Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

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

47 reviews

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

a child is obsessed with Nazis and starts being unkind to animals, multiple children are preyed on by a literal monster

fadeddpages's review against another edition

dark tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

moonlitemuseum's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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

4.5

Sometimes a book hits at exactly the point in time that you need it. I was hooked on this from the opening paragraph—it has a cinematic, snappy quality that lesser writers try and fail to capture, paired with breakneck pacing and witty, grounded dialog. A friend said that the author specializes in emphasizing human horror despite the supernatural goings-on, and I felt that here. The vampirism aspect was gripping, but it didn't compare to the cold misery of realizing this poor Southern housewife was a relative alien in her own home and life and with very few people at her back. 
There are elements of this book I disliked, but they were small enough that they didn't spoil my overall enjoyment. (Some parts that I was dissatisfied with might have even made the book stronger in the end. I'm not sure how satisfyingly the book could wrap up the ambient half-arcs of Patricia's children, and although I thought it unnecessary for the book to linger so long and lewdly on the rape segments I won't deny that they were effectively grim.)
A fast, exciting, and deliciously tawdry read that made me excited to read more. I can't give much higher praise than that!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death and Religious bigotry

brizlee's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Her one job as a mother was to protect her children from monsters. The ones under the bed, the ones in the closet, the ones hiding in the dark. Instead, she’d invited the monster into her home and been too weak to stop it from taking whatever it wanted. 

I can understand people not liking this book however I really enjoyed it. This book does an excellent job portraying the small abuses women, especially in the late 80s early 90s, endured. While parts of the book feel slow and monotonous, I felt those parts were a good reflection of Patricas days as a house wife. As Hendrix says he wanted to make Dracula fight his mom. Of course it’s entertaining.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism and Religious bigotry

bingo_banjo's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and War

snovella's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Hate crime and Infidelity

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!

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Infidelity

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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