Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Southern Gothic - Das Grauen wohnt nebenan

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Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Southern Gothic - Das Grauen wohnt nebenan by Grady Hendrix

408 reviews

isabelh0410's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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suvissiin's review against another edition

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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? No

3.5

I didn’t know what I was getting into when I started this book. The first part of the book lured me in with the quaint characters of the Southern housewives and their true crime book club, but it soon turned into a grotesque true-crime horror meshed with parts of paranormal fantasy. I felt all the feelings present in a good horror book: anger, disgust, uncomfort, frustration, and of most importantly the book kept me on the edge throughout the last part of the story. The reason I didn’t rank the book higher though is because I put this book down for a month in the middle of reading it, because the mood shift from the start to the end was so jarring (especially for me as a mood reader). There were also issues for me with pacing and repeating dialogue; I feel like as a reader I would’ve understood Patricia’s need to protect her kids with less mentions of it. The world also feels dark even in the end, I understand in it’s true crime nature the reader views the world in the aftermath differently, but for me I would appreciate more light at the end of the tunnel (even metaphorically) than the quiet life the housewives continue to live. Overall this book was a good horror read, even though I didn’t expect it to turn so gruesome. Definitely check content warnings!

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latashman's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

This book started as a funny look at a Southern book club obsessed with true crime and quickly turned into a gory thriller. The audiobook was wonderful, the narrator made me feel like I was sitting and my grannys table and hearing her tell me a story. I liked that in the end it came down to women taking care of the issue themselves instead of relying on or needing the assistance from the men in their life. A nice dose of female rage. This was my first Grady Hendrix book and I am looking forward to reading the rest of their backlog.

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ldyb's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Things to know: this book is satire & commentary. Never in my life has it been this clear! I found several of the juxtaposed phrases to be so CLEAR that I highlighted them. I hope no one reads this book at face value - there is absolutely something pointed about almost every sentence, every chapter, every character.

TW - In addition, there is gore, there is sexual predation and assault against women and children, there is suicide and death. A lot of this is graphically described, which is rarely necessary, and remains the flaw of the horror category.

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heeeyrobin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

Great pacing, very tense and comedic. A horror centred around 80's housewives and their own personal strife whilst trying to deal with supernatural horrors.

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