Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

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

377 reviews

mirandaleighhhh's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I have no idea how Grady Hendrix writes women so well….it was weird to read some of it knowing a man wrote it, when my main feeling about men coming out of this book was disgust. 

I love female friendship, sisterhood, and camaraderie!!!

I found the whole scene in which the women were ambushed and belittled by all of their husbands, collectively, all because those men love money more than their families, to be so infuriating I had to scream about it.
Carter was just awful and im so so so glad that Patrice finally divorced him! I was hooting and hollering for her the whole time. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Vomit, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Mental illness, Rape, and Blood

blacksphinx's review against another edition

Ever been so mad at someone you attempt suicide at them? Me neither. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Racism, Pedophilia, Suicide, and Death of parent

Graphic: Eaten alive by a rat Moderate: Lynching, being buried alive, 10 year old white boy obsessed with Nazis.

dfram's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-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

4.25

the characters were well written and the plot was interesting! i absolutely hate men and i love that this book proves me right for it 😌 the full circle vibe on the last chapter was everything i wanted this ending to be! i was expecting more fantasy than i got

and i was expecting less girl boss energy than i got, that was a pleasant surprise

i liked the writing style and the longer chapters! i also am a big fan of all the foreshadowing!!! overall, a good pick for this month

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gaslighting, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Sexism, Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Infidelity, Medical content, Animal cruelty, and Drug use

levanthium's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad 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? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Hate crime, Racism, Animal death, and Misogyny

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse and Ableism

hannahhmh's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Mental illness, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Classism, Suicide, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual violence, Gore, Excrement, Blood, Animal death, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Death of parent, Sexism, Child death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Vomit, Body horror, and Alcoholism

apriltee's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, Mental illness, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Sexism, Gore, Rape, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Racism, and Pedophilia

economydreams's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Toxic friendship

hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

Grady Hendrix, you absolute buffoon. There is indeed a book club, the ladies are southern, but there is one solitary vampire and he certainly wasn’t slayed. How did he goof the damn TITLE?

Dislikes:

• All the characters + the weird choices they made. Has Grady Hendrix ever met a woman?Inquiring minds want to know.
• The misogyny and racism. It’s just so casually there and not addressed properly. Grady always misses the mark on these topics. Almost as if he isn’t qualified to be writing about them. Weird!
• James is just a shit vampire

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Violence, Abandonment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Child death, Addiction, Death of parent, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, and Blood

Minor: Antisemitism and Terminal illness

Tagged with antisemitism due to the son being OBSESSED with nazis. It’s weird and no one addresses it correctly.

_cecilie_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

 If someone had told me this was written by a woman, I would have said 'of course, who else could portray such a story so believably', and that is the highest praise I can give in this context. I came to this book expecting a fast-paced, thrilling and ultimately amusing read like the title suggests. Instead, I was frustrated 80% of the time, cried twice and ranted to three seperate people about the absolute gall this novel had to be actually impactful, thought-provoking and indignation-inducing despite having peaches bleeding from puncture wounds on the cover!

I will not repeat all my rantings and ravings here but compile a few of the points I thought most important. First, I really respect that this story would work almost as well if it had no fantasy in it at all and that it is frustrating but in a good, a real way. Patricia (and the other women in this story) is undervalued, not being believed, made to feel small and helpless and if you have any semblance of empathy it will make you curse and seethe on their behalf while feeling as powerless as them. Not to say that these are unproblematic characters, oh no! If you have a problem with reading about sexist or racist characters then maybe skip this one entirely, especially if you have the feeling that you need to brush up on your media literacy skills. All of these characters are flawed but at the same time distinct, fleshed out and worthy of sympathy. 

I loved (hated, but it was a good kind of hate) that all of them had to sacrifice something, that nothing was sunshine and rainbows at the end but they had to deal with real consequences. Also, I'm not saying that chopping up poeple you hate is a great way to deal with them but some just have it coming.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Rape, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Violence, Body horror, Classism, Gore, Grief, Sexism, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Stalking

ezravalentine's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

4.75

this was an absolutely insane read. the slower parts paid off and i absolutely love the societal aspects of this portrayal of vampirism and the symbiotic relationship he as a supernatural being has with a racist, classist, misogynistic society. i think some loose ends could have been tied up better, but overall its complexity was followable and enthralling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Hate crime, Suicide, Gore, Child death, Body horror, Racism, Violence, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Domestic abuse

as in many vampire portrayals, the vampirism is highly sexualised and the victims experience sexual euphoria and become addicted to being fed on. the vampire feeds extensively on children, especially poor, Black children, so the implications of this are obvious. it's extremely unpleasant, be aware.