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Reviews tagging 'Racism'
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
587 reviews
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
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
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
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?
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?
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
megandavis768's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Rape, and Sexism
castomb13's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Dementia
sannesbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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
This was a really enjoyable read. It was easy to read and fast to get through. The book started kinda slow, but once you are halfway you can't stop reading. I appreciated the time jumps in between. I think this was a good way to make the pacing right.
I liked the characters in this book. My only complaint is that the women in the bookclub had kind of the same personalities. This made it sometimes hard to follow, and you will mix up characters.
I loved the depiction of womenhood / friendship. It was frustrating to read about the sexism and misogyny, but I think it is realistic for that time period and it calls for reflection. It was interesting to see how different characters responded to injustice and misogyny. I also appreciated the description of rich vs poor neighbourhood and white vs colored people, discrimination that is still happening today. I enjoyed to see how the characters reacted to the differences in treatment.
Patricia's son, Blue, had an obsession with Nazis. I kinda think it is weird to include that because it didn't do anything for the storyline. I thought and wished this was a set up for something bigger but it wasn't and therefore I think this is an unnessecary 'story line'. I think the writer just want to add something to make the kid seem creepy but at the end of the book he portrait as creepy, so there was basically no point.
Another thing that was, in my opinion, only included for shock value was the thigh blood sucking. The vampire only drank blood from the inner thighs of people. In the book, it also clearly states that this blood sucking makes its victims sexually aroused. Also, the victims were naked during this for no reason. Unnessecary in my opinion, especially because his victims were minors! There was also no explaination for why it should have to be done this way, so I think it was just unnessecary.
I liked the characters in this book. My only complaint is that the women in the bookclub had kind of the same personalities. This made it sometimes hard to follow, and you will mix up characters.
I loved the depiction of womenhood / friendship. It was frustrating to read about the sexism and misogyny, but I think it is realistic for that time period and it calls for reflection. It was interesting to see how different characters responded to injustice and misogyny. I also appreciated the description of rich vs poor neighbourhood and white vs colored people, discrimination that is still happening today. I enjoyed to see how the characters reacted to the differences in treatment.
Another thing that was, in my opinion, only included for shock value was the thigh blood sucking. The vampire only drank blood from the inner thighs of people. In the book, it also clearly states that this blood sucking makes its victims sexually aroused. Also, the victims were naked during this for no reason. Unnessecary in my opinion, especially because his victims were minors! There was also no explaination for why it should have to be done this way, so I think it was just unnessecary.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal death, Racism, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and War
ttben10's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
To begin, i will give my personal standpoint so that my review can be understood from that perspective. I am a black girl, who grew up on six mile in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina… my family settling there post slavery, going further back than can be documented. The story of Ms. Greene is the story of many women in my family, and the portrayal of the area is exactly how it seems, even to this day— to an extent. I will touch on that later. This book does more than ring true to me, it paints the picture clearly for things i have experienced or heard of loved ones experiencing and yes it’s unnerving but it is the truth.
TSBCGTSV is set mainly in the Old Village, a wealthy and predominantly white area of Mount Pleasant where everyone knows everyone, until they don’t. Grady jumps right into the action and never lets up. I had to force myself to put it down as my breaks ended and i needed to get back to work. There are some truly unsettling scenes with gore descriptions that make you feel like you’ve turned on a horror movie. It’s funny at times, especially when you can relate… the characters can be attached to someone i know and i can picture their drives as they navigate the city or understand why the use of a location was for jest. I’m going to break this up into some of the main topics of discussions:
Racism: I think a lot of people’s issue with this book is that they want Grady to expand on his mention of class/race/gentrification in a serious way that does not make sense for this book. The point of mentioning these topics is to have an accurate representation of the time and setting… there IS no solution and these things STILL happen. The gentrification of six mile is not just a story plot line it is real life and the one fictional Gracious Cay is the reality of multiple originally black neighborhoods being torn down and built up with houses we could never afford… the trailer home i grew up in is now perpendicular to a new neighborhood that has 3 story homes. Ms. Greene is pictured as “the help” because those are one of the only jobs a black woman could have had at that time and the stories told by my mother and grandmother are no different. The kids in six mile were not stereotypical mean black kids, they were my cousins and i who would run to get our uncles when there was a car we’d never seen before coming down our road because there was no reason to unless you lived in the trailers. The lack of care that the housewives showed for the children and families of that area are quintessential for understanding the racism that takes place ESPECIALLY when there is a class divide. Grady did not mention these to be vile, he mentioned them to have you understand what life was/is like for the people in this area. The only thing in this topic that i was put off by was the antisemitism that Blue became obsessed with, i understand it was to help us see the damage his trauma caused but it could’ve been done in another way.
Sexism: Does Grady struggle with writing women from time to time? yes. Can it be seen as misogyny, the way he writes the housewives? sure! Was i able to connect each character in the book to someone i know in real life because of how accurate the southern housewife depiction was? absolutely. What i did not enjoy was the gaslighting, i think its a tired trope but i hate that i can still defend it because it makes sense why it happens.
Rape: This is one thing i simply could not ever excuse, i do not agree with his use of rape in this story especiallysince it was with a minor. Was NOT needed and could’ve been left out entirely. The same with Slick and how she was pressed to relive the moment for the sake of investigation.
TSBCGTSV is set mainly in the Old Village, a wealthy and predominantly white area of Mount Pleasant where everyone knows everyone, until they don’t. Grady jumps right into the action and never lets up. I had to force myself to put it down as my breaks ended and i needed to get back to work. There are some truly unsettling scenes with gore descriptions that make you feel like you’ve turned on a horror movie. It’s funny at times, especially when you can relate… the characters can be attached to someone i know and i can picture their drives as they navigate the city or understand why the use of a location was for jest. I’m going to break this up into some of the main topics of discussions:
Racism: I think a lot of people’s issue with this book is that they want Grady to expand on his mention of class/race/gentrification in a serious way that does not make sense for this book. The point of mentioning these topics is to have an accurate representation of the time and setting… there IS no solution and these things STILL happen. The gentrification of six mile is not just a story plot line it is real life and the one fictional Gracious Cay is the reality of multiple originally black neighborhoods being torn down and built up with houses we could never afford… the trailer home i grew up in is now perpendicular to a new neighborhood that has 3 story homes. Ms. Greene is pictured as “the help” because those are one of the only jobs a black woman could have had at that time and the stories told by my mother and grandmother are no different. The kids in six mile were not stereotypical mean black kids, they were my cousins and i who would run to get our uncles when there was a car we’d never seen before coming down our road because there was no reason to unless you lived in the trailers. The lack of care that the housewives showed for the children and families of that area are quintessential for understanding the racism that takes place ESPECIALLY when there is a class divide. Grady did not mention these to be vile, he mentioned them to have you understand what life was/is like for the people in this area. The only thing in this topic that i was put off by was the antisemitism that Blue became obsessed with, i understand it was to help us see the damage his trauma caused but it could’ve been done in another way.
Sexism: Does Grady struggle with writing women from time to time? yes. Can it be seen as misogyny, the way he writes the housewives? sure! Was i able to connect each character in the book to someone i know in real life because of how accurate the southern housewife depiction was? absolutely. What i did not enjoy was the gaslighting, i think its a tired trope but i hate that i can still defend it because it makes sense why it happens.
Rape: This is one thing i simply could not ever excuse, i do not agree with his use of rape in this story especially
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Antisemitism and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Vomit, and Medical content
katlynkatt's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death and Racism
Minor: Domestic abuse