Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

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

186 reviews

huldasif's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.25

This book is kind of like The Stepford Wives meets Salem's Lot meets Fried Green Tomatoes, but it was funnier.  The first chapter was hilarious in fact. I was laughing my head off, it was so funny. I was a little disappointed the book didn't continue on like that, but the book was still good. It became less funny as the horror built up, naturally. It would have been too much of a reprieve and taken away the suspense if it had kept on being so funny I guess. Plus, it just doesn't do to be laughing while children are dying on the next page. It was more creepy than scary though. The husbands were just as creepy as the vampire actually, which I thought was pretty clever of the author. I almost wanted to do them off too, they made me so mad. I'll definitely be reading My Best Friend's Exorcism too! But I sure hope Grady Hendrix writes a comedy if she hasn't already, because she is the funniest writer I ever came across. That first chapter was the best.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Death, Gore, Violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Animal death, Drug use, Excrement, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Grief, Terminal illness, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Hate crime and Infidelity

tonyanicole's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Antisemitism, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual violence, Dementia, Physical abuse, Torture, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Murder, Gaslighting, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

dark funny 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? Yes

4.25

So excited to finally find a Grady Hendrix book that worked for me! I had such a fun time with this read. As someone born and raised in the south, I feel like I've met every single one of the women in this story (and their husbands, unfortunately) before so I thought the characterization was hilariously on point in a lot of ways. I also really liked what Hendrix did with the social commentary in this book. There was a lot of subtle domestic abuse + subtle racism in this story that I thought was very well handled + offered a very nuanced look at these issues + how insidious they can be. Toward the end, I felt like he got kind of ham-fisted with his portrayal of the antagonist, which is one of my biggest complaints about this author; however, it wasn't as distracting in this book as in some of his others so I was able to more or less shrug it off.
All told I really, really enjoyed this read + the narration in the audiobook was fantastic! Would recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Death, Gore, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Misogyny, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Infidelity

aezlo's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

2.5

This book was intensely visual and grossly visceral for me, which may be an intrigue if you're into horror and gore and the rest. I still think about it occasionally, many months later, but I sort of wish I hadn't read it due to some of the content. 

It's well written, but drags through the second half and could have done with editing out one of the tease and thrill arcs and just cutting to the build up and climax already. 

Essentially a dead dove situation here. If this is your poison, it's not a bad go, but horror usually isn't my bag and I foolishly listened to a friend who insisted it wasn't that bad!! and it was funny/entertaining, which it at least is, but not something I would have ever chosen for myself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Rape, Violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Racism

Minor: Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, and Animal death

navisti's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

I thought this book had been published in the early 2000s. Once I finished it, I found it came out in 2020.

I'm honestly flabbergasted as to how this story was published in 2020.

I get that the blatant sexism and misogyny couldn't be edited out of the story because of when it is set, but there was still so much that should not have gotten approval for publication.

The only reason this is not a 1 star review is because of how evoking the writing in the horror and shock scenes was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Racism, Death, Adult/minor relationship, and Emotional abuse

aseel_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

4.25

I was captivated by the plot of this book, the writing was so good. I really liked the characters and I am glad about how it ended (wish some people died though). Will say, it is horrifyingly graphic for certain parts, would not recommend reading if you have a light stomach. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Vomit, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Violence, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Dementia, Sexism, and Rape

falonmansfield's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Murder, Rape, Gore, and Misogyny

Moderate: Blood, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Child death, and Suicide

Minor: Infidelity, Antisemitism, Vomit, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Racism

mrsjoellebell's review against another edition

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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Animal death, Death, Blood, Dementia, Body horror, Child death, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Forced institutionalization

pumpkinbisque's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

i support women’s wrongs!!!!!!!

seriously though this book was so fun i loved it <3 looked up the author and was literally shocked to see that a man wrote it so uh congrats mr. hendrix this was a well-written book from the perspective of a woman. would recommend to horror fans and those who are tired of seeing “women’s work” devalued.

ps fuck all the husbands except horse i <3 horse

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Gore, and Child death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Animal death, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Body horror

Minor: Grief, Classism, Confinement, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, and Death of parent

eat shit carter

soulpromise's review against another edition

I just couldn’t finish this because I didn’t like how the bad things that happened to the black members of the community seemed to be mere plot points furthering the main white character’s story that we are supposed to just accept. It was just  traumatizing, and triggering horrible real-world problems that are not addressed in real life society, just like in this book (up to the point I read) which is not enjoyable. Maybe things turn around later, but I didn’t want to live the disappointment of that not happening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Suicide