Reviews with content warning for Death - Bless Your Heart

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan

10 reviews

amina_writes_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

the storyline was quite good (minus the random Andy request at the end, that seemed unlikely and a swipe from nowhere) and was definitely a page turner. Love that it took place in Texas yet still highlighted minorities that hardly get acknowledged with air time here like the goths and the gays. The narrative style between the different chapters/ perspectives was not well done and read just like a standard narrative cover to cover. A keeper due to many themes that are hard to find but hardly the writing itself.

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coffeeandprose's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-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? N/A

3.75

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knightressx's review

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dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

In Southeast Texas in 1999, three generations of Evans women run the only funeral parlor in town. But when bodies start arriving and rising from the dead with a hunger for their neighbors’ flesh, Ducey, her daughter Lenore and her granddaughter Grace all know what must be done: the dead must be put to their final rest as per familial custom.

Sometimes cozy and sometimes grisly, Bless Your Heart is a novel with engaging characters, sprinkles of dark humor, horrifying antagonists and more than a couple of secrets. I enjoyed reading about the Evans women, their struggles with their complicated history-particularly following an event fifteen years prior known as the “Godawful Mess”-and at times with one another.

Each member of the family has their own distinct personality and while their mindsets sometimes differ in terms of how they view the vampiric Strigoi and the nature of death, their love for one another is still paramount.

Lindy Ryan does a wonderful job of capturing the nature of a small Southern town; where relationships, secrets and grudges are closely intertwined. The secondary characters are also interesting: with Deputy Roger Taylor trying to puzzle together a growing number of disappearances and dead bodies and Crane, the mysterious newcomer to the town who captures the interest of Grace’s daughter Luna.

The Strigoi are portrayed as utterly horrifying and bear characteristics of both vampires and zombies. The gore depicted from their attacks was initially surprising, but helped to emphasize the extent of their threat as the number of victims increased.

The tension in Bless Your Heart builds steadily to its thrilling and emotional climax, though I wish we had spent a little more time with Ducey, Lenore, Grace and Luna prior to the conclusion.

Thank you very much to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and Lindy Ryan for providing access to this ebook. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

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srivalli's review

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dark mysterious slow-paced

2.0

2 Stars

One Liner: Ugh… nope! (Rant coming up)

1999, Southeast Texas

The Evans women own the funeral parlor in town and have been running it for many generations. Ducey Evans spent all her eighty years in the same parlor and keeps it going with her daughter Lenore and granddaughter Grace. Grace has a teenage daughter Luna who will one day join the business.

After the Godawful Mess fifteen years ago, the Evans women are thankful there’s no other drama in the town. However, things change when a body rises from the dead right in the parlor. Deputy Roger brings more news and a body mangled and half-eaten. As more strange events occur, the Evans women have to face the past and confront the Strigoi (dead-un-dead creepies) to take them down yet again. Will they be too late this time?

The story comes in the third-person POV of multiple characters (Lenore, Luna, Deputy Roger, etc.).

My Thoughts:

Alright! I’m curious to know if the cover designer got to read the book or what to work with a synopsis/ theme given to them. The cover does not match the book’s tone. It has lighthearted drama vibes. I expected something similar with a touch of seriousness. However, there is almost nothing humorous in the book. I like dark humor, but I didn’t find anything funny here.

The beginning is slow, which is okay since it establishes the storyline, characters, and their relationships. However, the middle is full of filler. We get the same stuff in slightly altered versions in different POVs. Does it help connect with the characters? Sadly, no. The characters still remain 2D and surface-level (even stereotypical).

The premise is terrific. But the execution is the opposite. Nothing really happens until the last 20% or so. Even then, it doesn’t pack a punch. Something happens, something else happens, some death, and blah blah…

When the book goes on and on about how the Evans women are the only ones to tackle the menace and should keep the town safe, they do nothing until the very end. It’s all about ‘I don’t want to reveal this secret, so what if people are dying?’ If the family had a proper conversation when they should, the book would have been 100 pages. That would have prevented the need for a sequel (why is this even a series?).

Multiple POVs are useful to provide insight into different characters. However, here, we get the same stuff we already know. In attempting to keep the Godawful Mess a secret for as long as possible, the POVs and character development were compromised. If I had read that term one more term, I’d have deleted the book from my reader. Argh!!

The book has quite a bit of gore. I wasn’t bothered, but it can affect some readers. I’m guessing it would be around 5+ on the scale of 10 (don’t take my word for it). Did I find it scary or creepy? Nope. It was a flat graph except for the spiking annoyance at the characters.

Though Luna was a stereotypical teen, she at least had a few expressions and emotions more than the adults. Of course, making bad decisions seems to be a family trait, so… *shrug*

To summarize, Bless Your Heart is mostly a hook to get readers interested in the series and contains more filler than an actual story. It did not work for me, so please check other reviews before you decide. Many loved it and found it humorous.

Thank you, NetGalley and St.Martin’s (Minotaur Books), for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

***

P.S.:

The dog lives.

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jjsbookcase's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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ktdakotareads's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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bxtskr's review against another edition

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emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-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

5.0

I adored this audiobook! The narrator perfectly captured the personalities of all of the characters in this tale. Part mystery, part Texas Belles meet Dracula, part story about learning to love and grieve those we’re bound to by blood and tragedy, I devoured this tale. Fans of Grady Hendrix will revel in the Texas rebuttal of Georgia’s Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Killing Vampires without feeling like they’ve heard this story before. This would be a great generational read to share with older YA readers who handle the occult well AND grandmas looking for a fresher read. My only complaint is that I have to wait for more tales from the universe.

Thank you to the author and publisher for advance access to this title in exchange for my honest review 🧛🏼

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thisbookisbananas's review

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adventurous dark reflective tense slow-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

4.25

Set in Beaumont, TX, Bless Your Heart is a slow-burn small town horror novel that was just the right amount of slice-of-life and strange/gruesome/weird that kept me reading until the very end.
I would say this book’s overall feel is B-movie horror( I mean this in the best way possible). It’s campy and pulpy good fun. I enjoyed the idea of inter-generational group of women fighting the undead. Lindy Ryan’s depictions of horrific scenes were just the right amount of shocking and gory, yet were paced out enough so that my brain could recuperate from the jarring scenes.
I was pleasantly surprised that the backdrop of the book is Beaumont, Texas in 1999, a time and place near and dear to my heart. I live very close to this town and was a middle schooler during this time! I enjoyed the author’s nod to southeast Texas restaurants(Rao’s,y’all!), shops (Parkdale Mall!),and the overall feeling of home and nostalgia in this book.
I will gladly pick up another book by Lindy Ryan and look forward to what she has coming up after this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

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kylereadsromcoms's review

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dark funny tense medium-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

4.25

As the dead begin to rise in a small Texas town, four generations of women must confront their past and prevent the undead from destroying their town. The Evans women have been tasked with keeping the dead dead and in the ground and their roles running the town's funeral parlor allows them to do that. However, 15 years prior, an incident almost destroyed the town and their family. Lindy Ryan paces this horror novel well and drops crumbs along the path without revealing too much until it's the right time. With plenty of gore and humor, Bless Your Heart is an outstanding entry for those who may not love horror, but are willing to give the genre a try. Thanks to Minotaur Books for the ARC.

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fanboyriot's review

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

Read For:

90s’ Nostalgia
Family Business

Southern Charm

Slaying the Dead

Strong Women MC’s

This made me think of “The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires” (but well written) meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

It gave the small town vibes and a secret only a few knew about. Yet, there was still a great balance between horror and comedy.

Definitely something that would be fun to read with a book club tbh. There was drama, mystery, and of course, horror all throughout with some good old southern charm tying it all together.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lindy Ryan, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for this ebook ARC in exchange for a review.

Release Date: 09, April 2023

POV: Switching, Third

Rep: Gay SC

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