2haileyyb's review against another edition

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dark 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? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book is kinda weird but it kept me wanting to read more. I also think it’s should have been set in the 50s/60s because just how it goes about racial disparities reminded me more of that time. Not to say racism and classism didn’t still exist.
Spoiler I also didn’t like slicks sexual assault like why in order to transform people it has to be like that, just for it to end up killing her bffr. Also the description of his “fangs” or whatever had my kinda confused cause it like retracts and then he sucks for the leg? Idk again weird yet fascinating
I also loved all the housewives bond at the end how they come together despite the circumstances and their dumbass husbands.

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historybabe's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I listened to the audible book for this novel. I loved this story. The sassy, well-mannered southern women were just what this story called for. I enjoyed the very different take on vampirism. I laughed, cringed, almost vomited, and said "F**k you Carter" at least 10 times. This is a perfect read for anyone who needs a good chuckle with a pinch of murder mystery and a dash of gore thrown in.

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kier__'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25


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tayter's review against another edition

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One word…gaslighting 

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imogenreads_'s review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

Hendrix places the horrific so well in the everyday- reading this gave me mental whiplash a few times when the scenes’ tones shifted dramatically to become sinister or sometimes genuinely unpleasant. I meant to spread the reading over a week but devoured it in a day! Excellently set against the backdrop of 90s  South Carolina and mixes real horrors with fantastical ones.

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poeths's review against another edition

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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

SpoilerI 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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fanboyriot's review against another edition

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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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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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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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cuddlygryphon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

3.75


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jennshelfishlife's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

 "Sometimes she craved a little danger. And that was why she had book club."

Patricia Campbell has an uneventful life in the Charleston area, where she takes care of her family, and her joy in life is meeting with the other ladies in the Old Village for their book club. While at book club, they discuss true crime novels filled with violence and other dastardly deeds. And then, her life changes one evening when she walks around the side of her dark house to retrieve the trash bins. Patricia is attacked, and a mystery begins to unfold, as well as other horrors in her small neighborhood and the rural area called Six Mile. Patricia is determined to discover the root cause of all the evil and runs into several roadblocks, primarily due to her husband and his old-fashioned friends. She loses her friends while continuing her probe into the popular but frightening new neighbor, James Harris. Will Patricia be able to stop the horrors, believe me, there are some horrifying events, Ann was particularly frightful, and the attic scene was so creepy I released a scream.
I recommend The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires to fans of vampire books and horror.
PS I love the description, Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula, spot on!
PSS The audio narration was well executed; kudos to Bahni Turpin, she made this creepy novel even more hair-raising! 

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