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kendra_leeann's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
- 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
4.5
bookbryn's review against another edition
1.0
if i were an objective reader this would probably be a higher rating (i can recognize that there are some interesting literary elements and it is an engaging narrative). however, i am not and this is my review so i am giving this deeply disturbing, horrifying, gory, sickening novel one star. i kinda wanna give it zero. but i’m factoring in that i did read the whole thing.
simply put, i wish i hadn’t read this book. the fact i finished it is a testament to the fact that it is a well constructed novel. but again, i was like genuinely disturbed by this book and i kinda am disturbed by the fact that someone came up with the events in this book to write about them?? it felt so excessively gory and horrifying beyond the horror plot. i would not recommend this book to anyone. safe to say, this set me right back onto my corny halloween series. i have another grady hendrix on hold at the library but trust that i will not be reading another of his novels out of compassion for my peace of mind. that is all, thank you.
simply put, i wish i hadn’t read this book. the fact i finished it is a testament to the fact that it is a well constructed novel. but again, i was like genuinely disturbed by this book and i kinda am disturbed by the fact that someone came up with the events in this book to write about them?? it felt so excessively gory and horrifying beyond the horror plot. i would not recommend this book to anyone. safe to say, this set me right back onto my corny halloween series. i have another grady hendrix on hold at the library but trust that i will not be reading another of his novels out of compassion for my peace of mind. that is all, thank you.
lieslstachm's review against another edition
5.0
WHOA
90's nostalgia? Check. Three-dimensional, complicated, realistic characters? Check. Spooky, scary, creepy imagery? DOUBLE CHECK. (Seriously, that attic scene was something else. Yeesh.) Also, the fact that I read this coming off the heels of "Bright Young Women" was not by design, but it seriously enhanced my reading experience.
This is how you write a vampire novel. This is how you write ANY novel. What an incredible feat this was. I'm going to try to track down "My Best Friend's Exorcism" next -- it came highly recommended to me by a colleague, plus it apparently takes place in the same location as this novel, but a few years earlier.
Also: Bahni Turpin's narration? A+++++++
90's nostalgia? Check. Three-dimensional, complicated, realistic characters? Check. Spooky, scary, creepy imagery? DOUBLE CHECK. (Seriously, that attic scene was something else. Yeesh.) Also, the fact that I read this coming off the heels of "Bright Young Women" was not by design, but it seriously enhanced my reading experience.
This is how you write a vampire novel. This is how you write ANY novel. What an incredible feat this was. I'm going to try to track down "My Best Friend's Exorcism" next -- it came highly recommended to me by a colleague, plus it apparently takes place in the same location as this novel, but a few years earlier.
Also: Bahni Turpin's narration? A+++++++
qwertyladida's review against another edition
4.0
A gruesome modern retelling of Dracula. I read this in 3 days. I couldn't put it down, and it takes me forever to read. Warning: it's gory, gruesome and horrific. So if you can't handle that, i wouldn't recommend it.
Because this story is in the eyes of women, I ASSumed the author was a woman. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised this book is written by a man AND that the women aren't one dimensional beings. It's very well written and I would love to read other writings of his.
Because this story is in the eyes of women, I ASSumed the author was a woman. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised this book is written by a man AND that the women aren't one dimensional beings. It's very well written and I would love to read other writings of his.
sassypants859's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the idea of it. I liked his take on a vampire. But it doesn't quite come together. It starts out slow, gets interesting then abruptly ends. I think it's a rare case where a tv show adaptation might actually end up being better than the book because there's more room to space things out. For me the real horror was the monster operating openly. Getting away with feeding on poor kids because he's making everyone else rich. I wish he had focused more on that instead of trying to get the Fried Green Tomatoes/Desperate Housewives vibe going.
leticiagoluba's review against another edition
1.0
I don't think I've ever gotten so far into a book only to shelve it as DNF. This one made me furious. TW: Rape. DNF at disc 9 out of 11.
I could have handled the direction the second half of the book took if the first half wasn't so deceiving. The tone change for this one was uncalled for. Grady, you really had me going there. I was laughing because of how corny and humorous some of the responses to actions were, i.e.
Now tell me HOW are you going to set this up as a humorous, dopey book, make me laugh, and then all of a sudden change the tone andNow let me tell you, this was just the last straw for me. There were plenty of other reasons to put the book down before this point. Mind you, as I've said in my updates, I kept listening mainly because Banhi Turpin, the narrator, is a PHENOMENAL narrator. She carried the whole thing. She acted each and every character superbly. She kept me wanting to listen even though:
-Grady Hendrix sets up each of the women to be incredibly stupid with emotionally abusive husbands who gaslight them on each and every one of their concerns
-There's no retribution whatsoever for the way their husbands (AND THEIR BRATTY KIDS...) treat the wives
-He decided to introduce the only POC in this story as poor folks who needed a white savior
You can have a story with a good deal of humor in it and still have a lot of gore. Think: Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, Scary Movie. He did great with the humor, and great with the gore, and thenAnd when that happened, I was sure I was going to stop listening. I was mad, but I kept listening because heck, I'm on disc 9 out of 11, might as well find out how they defeat the vampire...
Then, the vampire rapes Patricia's teenage daughter Corey... multiple times.
Nope. Hard pass. I'm going to cancel my hold on My Best Friend's Exorcism just because of how mad I am at this book. I wanted something sorta spooky for October, and this fit the bill, up until it got completely ridiculous.
I could have handled the direction the second half of the book took if the first half wasn't so deceiving. The tone change for this one was uncalled for. Grady, you really had me going there. I was laughing because of how corny and humorous some of the responses to actions were, i.e.
“She’d had a left earlobe all her life, and suddenly it was gone. She felt like a friend had died.”
Now tell me HOW are you going to set this up as a humorous, dopey book, make me laugh, and then all of a sudden change the tone and
Spoiler
have Slick get raped by James Harris?-Grady Hendrix sets up each of the women to be incredibly stupid with emotionally abusive husbands who gaslight them on each and every one of their concerns
-There's no retribution whatsoever for the way their husbands (AND THEIR BRATTY KIDS...) treat the wives
-He decided to introduce the only POC in this story as poor folks who needed a white savior
You can have a story with a good deal of humor in it and still have a lot of gore. Think: Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, Scary Movie. He did great with the humor, and great with the gore, and then
Spoiler
Slick got raped. You can't just do that. Rape doesn't belong in a book that makes you laugh. It just feels gross, and not even in a horror kind of way. I'm sure you could have a deeper conversation about horror but let's just scrape the surface: it was unnecessary. At that point in the book, we already knew James Harris wasn't a good guy.Spoiler
Then, the vampire rapes Patricia's teenage daughter Corey... multiple times.
Nope. Hard pass. I'm going to cancel my hold on My Best Friend's Exorcism just because of how mad I am at this book. I wanted something sorta spooky for October, and this fit the bill, up until it got completely ridiculous.
daemonnoire's review against another edition
5.0
Grady Hendrix has the knack for writing characters that is only rivaled by Stephen King. The flawed and beautiful humanity he brings to each character makes them deeply relatable, which only heightens the horror of what is happening to them. That talent is showcased to horrible perfection in this book. Yes, there's a vampire. Yes, he's a metaphor for the sort of human predator that the book club reads about. But much like King, Grady reveals again and again that life's most terrible monsters are all too human.
loyaltoliterature's review against another edition
2.0
I’ll be honest: I wavered and almost gave 3 stars to this book. But 3 stars means average (not enough pros or cons to tilt towards 2 stars or 4 stars) and this book provoked some strong emotions in me and they weren’t positive so I’m going to land on 2 stars. This is one of the darkest books I’ve ever read; I finished it because I felt compelled to see how the story was wrapped up. But, this takes vampires to a whole ‘nother level and I hope I can sleep tonight. But if social commentary, book clubs, sexist husbands, tension for days, and the death of children seem like your cup of sweet tea, go for it.
price_momma's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book a lot, but there was a lot of weirdness to it. Stuff definitely made me feel icky, like how women and minorities were treated in the story. Also, very gory ending