Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

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

149 reviews

magicallymeg's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Dementia, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Blood, Death, Sexual assault, and Rape

tmw1122's review against another edition

This book is full of very dark subject matter that doesn’t serve a purpose. The plot is very slow and bounces between extremely graphic scenes and unbelievably boring scenes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Rape, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Racism

Minor: Domestic abuse

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

lindsayerin'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gore, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Blood, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Suicide, Sexual assault, Self harm, Murder, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Racism, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Chronic illness

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Body shaming

clawrence345's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

It was a good book with an interesting take on a classic monster/trope. While there were a few plot points I wish had had more/less focus. What made the book interesting to read was mostly the character dynamics of the traditional southern housewife having to take the lead on a monster fight while also balancing the life and image she wants to maintain.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Rape, Gore, Blood, Violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, and Alcoholism

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.

thevioletfoxbookshop's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.0

Grady Hendrix is a genre all on his own. As the title implies, expect a vampire... but not a sparkly or spooky one. This vampire is disgusting, terrifying, and actually scary. If you're into body horror, gross stuff, and super tense scenes - this is for you! There were some funny moments, some heartwarming moments, and good parts, but it was definitely a rollercoaster ride. I loved revisiting the 90's and seeing these suburban housewives pitted against pure evil. It was such a mix of funny and horrifying in a way that only Grady Hendrix can really pull off. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Dementia, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Violence

Minor: Suicide attempt, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

mynameisrebecca's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

If this book was 50 or 75 pages shorter, I would have enjoyed it more. There was a lot of background development that didn't really propel the plot forward. Similarly to other Hendrix books I've read, he does a great job at building a world and cast of characters around the protagonist. However, it felt like a little too much to keep track of and muddied the focus of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexism, and Grief

Minor: Animal death

booksnooksandcooks's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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? No

2.25

Do you ever read a book and afterwards, take a moment to pause and reflect how it was so clearly written by a white man? Truly, this was one of those moments.

I would like to personally thank whoever told me this book would be great for my thesis. On one hand, it gave me nothing. On the other hand, it gave me everything. The religious aspect was weak. The sexual violence of vampirism? Chock full. I especially hated the unnecessary rape scene and sexual aspects of the bloodletting.

And especially the white saviorhood combined with the strong black woman trope. Please, please, I beg of you, let black women have agency outside of a white woman's story. The whole "these rich white Southern ladies discover the meaning of true friendship and racism" schtick was just not it! Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, this will be part of the thesis.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Gaslighting, Blood, Rape, Sexual assault, Gore, Murder, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Forced institutionalization

madelinekramer2021's review against another edition

challenging mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Rape, Child death, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Death, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Dementia, and Classism