Reviews tagging 'Murder'

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

578 reviews

andreyuhh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The first few chapters of this book are a bit mundane & I was honestly dreading having to finish it. Now I’m starting to wonder if that’s exactly what the author was going for based on the characters. Once it picks up, boy does it PICK UP! You’ll go through a roller coaster of emotions all the while being kept on your toes. I highly recommend everyone reading it!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Murder, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, and Violence

maryhungerford's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Rape, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Child death, Racism, and Child abuse

Minor: Suicide attempt, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

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

---

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

jessicanpruett's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Blood

hannahhmh's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

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

femmeprints's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.25

This was an unexpected fun read! The story was long but well paced and the vampire edge was unique. There were some racially sensitive parts that made me a bit uneasy but not put down the audiobook uneasy. It was actually a good way to bring in true southern American racial dynamics. The characters were very well written and had me feeling all the emotions on their behalf. A surprising good read.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Child death

ging090803's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.5

I didn't have any expectations. I wanted a little read and that's what I found. 
It starts pretty slow and there isn't a lot of action except by the end. There are a few disturbing scenes, especially toward the end. 
I felt one big emotion throughout the book and it was anger.

It angered me how she was always victimized, never believed, how her husband and kids treated her

. Even though there isn't a lot of action, it is still a fluid read. I wish it had been more energetic: the detective work wasn't really detective work. It was more of a "I know that's all" which was kinda "ok". Though, I liked how vampires were pictures.

Always alive/truly immortal, no fangs, can go into the sun... Not the usual vampire

and I also liked how friendship was portrayed. 
Even though most of it felt superficial

it was easy for them to turn their backs on others the minute they disagreed on something

, you can see how the women shared a deeper connection between themselves even if, by appearance, they didn't share anything in common. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Death, Dementia, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Racism, Excrement, Murder, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, and Vomit

chelbelle122's review against another edition

DNF @ 50%

This book should come with a trigger warner for mansplaining.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Racism, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, Sexism, Suicide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Body horror, Murder, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Misogyny, Violence, Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Gore

jocelynmwagner's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Misogyny

aheinicke27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

Holy cow. This book was waaayyyy more intense and gory than I thought it was going to be. When I heard it was a comedy horror I thought I’d be able to handle it, but I think the comedy is some light southern women banter and that’s about it. And the horror is HORROR. This book made me realize that I haven’t really ever read a horror book written for adults before and I underestimated my tolerance level. The psychological manipulation, sexual violence, child abuse, racism, and societal horrors of being a women in the 90s in the wealthy, patriarchal south was a lot, not to mention the physical violence and gore. I listened to the entire story…but I do have to admit there were times I had to pause and come back later. Let’s just say the raccoon scene towards the beginning was not the vibe driving into work at 7:00 AM. 

I was really invested in the characters and wanted to punch all of their dumb husbands in the face pretty much every time they made an appearance — which granted wasn’t often because the husbands were pretty distant from their families due to their dumbness anyways. This was a great female power book, and I loved seeing how the women band together to keep their community safe. Amidst all of the horrors surrounding them, their friendship was the tool that helped them do what would have initially seemed impossible at the start of the book. 

Overall, I liked the book. Will I read another horror book anytime soon? Probably not. Will I tell people about this book? Yes, but primarily to process my trauma from reading it. 😂

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gore, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Sexism, Stalking, Death, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Rape, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Child death, Sexual violence, and Pedophilia