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

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

I saw a lot of mixed reviews on this book so it made me a little apprehensive when I started reading but I can honestly say that I don’t know why this had several low ratings. I enjoyed it from start to finish. 

The writing was well done and beautifully versed at times while still managing to portray a dark, questionable plot. Hendrix was also able to sneak in bits and pieces of plot points that made our MC seem unreliable when it seemed to matter most. 

THE RATS. I was not prepared for the rats. I’m usually really good with gross/dark/detailed scenes but this one had me crawling out of my own skin. The detailed descriptions were so well done I felt like I was experiencing this first hand. Same thing with the attic scene. If you know, you know. 

A little over halfway through I found myself feeling frustrated that things weren’t playing out how I wanted them too. A lot of the roadblocks and issues at hand had a huge amount to do with the time period of the plot, which I tried to be understanding and cognizant of but that didn’t make it any less irritating. I’ll just say this: I could not have ever been a housewife in the 90s. No. Thank. You. 

Overall, this book had me captivated from start to finish - there was significantly unexpected character development with different plot lines that all circled back to the one main plot point. Hendrix did a great job bringing this idea to life and executed it in a manner that was wholesome, yet still incredibly dark and sometimes scary. 
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