Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

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

86 reviews

madyou's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.5

I’m not sure how to rate this book because on one hand I felt a lot of strong emotions. There was disgust, annoyance, anger…but on the other hand I feel like that was the point. It’s confusing me that this takes place in the 90s and the women were watered down to being housewives. It would make more sense if this took place earlier if the author wanted to write about housewives. Then again, their town sounds pretty small so perhaps they just didn’t want change like the rest of the world was doing.
 
The husbands annoyed me to no end, and so did Patricia’s children. I also felt like the main antagonist could have been so much more if only he didn’t feed the way he did. I wasn’t ready for that but that’s my fault for going into this book without reading the trigger warnings. Either way, this book was gripping despite its slow pace. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Gore, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Medical trauma, Rape, and Medical content

booksbeyondthebinary's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Wish I had known about the sexual assault element prior to reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Blood, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, and Murder

purplatypus'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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Gaslighting, Grief, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Dementia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Suicide

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Addiction, and Vomit

mythicalbeastxiii's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

Having officially finished Grady Hendrix's fictional releases, I am ready to declare him my favorite author. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires was such a great book! I like the way Hendrix is able to have a group of differing personalities that not only clash but get along so well among his characters. All the ladies in this story had their flaws but they made a great group of friends brought together by their interest in crime stories. Throughout the story there are breadcrumbs to follow, red flags to seek out, and horrors that unfold. Hendrix is a storyteller that manages to do this so seamlessly all while sprinkling in a bit of humor at times. Finishing this, just has me all the more excited to read his upcoming release next month. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Ableism, Alcohol, Classism, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Bullying, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Drug use

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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

4.5

This book is INTENSE. Kinda hit all of the trigger warnings on the way down. I was surprised how much I liked the author's characterization of the women, though.

But damn, I was so ready for Patricia's husband to bite the dust. He was on my last nerve.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Racism, Dementia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Bullying, Pregnancy, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Body shaming, Confinement, Excrement, Grief, and Vomit

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Abortion, and Drug use

halbo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Self harm, Terminal illness, Violence, Body horror, Classism, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

trippalli's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective fast-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

4.0

A good solid monsters story, feminist and yet also gruesome

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Blood, Murder, Suicide, Vomit, Violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Stalking, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, and Xenophobia

ugh1ife's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book was a ride! First thing to know, these women are SOUTHERN. I was cringing a lot at the blatant classicism/racism/misogyny/etc. But the book did a decent job at criticizing it. AND BOY does the black community get the short end of the stick. Also, this book does kind of fall into the trope of having a black character (Mrs. Greene) do the brunt of the work especially in the aftermath. She also has to be the one to point out the obvious instances of prejudice which the other characters acknowledge in the moment but don’t really do anything about it?

At the end they admit that the black community was hurt the most but it’s in passing. And then that’s it. Like I think it’s meant to reflect that these characters are prejudiced and stuff, as a lot of rich suburb southerners are. There is also graphic violence depicted against black characters and straight up racism. So, this particular aspect fell short for me. Also, I am not black so I can only say the issues that I found with it

All the characters are extremely flawed, and so much of it had me furious (especially the husbands). It was also a deep dive into what being a “housewife” is really like and the learned helplessness of these women who have/had accepted their roles. I really think this book is for the parents: it does a great job at detailing the common worries that parents experience and their short comings. 

A short summary of the book?: a group of southern ladies form a book club that follows true crime novels. Patricia, a typical housewife in a strained marriage, befriends a newcomer to their tight night community. However, she begins to notice strange things happening and becomes increasingly convinced that their little home is in danger. 

The sexual content was a bit hard to get through, but I understand why it was there so I don’t really fault the book on it. Just be warned! 

SO SO SO MANY TRIGGER WARNINGS. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Gore, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Body horror, Gaslighting, Violence, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Blood, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Dementia, Drug abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

seawarrior's review against another edition

4.0

Reviewing this several months after I first read it, so I don't remember details. Though the first half of this book felt like a trudge, once it starts getting thrilling the grotesque terror does not let up until the end. Hendrix definitely found his stride in creating memorable characters and worlds for them to inhabit, and I found myself genuinely scared for these people. The sociopolitical elements of the book are a little rough, but that's fairly unavoidable when writing about racist and misogynistic neglect from the perspective of a wealthy white woman and the mind of a white man. Regardless, this is one of the grossest and most suspenseful horror books I've read, and I'd recommend it for those elements. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Dementia, Kidnapping, Death, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship