Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

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

173 reviews

fadeddpages's review against another edition

dark tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Animal death, Body horror, Sexism, Stalking, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Violence

efnelson12's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book is a bit bonkers but in a good way. Definitely not for the faint hearted but a really enjoyable mix of mystery, horror and dark humour.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Rape, Stalking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, Misogyny, Gore, Suicide attempt, and Excrement

my_weird_bookish_heart's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Physical abuse, Classism, Child death, Animal cruelty, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Gore, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, and Death

chezler24's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

A book that puts a new spin on vampires and their victims. It offers believable social circumstances with race, gender, and wealth disparity that proved to be the perfect grounds for the vampire-like being to swoop in and place everyone under his thumb. As with other Grady Hendrix novels, you're going to have those scenes which unsettle and gross you out. (Perfect for horror fans although not everyone's cup of tea.) I enjoyed the progression throughout the book and how Hendrix paced things time-wise. It would have been interesting to see a bit more of the other book club members' thoughts, but, because everything was from only Patricia's pov, we had to balance the book club members, her family members, and various other townspeople who popped up along with her inner dialogue. With that being said, I felt at peace with the ending. To me, it made sense and answered most of the questions about how the ladies carried out their plans; however, I was left wanting to learn more about what exactly the vampire creature was - that's just personal curiosity though. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Rape, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Suicide, Murder, Medical content, Infidelity, Gore, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Death, Child death, and Blood

poeths's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

I am not going to give it 5 stars just because that rape scene was horrible. For me it didn't make sense. I am tired of men not knowing how to actually write a rape scene. But also, why it has always to be rape? Why it's always sexual violence against women? He was doing so well, you don't need that to make it more horrific. Nor to make someone a vampire, you don't have to rape them. Just as you don't have to drink from their thigh... In that sense, with violence against women and little kids that was pretty sexual, just like when he is basically having ¿¿sex?? with a minor... I don't know man but like, we have moved on past that. It made me disappointed on the author, as he talks about gaslighting and sexism and racism and he depicts very different and interesting female characters... I am just sad because of that, overall the writing it's amazing, the grotesque elements are chilling, the book is raw and you hate the villain so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Animal cruelty, Murder, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Death, Gore, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Blood, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Child death, Body horror, Rape, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Racism, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Animal death, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, and Mental illness

fanboyriot's review against another edition

dark slow-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

3.0

I have some mixed feelings about this book.  I liked the plot, a bunch of true crime loving housewives starting a book club, reading their way through all the major serial killers.  Only to be met with a new guy to town, a guy who doesn't like the sun and who is all too charming once it sets.

It started out well though I would have liked to read more about some of the side characters.  I loved Mrs. Greene and would have liked to see more of her.  It was at the halfway mark or about there that things kinda went down hill for me.  Patricia was slowly being backed into a corner and the more she found out about her charming new neighbor the less people in her life believed her.

There are obviously some major issues within this book I'll add some content warnings that I think apply but I suggest looking them up if you're considering reading this.

The major problems I had with thus book were pretty self-explanatory.  The misogyny, sexism, and child molesting really popped off in this book.  I understand this took place at a time were housewives were seen as less than human and were it was common for misogyny and sexism.  That doesn't mean I wanna read a book about it.  And onto the child molesting vampire.  What was the point of that?  It wasn't like he could only feed off kids.  So why add that to the book?  It's absolutely disgusting.  And lastly what was with all the world war ii stuff?  Like dude your kid is drawing a swastika on their notebook and you're not worried?!  It just seemed really random to add.

I will say that it ended decently and I really liked the small town setting.  The kind of neighborhood that was safe enough to leave your doors unlocked all the time, and where the people who lived there would welcome you with some kind of food only to drop it off and learn your whole life story, that part was written really nicely.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Gore, Sexual violence, Sexism, Rape, Gaslighting, Violence, Sexual assault, Body horror, Classism, Toxic relationship, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Animal death, Kidnapping, Antisemitism, Self harm, Hate crime, Torture, Ableism, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Drug abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Grief, Bullying, Cursing, War, Vomit, Suicide, and Domestic abuse

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

5.0

while there are many parts of this book that i didnt like, that was kinda the point. this was gross, absurd, and just downright disturbing. i could not put this down and have not been able to stop thinking about this despite reading it like a week ago. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Stalking, Blood, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

fionaraney's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Animal death, Rape, Torture, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Domestic abuse, Child death, Murder, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Death, Cannibalism, Body horror, Alcoholism, Addiction, Blood, and Animal cruelty

seeker24's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The author was able to encapsulate the white, middle class Southern culture in this book. From things mentioned, social structures and how women sometimes interact with each other. 

The book had some gruesome horror that I wasn’t expecting, but it was manageable. 

By the end of the book I was hoping for more information. I wanted the story to keep going and get good vindication. I wanted a huge triumph, but it definitely didn’t happen that way.

Also the way the vampire feeds and how the victims feel bliss is just weird and seemed a little unnecessary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

bingo_banjo's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Dementia, Rape, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Animal death, Death, Murder, Gore, Child death, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Excrement, and Blood

Moderate: Body shaming, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Violence, Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, and War