Reviews tagging 'Grief'

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

100 reviews

lilawsahar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

This book was surprising good and woke for a white man. The title is very misleading. The book focuses a lot more of race, class, and gender than vampire slaying. It makes you hate men even more than you probably already do. And it brings to light the difference between black women and white women in the feminist movement. The feminist movement should include all women but white women put black women down and ignore WOC ‘s pain. This book is a wonderful piece of social commentary. If vampires don’t entice you then read it for that.  

Ps gaslighting is 90 percent of the book. 

Pps After finishing this book, I hate to throw up and cry. But in a good way? I feel very emotionally raw.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Dementia

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

We love to see moms kicking ass and this book showed us how far moms can go to protect their loved ones. I do wish all the women were more involved. People made this out to be more creepy/disturbing than it was for me. It was def worth a lot of the hype it received although it wasn't a perfect book for me. Entertaining for sure and a good read if youre in a bit of a spooky mood. Would def recommend checking content/trigger warnings because I wasn't expecting a few things in here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

shieldbearer's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

 

“The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires” is about how a small-town white community reacts when faced with a threat from the outside. How much can one sacrifice for safety and prosperity and who pays for those sacrifices? Who- and what- is worth protecting? How culpable is the one who watches and does nothing? 

This is a book that features deeply human, but nuanced, female characters. The female characters have rich inner lives and personalities even when operating within the social norms of their small Southern town.  This is an nuanced, layered exploration of womanhood- particularly how white womanhood is affected by white privilege. People dismissing the characters as "doormats" have clearly ignored the parts of the book that scream that they are choosing prosperity and security over the lives of Black children, which is easily one of the most realistic parts of the book.   The author is a man, but his mother inspired him to write this book, and it truly shows. I wish more female characters were written with this flawed complexity. I also really felt the author did a good job building and releasing tension. 

Also. Y'all need to get better at adding tags. We get graphic second hand accounts of both sexual assault and racism (a man was literally LYNCHED) and half of y'all only tag the sexual assault?? I think that proves my point. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Alcoholism and Animal death

kam_pearson's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

sunsoaked_pages's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

this book tells the story of a ted-bundy-esque monster/succubus/vampire who moved to a suburan neighborhood deep in the south in the 1990s, and how the southern moms thus reacted to the horrors that were beginning to happen in their own homes. bottom line: never underestimate a mother’s will to protect her babies. 

this was my first time reading a horror novel, and i don’t think i could’ve chosen a better book to introduce me to the genre. the author’s writing style is fast-paced, humorous, and enjoyable, and i would not have loved the book as much if it were written by anyone else. 

there were times i laughed, got pissed off, felt my heart drop from disgust, and felt weary being in my room alone. 

(the only complaint i have includes a spoiler from the end, so i will not be talking about that on here haha!)

follow my reviews on Instagram @sunsoaked.pages

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ecn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.25

You know what’s going to happen the whole way but it was a fun story to sit with for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sunsetcity's review against another edition

challenging dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

deenice2819's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Medical content, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Grief, and Classism

jordangddrd's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

does grady hendrix write the female friendships in his books as kind of homoerotic or am i projecting my own interpersonal issues onto his work? i guess we'll never know

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Forced institutionalization

goodbyelore's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.75

This is a book for people who enjoy Dead Dove Do Not Eat, dark fiction. Enjoyable if a bit slow but the pace is fitting for the characters, though frustrating at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse