Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Southern Gothic - Das Grauen wohnt nebenan

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Southern Gothic - Das Grauen wohnt nebenan by Grady Hendrix

469 reviews

kassisup's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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themelaniewaite's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

4.5

After reading Horrorstor, I decided Grady Hendrix was an author that I wanted to delve more into and read the rest of his catalogue; it just so happened that this was the next book I found. This book is full of everything I craved in a story - horror, gore and that added level of gaslighting the person that knows too much. The symbolism of the peaches from the cover to the tale that Miss Mary has to share adds a sickly tone to the story, but in such a satisfying context.

One of the moments in which I knew this was going to be a favourite and well-paced plot was the way it didn’t hesitate with throwing in the drama; it also didn’t waste time with figuring out the bad guy, though in all of the gaslighting of Patricia, the main character, I even found myself questioning if the story would switch direction and the villain wasn’t the villain after all. There is a time jump partway through that kind of threw me for a minute, but it was such a brilliant way of showing James Harris assimilating to the area and gaining the trust of those that lived there - especially the husbands. It is so well executed, how the dynamics changed in the group over time, to the point of the men having even taken over the book club. Once again adding this suffocating undertone that the women cannot have anything without it being run by the men first - including the one thing that the woman had to themselves: their books. It’s almost like the troubles/concerns and accusations of the past have been long forgotten because the men are thriving. So when that starts being questioned again, it’s like a race against the clock to get everyone to believe Patricia again.

There were a few moments and subplots, I guess, that I feel like could have been taken out, as they felt unnecessary or could have been changed to fit the story better.

The first is Blue being obsessed with Nazi Germany. I might be missing something here, maybe it was a popular topic to be interested in during that era; maybe a lot of boys in the 90’s did have a large fascination. I was an infant during the time this was set - so I don’t know.

I didn’t like the inclusion of S/A of one character. It didn’t really add to the plot other than giving all of the women reason to now believe/help Patricia. The character could have been bitten or attacked in some other form that would cause her to potentially “turn”, but it felt distasteful and out of character of James to have S/A’d her just to prove a point. It could have been handled very differently, in my opinion.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was absolutely hooked and would recommend it to anyone wanting to get into Hendrix’s work. No story is without its flaws, but I think the overall storytelling of this outshines the rest - in my opinion.

TW: S/A, child abuse/sexualisation, gore, blood, rats, gaslighting, D/V mentions, death, mental health, racist undertones.

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adelinekramer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Desperate Housewife with vampires is the best way i would describe that book. Loved it. Really great even if sometimes I wished it went a bit faster

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jules_farkas's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.0

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kates_books's review against another edition

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

4.25

This book is definitely horror. To be fair, it is clearly labeled as such, but I was still shocked by the graphic gore and terrible scenes. I maybe would have liked a trigger warning on the first page about the level of gore and rape scenes. Despite my struggle to read the horror, I really enjoyed the book. It was a compelling read that touched on feminism, class, racism, and community. I also loved the deep dive to the vampire genre - loved that the entry point and the research the book club did was reading vampire books. Also loved the setting in South Carolina - it felt like being in a true Southern home.

I loved that Patricia got a divorce in the end! Her husband was so condescending and absent and didn't value her at all. When he said something about her having time to do something because she's just a housewife - my blood was boiling! The only part of the ending I didn't like was that Slick died from her rape injuries - so sad.

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