Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

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

81 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.5

This book is INTENSE. Kinda hit all of the trigger warnings on the way down. I was surprised how much I liked the author's characterization of the women, though.

But damn, I was so ready for Patricia's husband to bite the dust. He was on my last nerve.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Racism, Dementia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Bullying, Pregnancy, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Body shaming, Confinement, Excrement, Grief, and Vomit

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Abortion, and Drug use

trippalli's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective 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

4.0

A good solid monsters story, feminist and yet also gruesome

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Blood, Murder, Suicide, Vomit, Violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Stalking, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, and Xenophobia

ugh1ife's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.25

This book was a ride! First thing to know, these women are SOUTHERN. I was cringing a lot at the blatant classicism/racism/misogyny/etc. But the book did a decent job at criticizing it. AND BOY does the black community get the short end of the stick. Also, this book does kind of fall into the trope of having a black character (Mrs. Greene) do the brunt of the work especially in the aftermath. She also has to be the one to point out the obvious instances of prejudice which the other characters acknowledge in the moment but don’t really do anything about it?

At the end they admit that the black community was hurt the most but it’s in passing. And then that’s it. Like I think it’s meant to reflect that these characters are prejudiced and stuff, as a lot of rich suburb southerners are. There is also graphic violence depicted against black characters and straight up racism. So, this particular aspect fell short for me. Also, I am not black so I can only say the issues that I found with it

All the characters are extremely flawed, and so much of it had me furious (especially the husbands). It was also a deep dive into what being a “housewife” is really like and the learned helplessness of these women who have/had accepted their roles. I really think this book is for the parents: it does a great job at detailing the common worries that parents experience and their short comings. 

A short summary of the book?: a group of southern ladies form a book club that follows true crime novels. Patricia, a typical housewife in a strained marriage, befriends a newcomer to their tight night community. However, she begins to notice strange things happening and becomes increasingly convinced that their little home is in danger. 

The sexual content was a bit hard to get through, but I understand why it was there so I don’t really fault the book on it. Just be warned! 

SO SO SO MANY TRIGGER WARNINGS. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Gore, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Body horror, Gaslighting, Violence, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Blood, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Dementia, Drug abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I have been slowly collecting Grady Hendrix's books so that I could read them all in October. This was my first read to kick off this mini, self-proclaimed readathon for spooky season.
"The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires" is a comedic horror about a group of true southern women who are in a book club together. One of the women, Patricia, is really struggling with her identity and finding her own purpose in life outside of motherhood. She befriends a new man in town and invites him to join the book club, but he might be hiding something that Bram Stoker would covet...
Grady Hendrix has really perfected his own brand of comedic horror. This book is a humorous vampire tale, but it definitely has the gore and violence that one may expect in a horror book. The atmosphere in this story was the perfect way to get into the October spirit. One of my favorite elements of this story was Patricia as a character. I really enjoyed the conversations that were had about her trading her successful career as a nurse to be a stay-at-home mom who cares for her family. This role is so vitally important, but it always seems to be looked down on, and in this book, Patricia is heavily judged and dismissed when she expresses her concerns that there may be a vampire in the neighborhood. Patricia is a badass, and she handled her unsupportive husband and judgmental friends as gracefully as any true southern woman would.
This is definitely one of my favorites from Grady Hendrix, and I highly recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Blood, Death, Child death, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Pedophilia, Violence, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Dementia, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Excrement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, Classism, Cursing, Death, and Violence

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Addiction, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

dark 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? No

4.0

Rating: 4/5 stars

Patricia Campbell is a good wife and mother leading a normal life in her quiet corner of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, where her book club devours true crime and thriller novels. But suddenly a mysterious stranger arrives in town, and Patricia becomes convinced the true danger might be lurking outside the pages…

This was my first Grady Hendrix novel but it definitely won’t be my last. I adored the setting, which is equal parts Gothic southern elegance and small town drama, and the writing style, which is somehow both funny and viscerally horrifying.

I did enjoy the first half of this one more than the second, as I felt several characters made choices I didn’t particularly enjoy and the plot moved in some ways that I could have done without. That said, if you want a gory, terrifying, occasionally disgusting, but very well-written horror read, this one is for you. And, as a bonus, the themes are surprisingly deep—particularly the reflections on how quick we are to (unfairly) dismiss the importance of “women’s work” and women’s experiences.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: vampire lore; Gothic horror; humor with a dark edge

CW: Murder/gore (including child death and animal death/injury); suicide/suicide attempt; sexual assault; domestic abuse; gaslighting; dementia; bugs/vermin; discussions of racism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, and Stalking

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

ruthmoog's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

4.75

This gave me chills. Once I was invested I whizzed through the story, whisked up by the relentless challenge to overcome the vampiric.

The group use their women's work skills to fight, but this was a bit cliché for me - and you could play content warning bingo with it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Sexism, Stalking, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: War, Abandonment, and Vomit

Minor: Car accident

Nazism

soyboi's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Classism, Death, Dementia, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Vomit, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Racism, and Sexism

magellen's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

UGH this is the driest, most tedious book to be incorrectly raved about in the last several years. A PTA meeting reading a 1988 Buick Skylark repair manual on half speed would be more engaging than what I just put myself through.

How did this script like book receive so much praise? It's wildly dialog dependent with large bland swathes of set description and zero voice or atmosphere. There's a good three separate occurances of the plot momentum being cut at the ankles and reset. There are time skips that feel like whole rehashes of the concept. 

There is so very little tension.

The book begins with an authors note that feels very much like someone going 'hold on hold on! I swear it'll get good!' Like an excuse for what's to come and buddy it was not apologetic enough nor did the promises of the note ever come to fruition.

A couple chapters in I thought, oh god, I'm gonna have to DNF, but then the indignation kicked in that this ridiculous flat toned book is one of the current champions of 'southern horror'. Its not. Hendrix tells you how everything feels, rather than showing you so everything from setting to emotions come across clinical, literally like a script waiting for someone else's performance to bring it to life.
Another couple chapters and I thought well maybe there's a twist, maybe it isn't going to be literally this simplistic. There was not. There was not much of anything for the front 80% of the novel. 

Finally when "moms vs dracula" kicks in, it just...blandly rolls along, characters kicking and screaming and stalling the plot. There is no true interiority to the narrative, no heart beating in its pages.

Early on when Patricia has to race upstairs to close a window and the action stretches rubbery and flat, somehow without tension though the fear should be heady, welp that is the whole book. You don't worry for the characters, you don't feel really anything for them because Hendrix flattens everything out into storyboards. You should get a jolt of oh god don't go in that room, don't step into that danger but it never comes.

Like how the hell do you make a dismemberment so boring? It drags, the very antithesis of visceral, for so fucking long. Moments that stretch never make you squirm or hope for resolution, they just stretch, unrelenting as a lecture.

The book circles several more interesting angles that it veers from repeatedly in choice of the mundane - maybe that was Hendrix's point, maybe he thought that's how he could best put the book in a house wife's POV. Rather, it limits itself by doing so, making you hate the very thing he claims to be lifting up into the realm of 'fun'.

From what I've heard, all his books are script like. If this is the best of them? Yeesh, steer clear!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Sexism, Misogyny, and Stalking

Minor: Blood, Body horror, Classism, Death of parent, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Murder

aardwyrm's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

Like having your teeth pulled out by barbed wire, but they're really polite about it. There is a very scary vampire, but, you know how all good horror is about the unnatural threat AND the real ones? There's more dread in a cocktail party with friendly acquaintances than in most of the scenes with, you know, vampirism. The book juggles its time and place, both as a setting dripping with dread and with a comfortable, sympathetic gentleness that never actually lets anybody off the hook (though Mrs. Green is really much too forgiving in the last act). Does a really interesting job with being horribly physical about the most mundane and most otherworldly manifestations of gore alike. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Murder, Pedophilia, Self harm, Racial slurs, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

I liked this book, but it's billed as more horror comedy, and I do want to be clear, the horrible parts are gonna hit.