Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

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

382 reviews

perfectcupoftea's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

themelaniewaite's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

ldyb's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Things to know: this book is satire & commentary. Never in my life has it been this clear! I found several of the juxtaposed phrases to be so CLEAR that I highlighted them. I hope no one reads this book at face value - there is absolutely something pointed about almost every sentence, every chapter, every character. 

TW - In addition, there is gore, there is sexual predation and assault against women and children, there is suicide and death. A lot of this is graphically described, which is rarely necessary, and remains the flaw of the horror category. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

akcurtis's review against another edition

dark funny tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Although I listened to this in one day (the audiobook is really great!), I didn't love this. I wasn't prepared for some of the triggers- my own fault - but they also felt gratuitous. The characters didn't really grow much, and I was hoping to get more from the FMCs than what Hendrix delivered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Gaslighting

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

kayla_kamldecker's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This book cleverly combined horror, suspense, humor, and social commentary. I was surprised to learn that the author is a white man as this book directly addresses the way white people dismiss and take advantage of black people, the way men dismiss and take advantage of women, and the way money rules all. 

Unfortunately the first half of the book was incredibly slow and difficult for me to get through. The book picked up more around the 60% mark. The pacing was uneven, and many scemes/chapters were superfluous. This might be a good book to study in an English class or discuss in a book club, but I likely will not read it again. 

I think this book would be excellent adapted to the big screen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Dementia, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Pedophilia

jenn_amanda's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

lovesagespages's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Misogyny, and Racism

Moderate: Body shaming

Minor: Rape

elpis_psyche's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, and Forced institutionalization

mmelibertine's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This took a while to get going - about 11 chapters, for me - but then it picks up steam and never slows down. I was riveted. 

I appreciate the care shown to the intersections of marginalizations. It bluntly shows how white supremacy damages everyone to varying degrees, even those who uphold it, and how thoughtlessly it's upheld by those of us who benefit from it. It never punches down at the marginalized trying to survive under the bootheel of white supremacy, and it doesn't excuse or let off easily those acting within it, even the well intentioned or ignorant. 

And it's a damn fine horror story, too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

monster_tabs's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Stalking, and Pregnancy