.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

themdash's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

Dear god please check the content warnings.

---

Content Warnings

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

dinma_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

2.5 stars. Overall, it was okay. Such descriptive writing (for better or worse)! I don’t see myself reading anything by this author again though. Lacked relational depth, but it had its moments. I didn’t think enough care was given to how disturbing, horrific scenes were depicted and so add these trigger warnings: r*pe, child abuse, child death, su*cide, racism, predation, s*xual manipulation(?) of minors

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Rape, and Death of parent

Such descriptive writing! Lacked relational depth but it had it’s moments. Some things were never circled back to that really should've been. Lots of casual racism to the point that I couldn’t parse out whether it was meant to be a larger commentary on those types of communities and the women in them or….. But they did make some points regarding only being kicked into action when certain kinds of people were in danger vs others.

jesserbessers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Rape, Violence, and Blood

cursedepub's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.75

A thrilling and socially-grounded horror in the vein of Ira Levin and Shirley Jackson that balances paying due respect to “women’s work,” especially homemaking, and crafting a brutal, violent, gripping horror story. I appreciate the attention paid to intersections of race and class in the story’s feminism. However, this doesn’t quite make a 4-star rating as I felt there was an over-belabouring and repetition of some points, the sort of ennui and lack of fulfillment in being a housewife that Patricia experiences isn't really explored, and the novel did not feel as cohesive and polished as it could have been. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Racism, Sexual assault, Blood, Dementia, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Toxic relationship

Minor: Infidelity

sarah_who_reads's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child death

l14nn3's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

ashleymwisk's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I would rate this higher if it weren’t so gruesome, with so many disturbing & triggering scenes. Had someone clued me into those, I would have skipped this book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting

ceejeffe's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

4.5

Wow, this was gooood. The book starts out lighthearted and quite funny! Then gets dark gradually. It was pretty spooky but, indeed, scary! Not in a way to make you jump but definitely shocking and terrifying. The hardest part of the book, for me, was when Patricia’s friends deny what is happening and she thinks she is alone and needs to just put up with it! 

Being a Mother is HARD! But then women come together, there is nothing they can’t do!

The characters were so well done and the emotions are so well written, I’m shocked the writer is a man.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Gore, Suicide, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse