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Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
300 reviews
e_gallego's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
You can tell the vampire was evil early on because he’s an Ayn Rand fan.
Jokes aside, this book inspires conflicted feelings for me. It is, to put it bluntly, a brutal book to get through while still being interesting. Someone else on here said: this is a fun and easy read, and to them I’d ask “what the fuck are you talking about?” The content warning list is about a mile long but the hardest scenes were definitely those portraying rape, domestic violence, pedophilia, and body horror. If you’re squeamish in any way about any of the above, or animals trying to crawl inside you, do not read lol.
A lot of people felt that the title was misleading as it 1) implied more than one vampire and 2) it gave the vibe of something much lighter than what it was. But you figure out pretty early in that the book is neither of those things, so that didn’t bother me.
Grady’s book is a very interesting and subversive take on the vampire. The vampire historically (especially Dracula) has signified a xenophobic threat to an Anglo Protestant society, a reverse colonialism in which a foreigner comes to your land and corrupts your society. And this is a running theme in the book that Grady hits often about middle class white families: they are so terrified of strangers, of those who don’t look like them, that they do everything they can to keep them out via gated communities and expensive country clubs. But the vampire, the predator, is not a stranger. He’s not a foreigner: he’s the guy who has solidified himself in your community as someone trusting, as someone of value. You trust him with you money, your house, your kids and all along, behind all those superficial characteristics that white middle class families care about (being white, being wealthy, having what they deem as appropriate manners) he’s a fucking monster that’s causing harm. And the truth about predators, despite what true crime and conservatives want you to believe—that it’s foreigners who will rape your women, take your children, and destroy your nuclear family and the fabric of society—they are actually people close to you. Uncles, fathers, priests, etc. Grady’s book thus is a subversion of the xenophobic vampire trope, turning it on its head to portray that predators are those in your so called safe communities and people will go to great lengths to protect them, especially if predators financially benefit others.
Grady does a good job imo providing nuance to all his characters. Our main lot is a group of middle class, white, house wives who on varying levels chafe with their allotment in life: as stay at home wives for unappreciative husbands and as mothers to difficult children. They all yearn for more stimulation in their own personal lives, which leads them to create a book club. Grady is never without sympathy to these women, most of whom are in abusive relationships with husbands who control every aspect of their lives from their bank accounts, to decisions in their lives, and some even being physically violent. Gaslighting is abound, especially for our protagonist, and it’s truthfully very painful to read, because it’s real. And yet, Grady is not apologetic for these women and their flaws: namely, the way their class and race has severe consequences for black working class people. It is, after all, the 90s in the South. At first, I was off put by Mrs. Greene’s introduction as I thought I came off a bit Mammy-ish but as the book progressed, and Mrs. Greene became a complicated character of her own, I realized that our first impression was not a reflection of Grady, but Patricia’s POV. With Patricia’s dawning realization of class and race (sorta), Mrs. Greene evolves as a full human. She isn’t simply the help; she’s a struggling mother as well, she’s a woman respected in her own community. Grady is scathingly honest about the white middle class and their insistence upon comfort and wealth for themselves—even if it means other marginalized people suffer directly by consequence. It is only until these women are directly affected that they then all urge themselves to do something, though that is a very reluctant thing because the predator targeting their children is also supplying their families with LOTS of money for housing development investments that was once a neighborhood for poor black people (what do vampires and landlords have in common? They are both blood sucking leeches!).
The last 1/3rd is kinda where things to me feel like they fall apart. There is a graphic body horror scene that features black demonic semen seeping forth from one of the characters after the vampire rapes her. It’s a lot. I never quite know how to feel about rape in horror, as it is often distasteful and used to shock audiences. Was a graphic physical description of the semen leaving Slick necessary? I don’t know. The rape scene itself, while hard, I found was handled much more respectfully/tactfully than the previous semen scene. It’s heartbreaking and brutal, underscoring how when women do try to push back against harm, they are punished and scared into submission. And that happens to many of them: slick being raped to silence her; Grace being beaten by her husband; Patricia being gaslit constantly and forcefully institutionalized. It is the reinforcement of women’s role in society as the quiet and demure housewife and mother.
Though the vampire is a pedophile that preys on both boys and girls, the book primarily focuses on his violence against women because the book largely speaks about patriarchal violence and that no matter class or race, no one is spared. Black girls violation is swept under the rug, and used as a weapon against poor black women; Korey’s grooming and rape speaks to how girls are often forgotten in the chaos of life, their problems diminished and infantilized as hormones or college stress, and thus fall through the cracks; Slick’s rape is punishment to put her back in her place as a silent, scared, and dutiful housewife; and lastly, Patricia’s rape, in which she believes her last piece of leverage is her body and sexuality, when she has depleted her wits, which speaks to housewives who are nothing but sexual objects to their husbands. She is something to be claimed, she and her family are a status that James Harris wants to exploit and literally suck dry. But even that is wrenched from her and it is instead something used to humiliate and subjugate her: there is no victory to be found in this barter.
When the women realize their sins in the hospital, I found the writing to be strangely heavy handed. What they are all saying is technically true, but Grady has been beating the audience over the head now for 2/3rds of the book with this theme concerning gender, race, and class. Felt clumsy to have our protagonists practically turn to the audience and say explicitly “it’s because we’re white women who didn’t care about the suffering of poor black people”. Like, for example, when Slick repeats that Proverb, she didn’t need to say anything else but that. It says it all without being heavy handed.
The climactic fight scene makes you scream in frustration at how clumsy the whole thing is. I get it, they are all housewives who have never had to do anything of the sort. But my GOD ladies can we think for a second?? If his spinal cord keeps regenerating why are we not either 1) continuously severing it or 2) lobbing off his head first??
I like that Mrs. Greene doesn’t forgive the women, despite them all coming together to help. In the end those women get to go back to comfortable homes with their children safe. Six Mile however has been destroyed for their greed, many black people forced to flee their homes; and so many black children are dead.
I don’t like that Slick died. I don’t find it did anything narratively for me.
I like that the vampire cannot be killed. That’s great; the monster shall always return, as monster theory states. And in the case of the vampire in this book, the threat of his predatoriness cannot ever be exterminated. Though there is only one of his kind, there are so much abusers in this world, and so many people who choose to protect them. The threat then shall always persist.
I HATE that nothing really bad happened to the husbands. Boo hoo you lost your money: how about you k*LL yourselves? Carter made me so mad that I was like “if he doesn’t get murdered or blow his brains out, I’m giving the book zero stars”. It’s whatever; he instead gets a divorce and Patricia is free of him. But all the other women return home to their loser piece of shit husbands, including Grace whose husband beat the shit out of her. I simply think they should all drink bleach for collectively abusing their wives :)
Grady approaches race semi well, but there’s a lot of strange things going on: where are all the husbands to these wives? Like where is Mr. Greene? Why are all the black mothers seemingly single mothers? That lowkey feels racist. Why are black men completely missing from the narrative beyond being nameless/faceless waiters, abused children, or aggressive teenagers? Grady gives personhood to Mrs. Greene when Patricia begins to see her as more than the help, but Mrs. Greene is kinda the only black person who is allowed to be a full character. Those teenagers, who are viewed as aggressive criminals by Kitty and Patricia, aren’t brought back for any sort of actualization. I get the book is about the violence against women, so it centers women, but it’s just bizarre how black men are completely missing from the narrative. Grady has a lot to say about gender race and class but that seems to disappear in regards to black men and boys.
Also. What the fuck was Blue’s obsession with Nazis about??? I know it’s supposed to say something, it’s not a small storyline and is constantly brought up in his character arc. Clearly he’s a troubled kid affected by his broken family and watching his mother be drugged by his father into submission, and is being groomed by a pedo, but I really know what specifically it is about the Nazis that was so enthralling to him. Like he was obsessed with them BEFORE Patricia tried to kill herself, before things started falling apart. I don’t have answers for that one.
Jokes aside, this book inspires conflicted feelings for me. It is, to put it bluntly, a brutal book to get through while still being interesting. Someone else on here said: this is a fun and easy read, and to them I’d ask “what the fuck are you talking about?” The content warning list is about a mile long but the hardest scenes were definitely those portraying rape, domestic violence, pedophilia, and body horror. If you’re squeamish in any way about any of the above, or animals trying to crawl inside you, do not read lol.
A lot of people felt that the title was misleading as it 1) implied more than one vampire and 2) it gave the vibe of something much lighter than what it was. But you figure out pretty early in that the book is neither of those things, so that didn’t bother me.
Grady’s book is a very interesting and subversive take on the vampire. The vampire historically (especially Dracula) has signified a xenophobic threat to an Anglo Protestant society, a reverse colonialism in which a foreigner comes to your land and corrupts your society. And this is a running theme in the book that Grady hits often about middle class white families: they are so terrified of strangers, of those who don’t look like them, that they do everything they can to keep them out via gated communities and expensive country clubs. But the vampire, the predator, is not a stranger. He’s not a foreigner: he’s the guy who has solidified himself in your community as someone trusting, as someone of value. You trust him with you money, your house, your kids and all along, behind all those superficial characteristics that white middle class families care about (being white, being wealthy, having what they deem as appropriate manners) he’s a fucking monster that’s causing harm. And the truth about predators, despite what true crime and conservatives want you to believe—that it’s foreigners who will rape your women, take your children, and destroy your nuclear family and the fabric of society—they are actually people close to you. Uncles, fathers, priests, etc. Grady’s book thus is a subversion of the xenophobic vampire trope, turning it on its head to portray that predators are those in your so called safe communities and people will go to great lengths to protect them, especially if predators financially benefit others.
Grady does a good job imo providing nuance to all his characters. Our main lot is a group of middle class, white, house wives who on varying levels chafe with their allotment in life: as stay at home wives for unappreciative husbands and as mothers to difficult children. They all yearn for more stimulation in their own personal lives, which leads them to create a book club. Grady is never without sympathy to these women, most of whom are in abusive relationships with husbands who control every aspect of their lives from their bank accounts, to decisions in their lives, and some even being physically violent. Gaslighting is abound, especially for our protagonist, and it’s truthfully very painful to read, because it’s real. And yet, Grady is not apologetic for these women and their flaws: namely, the way their class and race has severe consequences for black working class people. It is, after all, the 90s in the South. At first, I was off put by Mrs. Greene’s introduction as I thought I came off a bit Mammy-ish but as the book progressed, and Mrs. Greene became a complicated character of her own, I realized that our first impression was not a reflection of Grady, but Patricia’s POV. With Patricia’s dawning realization of class and race (sorta), Mrs. Greene evolves as a full human. She isn’t simply the help; she’s a struggling mother as well, she’s a woman respected in her own community. Grady is scathingly honest about the white middle class and their insistence upon comfort and wealth for themselves—even if it means other marginalized people suffer directly by consequence. It is only until these women are directly affected that they then all urge themselves to do something, though that is a very reluctant thing because the predator targeting their children is also supplying their families with LOTS of money for housing development investments that was once a neighborhood for poor black people (what do vampires and landlords have in common? They are both blood sucking leeches!).
The climactic fight scene makes you scream in frustration at how clumsy the whole thing is. I get it, they are all housewives who have never had to do anything of the sort. But my GOD ladies can we think for a second?? If his spinal cord keeps regenerating why are we not either 1) continuously severing it or 2) lobbing off his head first??
I like that Mrs. Greene doesn’t forgive the women, despite them all coming together to help. In the end those women get to go back to comfortable homes with their children safe. Six Mile however has been destroyed for their greed, many black people forced to flee their homes; and so many black children are dead.
I don’t like that Slick died. I don’t find it did anything narratively for me.
I like that the vampire cannot be killed. That’s great; the monster shall always return, as monster theory states. And in the case of the vampire in this book, the threat of his predatoriness cannot ever be exterminated. Though there is only one of his kind, there are so much abusers in this world, and so many people who choose to protect them. The threat then shall always persist.
I HATE that nothing really bad happened to the husbands. Boo hoo you lost your money: how about you k*LL yourselves? Carter made me so mad that I was like “if he doesn’t get murdered or blow his brains out, I’m giving the book zero stars”. It’s whatever; he instead gets a divorce and Patricia is free of him. But all the other women return home to their loser piece of shit husbands, including Grace whose husband beat the shit out of her. I simply think they should all drink bleach for collectively abusing their wives :)
Grady approaches race semi well, but there’s a lot of strange things going on: where are all the husbands to these wives? Like where is Mr. Greene? Why are all the black mothers seemingly single mothers? That lowkey feels racist. Why are black men completely missing from the narrative beyond being nameless/faceless waiters, abused children, or aggressive teenagers? Grady gives personhood to Mrs. Greene when Patricia begins to see her as more than the help, but Mrs. Greene is kinda the only black person who is allowed to be a full character. Those teenagers, who are viewed as aggressive criminals by Kitty and Patricia, aren’t brought back for any sort of actualization. I get the book is about the violence against women, so it centers women, but it’s just bizarre how black men are completely missing from the narrative. Grady has a lot to say about gender race and class but that seems to disappear in regards to black men and boys.
Also. What the fuck was Blue’s obsession with Nazis about??? I know it’s supposed to say something, it’s not a small storyline and is constantly brought up in his character arc. Clearly he’s a troubled kid affected by his broken family and watching his mother be drugged by his father into submission, and is being groomed by a pedo, but I really know what specifically it is about the Nazis that was so enthralling to him. Like he was obsessed with them BEFORE Patricia tried to kill herself, before things started falling apart. I don’t have answers for that one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting
erikarosereads'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape
timlucier's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-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
Fright Night meets the Real Housewives of Charleston. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires has been on my list for some time, and I'm glad I finally gave it a shot. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Bahni Turpin, who did an excellent job and was very entertaining to listen to.
I enjoyed the slice of life in suburban Charleston's middle class, and found the mystery that unfolded for the main character Patricia to be similar in styling to the movies Disturbia and Fright Night. Based on the title, I think I expected more involvement from the other book club members - but this was largely Patricia's story.
I knew a nerve was hit about halfway through, when the plot made me irrationally angry and I was suddenly rooting for every book club member to divorce their husbands. That was a "no turning back" point, and I sped through the rest of the story. This is story about a unique type of vampire, which shines a light on some sociocultural issues. Largely it's a story about women supporting women.
It's a perfect fit for your October reading vibes - I look forward to exploring other works by the author.
I enjoyed the slice of life in suburban Charleston's middle class, and found the mystery that unfolded for the main character Patricia to be similar in styling to the movies Disturbia and Fright Night. Based on the title, I think I expected more involvement from the other book club members - but this was largely Patricia's story.
I knew a nerve was hit about halfway through, when the plot made me irrationally angry and I was suddenly rooting for every book club member to divorce their husbands. That was a "no turning back" point, and I sped through the rest of the story. This is story about a unique type of vampire, which shines a light on some sociocultural issues. Largely it's a story about women supporting women.
It's a perfect fit for your October reading vibes - I look forward to exploring other works by the author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Rape
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt
krows_ink's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
4.75
boy oh boy. I don’t really read horror and this book was way darker than I thought it was going to be. That being said. I really enjoyed it. The commentary is well done and the take on vampires is new and absolutely sickening.
This book had me saying “oh hell no” as I listened and did the dishes. The narrator, Bahni Turpin, did a phenomenal job. Truly made the book come to life.
My only complaints really come from me not reading the content warnings and some minor things.
I read a lot of reviews that spoke of the way Hendrix wrote women in this. I didn’t think it was actually distasteful. He described their bodies, but he also described the James Harris’ body at the end when he was naked as well. It didn’t feel like over specialization to me. I also think men are often critiqued too much in how they write women because I’ve read number plus books written by women where the women are portrayed horribly and worse than a lot of authors who are men.
On the topic of rape and CSA: I think that it did its job at making the reader uncomfortable. I do think the book could have benefitted from a sensitivity reader because a few lines were just off for me and sat wrong. That being said I don’t think it was anything too bad. Books about these topics and featuring these topics shouldn’t be banned by any means nor should we enforce a purity culture around topics that make us uncomfortable.
I do with that Mrs Green has been a more prominent character and that we had seen more of her and from her perspective. I also wish that the ending had a little more context, although it wasn’t bad by any means. Overall this was a great book but due to the content warnings I would advise people to read them before reading.
This book had me saying “oh hell no” as I listened and did the dishes. The narrator, Bahni Turpin, did a phenomenal job. Truly made the book come to life.
My only complaints really come from me not reading the content warnings and some minor things.
On the topic of rape and CSA: I think that it did its job at making the reader uncomfortable. I do think the book could have benefitted from a sensitivity reader because a few lines were just off for me and sat wrong. That being said I don’t think it was anything too bad. Books about these topics and featuring these topics shouldn’t be banned by any means nor should we enforce a purity culture around topics that make us uncomfortable.
I do with that Mrs Green has been a more prominent character and that we had seen more of her and from her perspective. I also wish that the ending had a little more context, although it wasn’t bad by any means. Overall this was a great book but due to the content warnings I would advise people to read them before reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Miscarriage
lunarcat101's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Antisemitism, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
kelkelkelkelly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.5
As delightful as a horror novel gets. Interesting characters, gripping plot, subtext of patriarchy being the real monster. Lots of graphic, dark horror with some fun and absurdity thrown in at the right moments. A good time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Suicide
chipstarlow's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Death, Rape, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting
Minor: Gore, Pedophilia, Sexism, and Forced institutionalization
samanthaleereads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Pedophilia
tiffany_bush's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
***May contain spoilers***
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This seemed more like a mystery or drama. The ladies of the book club were all shallow and gossipy. They were all quick to turn on each other and of course their husband's didn't believe them. There were some areas were I thought the vampire parts were going to grow but fell short. I could have lived without ever reading this book. There was only 1 vampire not mulitple in this book. I can see how the vampire could be used as a symbolism of the true monster that people allow and trust in their lives.
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This seemed more like a mystery or drama. The ladies of the book club were all shallow and gossipy. They were all quick to turn on each other and of course their husband's didn't believe them. There were some areas were I thought the vampire parts were going to grow but fell short. I could have lived without ever reading this book. There was only 1 vampire not mulitple in this book. I can see how the vampire could be used as a symbolism of the true monster that people allow and trust in their lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Murder