Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

435 reviews

katenovah's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Dementia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Much better than I thought it was going to be, mostly because I found the title so ridiculous. Turns out that the book was a lot of fun to read and that the title is very apropos. It was a little longer than I would’ve liked - I would’ve removed some of the events, maybe even whole chapters, because the first third of the book had me rolling my eyes. But I had enjoyed How to Sell a Haunted House, so I stuck with it, and I’m so glad I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

themdash's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

Dear god please check the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rocketdea's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Racism

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Classism

cursedepub's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

3.75

A thrilling and socially-grounded horror in the vein of Ira Levin and Shirley Jackson that balances paying due respect to “women’s work,” especially homemaking, and crafting a brutal, violent, gripping horror story. I appreciate the attention paid to intersections of race and class in the story’s feminism. However, this doesn’t quite make a 4-star rating as I felt there was an over-belabouring and repetition of some points, the sort of ennui and lack of fulfillment in being a housewife that Patricia experiences isn't really explored, and the novel did not feel as cohesive and polished as it could have been. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Racism, Sexual assault, Blood, Dementia, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Toxic relationship

Minor: Infidelity

apat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

2.75

It’s a book about community that tries to revindicate housewifes. At the same time, the author decided that

rape and sexual endeavors

were the fittest plot line as punishment for the women in the book… a vampire book. 
To be fair, I did read “The Final Girl Support Group”, so I should’ve known better.
The writing in general is good, just not good enough to ignore the rest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse and Drug abuse

ashleymwisk's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I would rate this higher if it weren’t so gruesome, with so many disturbing & triggering scenes. Had someone clued me into those, I would have skipped this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting

ceejeffe's review against another edition

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

4.5

Wow, this was gooood. The book starts out lighthearted and quite funny! Then gets dark gradually. It was pretty spooky but, indeed, scary! Not in a way to make you jump but definitely shocking and terrifying. The hardest part of the book, for me, was when Patricia’s friends deny what is happening and she thinks she is alone and needs to just put up with it! 

Being a Mother is HARD! But then women come together, there is nothing they can’t do!

The characters were so well done and the emotions are so well written, I’m shocked the writer is a man.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Gore, Suicide, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse

suvissiin's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Rape, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism and Vomit

Minor: Domestic abuse

latashman's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship