Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Guía del club de lectura para matar vampiros by Grady Hendrix

4 reviews

ugh1ife's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book was a ride! First thing to know, these women are SOUTHERN. I was cringing a lot at the blatant classicism/racism/misogyny/etc. But the book did a decent job at criticizing it. AND BOY does the black community get the short end of the stick. Also, this book does kind of fall into the trope of having a black character (Mrs. Greene) do the brunt of the work especially in the aftermath. She also has to be the one to point out the obvious instances of prejudice which the other characters acknowledge in the moment but don’t really do anything about it?

At the end they admit that the black community was hurt the most but it’s in passing. And then that’s it. Like I think it’s meant to reflect that these characters are prejudiced and stuff, as a lot of rich suburb southerners are. There is also graphic violence depicted against black characters and straight up racism. So, this particular aspect fell short for me. Also, I am not black so I can only say the issues that I found with it

All the characters are extremely flawed, and so much of it had me furious (especially the husbands). It was also a deep dive into what being a “housewife” is really like and the learned helplessness of these women who have/had accepted their roles. I really think this book is for the parents: it does a great job at detailing the common worries that parents experience and their short comings. 

A short summary of the book?: a group of southern ladies form a book club that follows true crime novels. Patricia, a typical housewife in a strained marriage, befriends a newcomer to their tight night community. However, she begins to notice strange things happening and becomes increasingly convinced that their little home is in danger. 

The sexual content was a bit hard to get through, but I understand why it was there so I don’t really fault the book on it. Just be warned! 

SO SO SO MANY TRIGGER WARNINGS. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

reb_curt's review against another edition

Characters clearly written by someone who doesn't understand women. That and  

I couldn't take the out of nowhere child obsession with Nazis and White Supremacy groups and flashbacks of lynchings..just couldn't do it.

First DNF in a few years. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

boundforinfinity's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

A brilliant tale that kept me gripped for 2 hours. Southern mum's book club comes to terms with the horror in their neighbourhood, reading crime fiction about Ted bundy and Charles manson, Patricia and friends try to save their children and their souls from the dark and mysterious neighbour, James Harris. Well worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Sexual harassment

bear_ridge_tarot's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Clearly there has to be vampires in a book with the word in the title, but this take on the creature is different.

It seemed to me that the villian and the grandmother were the most fleshed out characters of the whole story.

Overall, the book was a slow paced, lighthearted mystery read. Would recommend as a book to read and be able to set down a bunch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Sexual violence

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, and Slavery

Minor: Pedophilia