Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

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

209 reviews

caiterlenbachreads's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

miilk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.25

I love it when the vampires are truly monstrous in every way. And I loved reading about all of the women and their lives and their faults and their struggles and and and bc everything with them was GREAT. Also Patricia is such an excellent protagonist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, 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

themdash'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Dear god please check the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cursedepub's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.75

A thrilling and socially-grounded horror in the vein of Ira Levin and Shirley Jackson that balances paying due respect to “women’s work,” especially homemaking, and crafting a brutal, violent, gripping horror story. I appreciate the attention paid to intersections of race and class in the story’s feminism. However, this doesn’t quite make a 4-star rating as I felt there was an over-belabouring and repetition of some points, the sort of ennui and lack of fulfillment in being a housewife that Patricia experiences isn't really explored, and the novel did not feel as cohesive and polished as it could have been. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Racism, Sexual assault, Blood, Dementia, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Toxic relationship

Minor: Infidelity

isabelh0410's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism

cara_anne's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Medical content, Stalking, and Death of parent

latashman's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

This book started as a funny look at a Southern book club obsessed with true crime and quickly turned into a gory thriller. The audiobook was wonderful, the narrator made me feel like I was sitting and my grannys table and hearing her tell me a story. I liked that in the end it came down to women taking care of the issue themselves instead of relying on or needing the assistance from the men in their life. A nice dose of female rage. This was my first Grady Hendrix book and I am looking forward to reading the rest of their backlog. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

perfectcupoftea's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

themelaniewaite's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

After reading Horrorstor, I decided Grady Hendrix was an author that I wanted to delve more into and read the rest of his catalogue; it just so happened that this was the next book I found. This book is full of everything I craved in a story - horror, gore and that added level of gaslighting the person that knows too much. The symbolism of the peaches from the cover to the tale that Miss Mary has to share adds a sickly tone to the story, but in such a satisfying context. 

One of the moments in which I knew this was going to be a favourite and well-paced plot was the way it didn’t hesitate with throwing in the drama; it also didn’t waste time with figuring out the bad guy, though in all of the gaslighting of Patricia, the main character, I even found myself questioning if the story would switch direction and the villain wasn’t the villain after all. There is a time jump partway through that kind of threw me for a minute, but it was such a brilliant way of showing James Harris assimilating to the area and gaining the trust of those that lived there - especially the husbands. It is so well executed, how the dynamics changed in the group over time, to the point of the men having even taken over the book club. Once again adding this suffocating undertone that the women cannot have anything without it being run by the men first - including the one thing that the woman had to themselves: their books. It’s almost like the troubles/concerns and accusations of the past have been long forgotten because the men are thriving. So when that starts being questioned again, it’s like a race against the clock to get everyone to believe Patricia again. 

There were a few moments and subplots, I guess, that I feel like could have been taken out, as they felt unnecessary or could have been changed to fit the story better. 

The first is Blue being obsessed with Nazi Germany. I might be missing something here, maybe it was a popular topic to be interested in during that era; maybe a lot of boys in the 90’s did have a large fascination. I was an infant during the time this was set - so I don’t know. 

I didn’t like the inclusion of S/A of one character. It didn’t really add to the plot other than giving all of the women reason to now believe/help Patricia. The character could have been bitten or attacked in some other form that would cause her to potentially “turn”, but it felt distasteful and out of character of James to have S/A’d her just to prove a point. It could have been handled very differently, in my opinion.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was absolutely hooked and would recommend it to anyone wanting to get into Hendrix’s work. No story is without its flaws, but I think the overall storytelling of this outshines the rest - in my opinion. 

TW: S/A, child abuse/sexualisation, gore, blood, rats, gaslighting, D/V mentions, death, mental health, racist undertones. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent