livadventurously's review against another edition
4.0
This was an absolute trip! 4.5 stars. Was not expecting all the social commentary you can draw from the book, but I'm here for it. A great horror book, and a really lovely ode to his mother. All the women felt very realistic, they were the women and moms I grew up with as a kid.
indyck's review against another edition
5.0
This is honestly one of the best books that has ever been written.
lunawrenbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Wow my first Grady Hendrix book and I LOVE the way he writes. This book was soooo good. It was very interesting reading a book set in a place where I grew up! Can’t wait to read another one of his books!
sstalions's review against another edition
3.0
Just okay
Knocking two stars off for unnecessary sexual violence as a plot device. The author seemed to treat all the characters with a little bit of disdain, and I felt that you never really grew to love and understand the book club members in a way that made the payoff really shine.
Knocking two stars off for unnecessary sexual violence as a plot device. The author seemed to treat all the characters with a little bit of disdain, and I felt that you never really grew to love and understand the book club members in a way that made the payoff really shine.
lifeofaliterarynerd's review against another edition
DNF @ 30%
I thought this would be a fun dark comedy about the women in this small southern town's book club discovering a local vampire and dealing with the inevitable fallout, but the first 30% is a whole lot of nothing happening. This book was so slow - we get a foundation for the characters, most of which are fine, if forgettable. But if felt like nothing happened at all even thought Patricia was attacked by a rabid old woman, and a horde of rats filled the garage and attacked her mother-in0law. I don't know if those things were supposed to be scary or suspenseful, but I just found them kinda gross and theatrical for the sake of page turning. While I had high hopes for The Southern Book Clubs Guide to Slaying Vampires there was nothing in the story that made me want to continue.
I thought this would be a fun dark comedy about the women in this small southern town's book club discovering a local vampire and dealing with the inevitable fallout, but the first 30% is a whole lot of nothing happening. This book was so slow - we get a foundation for the characters, most of which are fine, if forgettable. But if felt like nothing happened at all even thought Patricia was attacked by a rabid old woman, and a horde of rats filled the garage and attacked her mother-in0law. I don't know if those things were supposed to be scary or suspenseful, but I just found them kinda gross and theatrical for the sake of page turning. While I had high hopes for The Southern Book Clubs Guide to Slaying Vampires there was nothing in the story that made me want to continue.
ruhhnay's review against another edition
4.0
This book was so much different than I was originally anticipating... and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Five typical, cookie-cutter, dedicated, and fearful Southern housewives decide to add some excitement into their lives by starting up a book club to read and discuss true crime stories. Hardly any gritty, gossip-inducing drama ever happened in their small town, so the book club was the perfect fun, but still innocent, outlet until the new neighbor, James Harris arrives.
This novel has so much to say about gender roles and tropes and misconceptions of “perfect” Southern housewives and their “flawless” marriages and it was so fun to pick apart through the women’s witty banter, sarcasm, and dark humor. It’s even more fun to see them all find their independence and inner-badass as they take on more than they could’ve ever anticipated, banding together to defeat the evil in the town.
The most surprising part for me was the GORE. Especially in audio form, some of those scenes had me squinting my eyes, gritting my teeth, and just waiting for it to end. It was more raw than I was expecting, but I think in a scenario with vampires, how could I really expect less?
The audible version was fantastically narrated by Bahni Turpin with the most perfect southern drawl and performance to add that extra layer of listening fun. I’d recommend this approach to reading it, because I’m not sure reading on my own would’ve felt the same.
Five typical, cookie-cutter, dedicated, and fearful Southern housewives decide to add some excitement into their lives by starting up a book club to read and discuss true crime stories. Hardly any gritty, gossip-inducing drama ever happened in their small town, so the book club was the perfect fun, but still innocent, outlet until the new neighbor, James Harris arrives.
This novel has so much to say about gender roles and tropes and misconceptions of “perfect” Southern housewives and their “flawless” marriages and it was so fun to pick apart through the women’s witty banter, sarcasm, and dark humor. It’s even more fun to see them all find their independence and inner-badass as they take on more than they could’ve ever anticipated, banding together to defeat the evil in the town.
The most surprising part for me was the GORE. Especially in audio form, some of those scenes had me squinting my eyes, gritting my teeth, and just waiting for it to end. It was more raw than I was expecting, but I think in a scenario with vampires, how could I really expect less?
The audible version was fantastically narrated by Bahni Turpin with the most perfect southern drawl and performance to add that extra layer of listening fun. I’d recommend this approach to reading it, because I’m not sure reading on my own would’ve felt the same.
phillbattcapps's review against another edition
4.0
Solid 4 stars. There were some slow parts (second part) but I still enjoyed this story very much!
conformer's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty basic and kinda bland, but still successfully takes the vampirism trope and lifts its inherent subtexts of sex and communion to another (if not exactly new) level. A minimum of body horror and some choice set pieces help to offset the self-victimizing heroine and the Scooby gang of faceless ciphers.
Pros: Not terrible!
Cons: Not terribly Southern, either!
Pros: Not terrible!
Cons: Not terribly Southern, either!
kcam13's review against another edition
3.0
The treatment of the black characters in this is problematic. Book started off like a horror/comedy and is a quick read, but really loses humor maybe 1/3 through. The horror in it is great (you're SUPPOSED to be uncomfortable) but that doesn't excuse the use of the black community as essentially plot devices.
The stars are for the horror scenes and the housewives of Mt. Pleasant because that's where I'm from and they're still like that lol
The stars are for the horror scenes and the housewives of Mt. Pleasant because that's where I'm from and they're still like that lol