Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Guía del club de lectura para matar vampiros by Grady Hendrix

395 reviews

molly_greenshields's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

This was a horror-coaster from start to finish. And, for better or for worse, it totally consumed my week. More than merely a vampire thriller, Grady serves up a narrative about how far people will go to delude themselves into believing they're safe in order not to rock the boat. The true horror here stems not only from the monster (although a fare whack also comes from him, too) but also from the men who unrelentingly treat their wives like utter shit and refuse them a morsel of respect. This book made me extremely uncomfortable at times and needs an essay worth of trigger warnings added but has some really hard-hitting messages at its core. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, and Death of parent

cravebooks's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

0.25

i think this might be the worst book i have ever read. the insane irony of hendrix talking about how “men know everything and never shut up” and yet is constantly trying to write stories from an empowered female perspective as if he has any idea what that feels like?? 

this is the second book i’ve read by him and i only forced myself to finish it because, ironically enough, it was for a book club. this book was graphic and gory purely for shock value and had no real explanation for why Harris was the way he was which made all of his inane actions seem cheap, disgusting, and just highly implausible. 

this is obviously supposed to be an allegory for how women feel sucked dry in their mundane housewife lives by their husbands and their wifely duties, but my god you didn’t have to punch me in the face with it. 

also…what the hell is this dude’s obsession with pubic hair???

i have never felt so unsettled and disgusted after finishing a book, and it wasn’t even worth it because it was just all for shock value to get a reaction out of the reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism

sydneynorman's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Classism

rachellenbecker's review against another edition

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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

krows_ink's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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

4.75

boy oh boy. I don’t really read horror and this book was way darker than I thought it was going to be. That being said. I really enjoyed it. The commentary is well done and the take on vampires is new and absolutely sickening.

This book had me saying “oh hell no” as I listened and did the dishes. The narrator, Bahni Turpin, did a phenomenal job. Truly made the book come to life.

My only complaints really come from me not reading the content warnings and some minor things.

I read a lot of reviews that spoke of the way Hendrix wrote women in this. I didn’t think it was actually distasteful. He described their bodies, but he also described the James Harris’ body at the end when he was naked as well. It didn’t feel like over specialization to me. I also think men are often critiqued too much in how they write women because I’ve read number plus books written by women where the women are portrayed horribly and worse than a lot of authors who are men.
On the topic of rape and CSA: I think that it did its job at making the reader uncomfortable. I do think the book could have benefitted from a sensitivity reader because a few lines were just off for me and sat wrong. That being said I don’t think it was anything too bad. Books about these topics and featuring these topics shouldn’t be banned by any means nor should we enforce a purity culture around topics that make us uncomfortable.

I do with that Mrs Green has been a more prominent character and that we had seen more of her and from her perspective. I also wish that the ending had a little more context, although it wasn’t bad by any means. Overall this was a great book but due to the content warnings I would advise people to read them before reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Miscarriage

lunarcat101's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Antisemitism, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

melissamoore422's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Racism, Rape, and Dementia

underscoresyd's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child abuse

turrean'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? No

4.0

A terrifying, thrilling read. There are horror scenes aplenty, but the author also shows us a devastatingly accurate—and equally horrifying—depiction of how sexism and racism distort everything in our society. Some of the most chilling parts of the narrative deal with “real world” societal issues: the men in the story belittle and demean the women they (supposedly) love, and in the process, nearly destroy themselves and their community; doctors, police officers, other town authorities, and plenty of “good” Christian folks are utterly indifferent to a threat to black children. 

I rolled my eyes every time the author referred to a brassiere instead of a bra. Is that a male author thing? Or is that a southern thing?  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

shoelr's review against another edition

The premise sounded interesting but the book was very slow and boring. Also, I hated every single character. Everyone was toxic and all of their relationships unhealthy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Dementia

This book was "Southern" in that it was centered around traditional, upper-middle-class, white families. The only black character was the hired help. And one child was obsessed with Hitler for no apparent reason?