Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

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

400 reviews

bookphilos's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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? N/A

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

Minor: Pedophilia

kypo's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

3.75

This story kept me on my toes. It had a well developed plot and was not predictable. It was so nice to read a story about middle aged women being people and living their lives.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, and Rape

dynila's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Violence

Minor: Domestic abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lord_trashcan's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

5.0

I read a lot of dark/thrillers but… dear god, I have never read anything that was so viscerally uncomfortable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexism, and Blood

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Suicide attempt

via_email's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting

danaaliyalevinson'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I can always rely on Grady Hendrix for a good time. I wouldn't say this was my favorite of his books, that crown still belongs to "How To Sell a Haunted House," but I still really enjoyed it. A fun southern gothic horror comedy that manages to squeeze in commentary on racism, sexism, who people choose to believe, and how easy it is for us to refuse to see what's right in front of us.

Additionally, I always love how he manages to put a twist either on the lore of the horror he’s tackling, or on the lens it’s filtered through. In this one, I love how he filtered it through the lens of the “true crime” genre. It was unexpected and fun for a vampire novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, and Classism

wheelyautistic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

I actually really enjoyed this book. The amount of times I had to put the book down because of how tense it showed just how good the writing is. 

I'm afraid I have to disagree with most of the negative reviews regarding the 3-year skip, where the main character is complacent. Many reviewers viewed it us difficult and unrealistic or annoying however they fail to realise that this book whilst it does have a vampire and the supernatural elements is far more about a serial killer and a murderer then a high energy vampire slashing book.  It feels realistic that no one would believe her or that she would become complacent and subdued because in reality any outburst could land her straight into an institute given the timing. The race aspects were necessary to indicate and portray a very real and common thing seen in real-life killers: that those deemed as less than are usually the ones killed and often their murders are overlooked. I think this book perfectly paralleled the real lids true crime books the characters read with a hind of supernatural influence to increase the severity and difficulty of the situation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism

kzcishou's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

I loved the voice of the author and how many twists and turns this book takes. When you think it's done, it's only just begun. I found myself getting so frustrated with the characters and their choices but it was hard to put down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

am4man's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Forced institutionalization

therealannib's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Domestic abuse