Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

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

299 reviews

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

heyjaneysmith's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Rape, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Dementia

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

mohaa's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

m43m43's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this book. I could seriously analyze the experience of motherhood all day from this! It truly has me reflecting on my own actions and what I’m willing to do. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual violence and Suicide attempt

carbinara's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

3.5

How did our girl Miss Mary raise a bitch like Carter? I enjoyed this book as a whole, but there were quite a few slower paced moments which made sense, but dragged on a little bit. Specifically, with everyone taking so long to believe Patricia. That being said, some of the gory scenes made up for it; there was some fantastic horror locked away in here.

I’ll say two of my favourite scenes were the rats killing Miss Mary (RIP queen fly high) and Patricia hiding in the attic and the cockroach crawling in her ear. Made me physically cringe (and reminded me of that one lady on I’m a Celebrity who got a cockroach up her nose). That being said, I think the women of this storys suffering was broadcast in a very explicit way, compared to the main villains death. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not signing up to be taken apart, but the book writes it in a way that seems more palatable than the other two instances. That being said, I loved the detail of Patricia saying she still felt like she could hear his body moving in his grave. P.S I didn’t only read for the gore lol!

I also wish they had more clarity on the vampire lore of this book, as we have our one villainous vampire and seemingly thats the only insight we get, with very little confirmed on what his vampiric nature allows him to do. I say this specifically as the ‘feeding’ scenes are so different to what we imagine for a classic vampire novel, and I wish it was expanded on more, although it makes sense as it’s from the perspective of Patricia, who has no way to know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Physical abuse and Forced institutionalization

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

2.75

This is a book full of tediously bland and aggravating characters. All members of the book club turn on each other the second someone perceived better disagrees with them. Especially if it is the husbands. The only reason the book club experiences any success against the vampire is because of Mrs. Greene who embodies the 'magical negro' trope. She is also the only person of color who is a part of the story. You see a few younger people, embodying a gang type behavior in Mrs. Greene's home community. You see a mother of one of the victims immediately lose her child- because she is a Person of Color and her daughter has what turns out to be a telltale mark on her inner thigh. Other POC characters are all victims that died via suicide, save for the one that was presumably murdered due to an interrupted feeding.
Patricia's son spends the majority of the book unhealthily attached to WW2 and Nazism. All he talks about prior to

his mother's suicide attempt

is Hitler and Nietzsche. 
There are 2 notably gory scenes. One involves rats and features dog vs rats violence and also rats snapping at the two people involved like a stereotypical school of piranha. I was not at all pleased to read about the snapping of necks and chunks taken out. The other gory scene is at the end of the book and I won't spoil it. If you can handle the rat scene you will be able to handle this scene too. It is slightly more 'meat processing' than medical. One other scene that is a bit intense is

Slick

recounting her SA by way of the antagonist. 
I did not appreciate how the majority of the victims were children, especially at the reveal that the bite creates a sexual euphoria that leads to addiction. This is described in detail for two characters, one who is an adult and the other who is in their late teens or early twenties. 
Just about all the male characters embodied stereotypes and were as present in the story as they were in their kids' lives. They either drank, beat their wives, had an abusive amount of control over their wives, or gaslit the ever-loving joy out of their wives. 
The book club are all fair-weather friends. The husbands band together to gaslight and call Patricia crazy and despite the proof they had in their hands at the time, all of the rest of the book club agree. Then at the end while four are struggling in the fight against evil one of the others shows up like she is the saving grace, despite doing next to nothing to help for the entire book. By the end all the surviving book club members seem to still be meeting up as if all were normal. There was small implication that something is going on with the dog, Patricia, and her daughter but it may have been meant as a 'some wounds never heal' kind of thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Rape, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Dementia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Several characters are stated to have committed suicide in minor detail. One character attempts, also in minor detail.

ashlynregan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I absolutely love it when a male author writes from a woman’s point of view about women’s societal struggles and manages to create female characters that can never do anything right. I simply love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

fionaross's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I cannot fathom saying you were inspired by love and respect for your mother and then writing THIS. 

Long, poor writing, and we never come back to any of the central motifs from the beginning of the novel. The women are cliches- not merely because of time period, but because of failed introspection of their interior lives. But thank god they get some witty one liners, what really matters is that your slay girl boss team of book club members gets to think something sassy to combat their vile husbands.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail