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

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

3.0

i’ve got to be honest, i was a little bit disappointed with this book. it started out really well, the setup is expertly executed and the concept is really cool. the dark side of this book is pretty well paced in the sense that you feel this growing tension and sense of dread. the female rage and the kind of helplessness and entrapment some of these women feel is palpable and imo very well written. the frustration of the characters very easily translates to the reader (especially if you’ve been raised as a girl). however. not all is well in mt pleasant, and i think the author should’ve put a bit more time into really exploring the intersection of race and gender, especially when it comes to these rich white women not acknowledging that the only well developed black character is the woman who did the bulk of the work and was the most affected. the subject of white privilege is touched upon, but it feels a bit like it’s dismissed in the end because of how much is happening. other than that, the action takes a LONG time to happen, which is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just that when you have this really good and drawn out setup, it’s not really satisfying to have everything be solved in a chapter. finally, and this is purely a taste thing, it got a little bit too gory and disturbing for me at some points. this type of horror is very poignant and well written, it just happened to hit every. single. one. of my phobias (being buried alive, bugs and parasites, general ‘things burrowing under your skin’ kind of stuff), so bear that in mind if you have phobias, not just fears, of these things. overall, pretty good but personally i will not be bringing this for my book club :)
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