Reviews

while the plot is kind of predictable (which is a fault of vampire story archetypes), the simmering tension between Patricia and James Harris stretched over several years made up for it. obvs agree with criticisms against Grady and the odd way he writes women. I feel he made Patricia feel very real and fleshed out for the most part. but most of the other women do not receive the same treatment sadly. Still very enjoyable !

lillydowty's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.0

carlabear's review against another edition

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5.0

I’m a major Grady Hendrix fan girl at this point.

danydany28's review against another edition

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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? Yes

3.5

“He thinks we're what we look like on the outside: nice Southern ladies. Let me tell you something… there's nothing nice about Southern ladies."

I really liked the premise of this book when I first picked it up from the library and even thought it might be a five star read for me. Suburban housewives fighting vampires in the ‘90s? Hell yeah, baby! Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed by this one, and I’m not completely certain why… I definitely need to reflect on it, but for now, I’ll say that I think it boils down to the fact that the author may have been trying to do too much all at once. When you’re trying to comment on so many delicate topics at once, something is bound to get muddied up, and I think it did. It tried to tackle misogyny, racism, social inequality, domestic abuse, and to some extent, mental health and maybe pedophilia. Grace’s abuse and Slick’s assault particularly stand out to me as questionably delivered.

As for the vampire himself, although he’s not quite the central point of this book, I found him a bit… underwhelming. Just generally lackluster for as big, bad and scary as I had expected him to be. But, bonus points for the weird, cockroach-like mouth straw, ‘cause that’s freaky as hell. I would have also liked a little more lore about the version of vampirism in this book too, but I understand why it wasn’t there; the vampire was a just the backdrop for a story about motherhood, and women, especially undervalued women, coming together as one.

All in all, I think it was an enjoyable read, but I do wish I hadn’t had any expectations before starting it.

nemeiadarkwalker's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

justanotherfinalgirlreview's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing slow-paced

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

5.0

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