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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'
Southern Gothic - Das Grauen wohnt nebenan by Grady Hendrix
140 reviews
jenn_amanda's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Addiction, Misogyny, Murder, Child death, Gore, Classism, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, and Suicide
fiona_farrell's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Gore, Rape, Death, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Dementia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Animal death and Abortion
meganadams2244's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Rape, Body horror, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Child death, Animal cruelty, Gore, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
ursimae's review against another edition
The premise is sounds so good, but the execution was terrible. It's so bad that I dont think I'll even try reading another book by this author.
It's laughable that this book was supposedly written as like a love letter to his mom considering what happens in it.
Sorry for the rant, but I can't with this book.
Let me list out a few of the transgressions:
- Weak writing. Outside of the horror scenes, the prose felt sloppy.
- So many racist stereotypes. The only reoccurring black character is given the "mammy" role. The next mention of other POC are shown as servants to the rich white people of the town during parties. From there, the stereotypes just continue. At points, it seemed like Grady was opening good dialogue on how racism impacts black communities in regards to their valid concerns being downplayed and ignored. However, he kept dropping the ball with it. It's like he placed the talking point in front of us then swept it aside before we could fully digest it and have a meaningful talk.
- Why the hell does the son love Nazis? The kid is obsessed and idolizes them. It literally plays no part in the story. Why'd you add that Grady? It wasn't necessary. Why you keep bringing up Nazis. Also, why was the MC totally cool about it? Huh? Grady, why was everyone okay with Nazis? It wasn't plot relevant.
- SO MUCH GASLIGHTING. Omfg, it made me want to rip out my hair.
- Hey, Grady...why did you write about the MC gaining 11 lbs as if she gained 200????? You just threw that part in there for what?
- Hey Grady... What's with the graphic retelling of a rape scene? Why?
- Hey.... Grady... Why did you have to include so many child sexual assault scenes... Story would've been totally cool without that. Really wasn't necessary.
The MC attempts suicide and its treated by everyone (even the MC) like some petty "fuck you" to her husband. - Also, there's just a lot of domestic abuse.
- I was 64% through when I DNFed and literally, never once was there a part about women becoming empowered and badass, taking on vampires. It was just 7+ hours (audiobook listener here) of a woman being severely abused.
- Not one character is likeable.
- All the other women in this book are just misogynistic stereotypes. None of them have any actual depth of character and feel very flat.
- The biggest horror wasn't the vampire stuff, but the husband, omfg they were the real villains.
apparently at the end, she only gets a divorce from this dude... I feel like she should get to kill her husband for the shit he did to her. Also, none of the other women get to fix their abusive relationships?
There is probably more than I could say, but I've ranted about this long enough.
There is very important commentary to be had with the topics of this book that would be awesome to explore further, but it only comes across as 400+ pages of women being repeatedly abused, racist, sexist, and outright terrible characters.
Graphic: Classism, Death, Body horror, Blood, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Self harm, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Grief
Minor: Bullying, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
kedaniels28's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Murder, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Addiction, and Alcoholism
mariah_g's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Rape, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Gaslighting
mushymargo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Blood, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
mommacusses's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Medical content, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Medical trauma, and Mental illness
editorsansserif's review against another edition
- 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
General overview: A book that is, actually, about a vampire, though not in the way you might expect - pitted against a community and a group of women (the 'book club') who are deeply flawed and fail several times, at a great cost, before finding the courage to do what is right. Strong themes of racism, sexism/misogyny, and child predation.
Emotional impact: I loved this book, despite not being able to love its characters. The main cast, and protagonist, are flawed, sometimes very deeply. They do show growth over time, while many of the side cast do not (or deteriorate), and it works - but they never truly become heroes. I spent a lot of reading time being angry and incensed, not toward the villain, but toward the main characters of the book, and the families that surrounded them. I feel like that's part of "the point."
Visceral impact: The body horror, and gore, did make my skin crawl, but never felt explicit enough to make me want to stop reading. The author sometimes went a little 'over the top' with the terrible events that happened in the novel, to the point of unbelievability and disgust. Spoilers/CW for child death:
Counter thoughts to some criticism:
- On the 'Stepford wife' nature of these wives and mothers in the 1990s: I found this not only believable, but incredibly realistic. I grew up in the 90s with a southern-trained mother and a southern grandmother, and around many families who had the same 'sensibilities' drilled into them. The way that these women acted in the book felt like a genuine flashback to what it felt like growing up around women who played pleasantries and kowtowed to men and never wanted to disturb the status quo. While I can see why they might not come off as believable to those who haven't experienced what I have, I felt it was authentic. CW (suicide/minor spoilers):
My mother didn't protect me from the predator in my own family, and she dismissed my earnest pleas for help when I was battling depression and suicide as a teenager. My father always knew what was best to the point he'd become threatening if he was questioned. They wouldn't have protected me from a vampire. - On the misogyny: See above - this felt very real to me thanks to my own lived experiences. Of course there are good men. It's just that none of these husbands were good men. It would have been nice to have a good man join the women to counter the culture around them - one husband who really did believe his wife and didn't fall for the trap - and that does feel like a disservice. I can also see that the author was trying to really lean in to the power of women and their shared bonds, so it could be a tricky balance to find while keeping the message the same.
- On the racism and racist stereotypes: As a white person, I can't and won't speak to representation of the POC in the novel. I do feel, however, that the quiet racism that was expressed by the white women in the book was genuine and called into question several times. These white women do not ever go through a full anti-racist transformation, but they are confronted and, I believe, do make some steps of growth. We're never shown anything more than a reckoning with their unspoken attitudes and the result of those actions, though.
- On animal death: I thought that the final animal death scene was touching, actually, and made both sense rationally and plot-wise. That's not for everyone though: if you don't like pets dying, you're going to hate that portion of the book.
Additional criticism: Addressed in my content warnings, but there is a side plot during which the main character's son is becoming increasingly obsessed with Hitler + Nazis. This isn't treated seriously at all by the characters in the novel and is not resolved by the end of the book. This should have either been dropped or handled with more severity, and that's a major lack of sensitivity to the implications the author adds with this plot element.
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Classism, Racism, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Gaslighting, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Body horror, Death, Terminal illness, Dementia, Sexism, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Addiction, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Antisemitism
Re: Antisemitism:justmys's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence