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alisonvh's review against another edition
- 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
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
caiterlenbachreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
1.5
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
fkshg8465's review against another edition
- 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
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
themdash's review against another edition
- 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
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
ursimae's review against another edition
The premise is sounds so good, but the execution was terrible. It's so bad that I dont think I'll even try reading another book by this author.
It's laughable that this book was supposedly written as like a love letter to his mom considering what happens in it.
Sorry for the rant, but I can't with this book.
Let me list out a few of the transgressions:
- Weak writing. Outside of the horror scenes, the prose felt sloppy.
- So many racist stereotypes. The only reoccurring black character is given the "mammy" role. The next mention of other POC are shown as servants to the rich white people of the town during parties. From there, the stereotypes just continue. At points, it seemed like Grady was opening good dialogue on how racism impacts black communities in regards to their valid concerns being downplayed and ignored. However, he kept dropping the ball with it. It's like he placed the talking point in front of us then swept it aside before we could fully digest it and have a meaningful talk.
- Why the hell does the son love Nazis? The kid is obsessed and idolizes them. It literally plays no part in the story. Why'd you add that Grady? It wasn't necessary. Why you keep bringing up Nazis. Also, why was the MC totally cool about it? Huh? Grady, why was everyone okay with Nazis? It wasn't plot relevant.
- SO MUCH GASLIGHTING. Omfg, it made me want to rip out my hair.
- Hey, Grady...why did you write about the MC gaining 11 lbs as if she gained 200????? You just threw that part in there for what?
- Hey Grady... What's with the graphic retelling of a rape scene? Why?
- Hey.... Grady... Why did you have to include so many child sexual assault scenes... Story would've been totally cool without that. Really wasn't necessary.
The MC attempts suicide and its treated by everyone (even the MC) like some petty "fuck you" to her husband. - Also, there's just a lot of domestic abuse.
- I was 64% through when I DNFed and literally, never once was there a part about women becoming empowered and badass, taking on vampires. It was just 7+ hours (audiobook listener here) of a woman being severely abused.
- Not one character is likeable.
- All the other women in this book are just misogynistic stereotypes. None of them have any actual depth of character and feel very flat.
- The biggest horror wasn't the vampire stuff, but the husband, omfg they were the real villains.
apparently at the end, she only gets a divorce from this dude... I feel like she should get to kill her husband for the shit he did to her. Also, none of the other women get to fix their abusive relationships?
There is probably more than I could say, but I've ranted about this long enough.
There is very important commentary to be had with the topics of this book that would be awesome to explore further, but it only comes across as 400+ pages of women being repeatedly abused, racist, sexist, and outright terrible characters.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Medical content, and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, and Fatphobia
justmys's review against another edition
- 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
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
sar_she_her's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
~ Entertaining at x1.2 speed.
- Fyi LOTS of gore and Trigger Warnings for many themes. In addition to numerous ones cited below, also creepy/crawly/gross out factor. (Albeit, worst gore is mostly in isolated parts of book: earlier in book as impetus for some call to action, and 1/2-2/3 through book with family endangerment, and 3/4-end with more of the same.)
+ I used to have to skip any books narrated by the much celebrated Bahni Turpin bc her performances of immature, catty, or complaining/whiny characters was too grating. But her array of performances for this book's variety of personalities and ages really impressed me and even converted me as a new fan. impressive performance!
~ While surely part of the author's intentional commentary, his representation of the male partners and how dismissive, condescending, and unaware they were was enraging. His tipping of the scales, whether feeling odds were against certain characters, or the resolution of certain conflicts, felt too steep and stacked, left unfinished or too tidily wrapped up. I wish these scenarios or interpersonal conflicts were more mixed and balanced.
~ Similarly, for better or worse, predictable. which can be helpful with scary horror, depends on readers' preferences.
+ That said I REALLY enjoyed the main protagonist, appreciated the representation of different aged women and black women, and glaring commentary around racism and classism and their effects.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Dementia, and Classism
Minor: Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment
competitive_reading_is_a_sport's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, and Classism
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
I’m glad that I read it because I was interested in reading a few books by this author but I don’t think they will be for me after all.
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
tayter's review against another edition
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
This book made me not want to read anymore from this author.