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Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
407 reviews
kates_books's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Dementia, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
rahellarad's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Honestly unputdownable. I was worried at first since this isn't my usual bag, and I have been known to hate books that follow a female protagonist with a family since so often they're portrayed as sad little pieces of cardboard to be moved around by other people. Patricia Campbell took that expectation and promptly stabbed it.
This book is so absolutely marvellously brilliant because it's a story about characters who do everything right. Grady Hendrix even mentions that so many people say of horror scenarios: "well if that were me, I simply would have done things correctly". And so he wrote a story where things *are* done correctly - concerns raised, evidence gathered, friends confided in, measures taken - and lo and behold, it helps not at all.
And that's exactly why this book is so terrifying. It's about being put in an inescapable situation with absolutely no way out, no matter what you try. Everyone you know turning on you, friends, family, people who have known you since childhood. All set against the quaint suburban backdrop of South Carolina in a neighbourhood where nobody is anything but polite - even when you insist that the man two houses over is a vampire.
Graphic: Rape, Stalking, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Domestic abuse
It is suggested/implied that the monster of the book is engaging inj3rkin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Gore and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
acviegut's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Minor: Domestic abuse and Rape
hooligan_kt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Domestic abuse
kendralyris's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
The main character, a housewife with no personality, and an emotionally abusive husband, befriends what she later find out is a “vampire” but the kind that is a moth I guess since it has a proboscis of all the stupid shit. When she tries to fix it, she is thwarted by toxic masculinity in the form of every single man in town and she makes a suicide attempt. Rather than spend any time with the internal emotional world of this doomed character, the author decides to skip ahead, and in the last 20% of the book attempts to bootstrap some weird sexual tension between this monster and the main character. Don’t worry though, he didn’t forget to include rape! Nor did he forget to include an absolutely plot-point scene where the main character sees her high-school student daughter naked with the vampire. Oh, and one of the characters is obsessed with Nazis. No one has any personality or interests except the one kid who likes to read about nazis.
And I wouldn’t be that mad except that the author decided to include a preface to his book going into his process and how he essentially wrote it to honor his own southern stay at home mom, whom he had apparently ignored when he was a child, shocked as he got older that she was a real person.
This book is terrible.
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism
steph3nie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Domestic abuse and Racism
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: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Medical content, and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, and Fatphobia
gaylelabreche's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, and Murder
drpeeper's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Hate crime, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent