Reviews tagging 'Grief'

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

71 reviews

lira_the_recluse's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I have mixed feelings about this book. The vampire is evil and manipulative, as one would expect. He worms his way into town and only a few people suspect him as what he truly is. His design, motivations and behavior is well done.

There are many morbid and grotesque scenes, many with a plethora of content warnings. 

I did not feel great about the climax of the book, and how much death it took to get all the white women to band together. I also don't like how the initial part of the book came off as very white savior, but I guess the book is about the flaws of the main characters and how they are finally driven to fight the vampire.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Racism, Murder, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Rape, Dementia, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Child death, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Grief, Death, Body horror, Animal cruelty, and Adult/minor relationship

r_o_s_e's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Classism, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, Racism, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Animal death, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Rape, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Minor: Gun violence, Excrement, Stalking, and Vomit

apestforwrens's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Grady Hendrix always makes you think with his writing. Sometimes that thought is " I wouldn't have made that narrative decision" and sometimes that thought is "this is a super creative take on the vampire story".
Hendrix is fantastic at pulling you into his main character's head and forcing you to see why they are reacting to their situation the way they are. This is a horror book and contains some potentially upsetting stuff. I'd definitely recommend checking the trigger warnings before starting if you're worried about that.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Classism, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Suicide attempt, Death, Death of parent, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Vomit, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Dementia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, Violence, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Medical content, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug use, Fatphobia, and Drug abuse

marieeveparentroy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Gore, Grief, Vomit, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Infidelity

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

Wow!! I loved this book, I don’t normally read gory books but this one was great! I love that it showed a normal group of women fighting for themselves and their families. Every single man in this book is completely infuriating, there were several times I was yelling for the women to answer the men with more sass than a lady like them would dare to. When the police and men think you’re crazy and won’t help, you just have to get your girls to have your back.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Dementia, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Rape, Self harm, Cannibalism, and Domestic abuse

rachelmerrie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I’m unsure how to feel, but I know it wasn’t a pleasant experience. 

-What was the point of the son’s personality traits? Nothing came of it. 
-The “friendships” between these women were surface level and them coming together in the end gave me zero comfort in their “unbreakable bond”. These women sucked just as much as the men did. 
-Why did the children randomly choose to live with the mom after hating her the entire book?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Racism, Self harm, Classism, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Suicide, and Torture

2haileyyb's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, Pedophilia, Murder, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Gore, Classism, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Misogyny, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Body horror, Rape, and Sexual assault

mantnam's review against another edition

dark funny reflective 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

5.0

Loved it. While I didn't rate the characters as "loveable" I was still really invested in them. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Dementia, Sexual assault, and Rape

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Child death, Classism, Gore, Pregnancy, Suicide, Grief, Hate crime, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

The rape was described by a character after it occurs but it's still heavy and features intense body horror. The racism is not swept under the rug, is is explicitly dealt with.

historybabe's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Blood, Child death, Gore, Murder, Animal death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Grief

rubyslippers96's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Blood, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Gore

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Classism, Dementia, Suicide, and Grief