Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

43 reviews

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

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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

alisonvh's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked this book, but I think my hopes were a bit too high given all the hype surrounding this book. It’s also a lot darker than I had anticipated. The hardest parts of this book are all about the awful things people do to each other. It can be so much worse than anything a monster could do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

emmieanna's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.5

I am so glad to say that this book is about more than just vampires. It’s about women who will do anything for their families, about sticking up for themselves and what they know to be true. It’s about getting in, getting out, about solidarity and shame. 

There is not one man in this book that observed anything about their wives. They blindly accept anything as long as a man tells them it is so and honestly they deserved everything that happened to them. 

Infuriatingly, Patricia never received the recognition she deserved for sticking to her beliefs even when everyone turned their backs. The gaslighting from her husband and friends who were meek astonish and she deserves better from everyone. Such is the life of a housewife.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Physical abuse

katenovah's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Dementia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Much better than I thought it was going to be, mostly because I found the title so ridiculous. Turns out that the book was a lot of fun to read and that the title is very apropos. It was a little longer than I would’ve liked - I would’ve removed some of the events, maybe even whole chapters, because the first third of the book had me rolling my eyes. But I had enjoyed How to Sell a Haunted House, so I stuck with it, and I’m so glad I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

editorsansserif's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

NB: This book deserves a host of content warnings before reading. If you are a sensitive reader, please check those before starting this book - it escalates the deeper you get. It is not a "light" read.

General overview: A book that is, actually, about a vampire, though not in the way you might expect - pitted against a community and a group of women (the 'book club') who are deeply flawed and fail several times, at a great cost, before finding the courage to do what is right. Strong themes of racism, sexism/misogyny, and child predation. 

Emotional impact: I loved this book, despite not being able to love its characters. The main cast, and protagonist, are flawed, sometimes very deeply. They do show growth over time, while many of the side cast do not (or deteriorate), and it works - but they never truly become heroes. I spent a lot of reading time being angry and incensed, not toward the villain, but toward the main characters of the book, and the families that surrounded them. I feel like that's part of "the point."

Visceral impact:   The body horror, and gore, did make my skin crawl, but never felt explicit enough to make me want to stop reading.  The author sometimes went a little 'over the top' with the terrible events that happened in the novel, to the point of unbelievability and disgust. Spoilers/CW for child death:

Most of the children's suicides were remarkably unbelievable, outside of the boy that jumped in front of a truck. The evil rat infestation was also extremely supernatural to unbelievability, despite the fact that the supernatural was the ultimate explanation. No one would find these events to be credible, even in the 1990's southern American world.

Counter thoughts to some criticism:

• On the 'Stepford wife' nature of these wives and mothers in the 1990s: I found this not only believable, but incredibly realistic. I grew up in the 90s with a southern-trained mother and a southern grandmother, and around many families who had the same 'sensibilities' drilled into them. The way that these women acted in the book felt like a genuine flashback to what it felt like growing up around women who played pleasantries and kowtowed to men and never wanted to disturb the status quo. While I can see why they might not come off as believable to those who haven't experienced what I have, I felt it was authentic. CW (suicide/minor spoilers):
  My mother didn't protect me from the predator in my own family, and she dismissed my earnest pleas for help when I was battling depression and suicide as a teenager. My father always knew what was best to the point he'd become threatening if he was questioned. They wouldn't have protected me from a vampire.
• On the misogyny: See above - this felt very real to me thanks to my own lived experiences. Of course there are good men. It's just that none of these husbands were good men. It would have been nice to have a good man join the women to counter the culture around them - one husband who really did believe his wife and didn't fall for the trap - and that does feel like a disservice.  I can also see that the author was trying to really lean in to the power of women and their shared bonds, so it could be a tricky balance to find while keeping the message the same.
• On the racism and racist stereotypes: As a white person, I can't and won't speak to representation of the POC in the novel.  I do feel, however, that the quiet racism that was expressed by the white women in the book was genuine and called into question several times. These white women do not ever go through a full anti-racist transformation, but they are confronted and, I believe, do make some steps of growth. We're never shown anything more than a reckoning with their unspoken attitudes and the result of those actions, though. 
• On animal death: I thought that the final animal death scene was touching, actually, and made both sense rationally and plot-wise. That's not for everyone though: if you don't like pets dying, you're going to hate that portion of the book. 

Additional criticism: Addressed in my content warnings, but there is a side plot during which the main character's son is becoming increasingly obsessed with Hitler + Nazis. This isn't treated seriously at all by the characters in the novel and is not resolved by the end of the book. This should have either been dropped or handled with more severity, and that's a major lack of sensitivity to the implications the author adds with this plot element.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

Minor: Antisemitism

Re: Antisemitism:

One of the minor characters of the book, a teenage boy, is falling deeper and deeper into Nazi rhetoric and worship. This is never resolved by the end of the book. There is no overt antisemitism expressed, but his continued obsession with Nazis becomes very uncomfortable very quickly. His mother does not try to stop it, and feels relieved that another character is able to share his interest.

j_nell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

The flaws of the main characters are hard to get past. The women in  the book club are generally selfish and horrible people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Dementia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

justmys's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Excrement, Antisemitism, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Classism

pinto_los_flores's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

I really appreciated how the author touched on very relevant and problematic social issues through the lens of vampires (Gender roles, socioeconomic structures, biases, elitism, racism, sexism, assault, infidelity, greed). Despite this, I laughed out loud multiple times and empathized with the characters during their struggles. They were very real and very lovable, even if they suck sometimes. Ha. Get it?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

torismazarine'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism