Reviews tagging 'Classism'
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix
73 reviews
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
while there are many parts of this book that i didnt like, that was kinda the point. this was gross, absurd, and just downright disturbing. i could not put this down and have not been able to stop thinking about this despite reading it like a week ago.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Stalking, Blood, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death, Injury/injury detail, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
constellation_library's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
4.5
4.5/5 stars after sleeping on it. I highly advise any readers who might be sensitive to certain topics to check out a complete list of trigger warnings for this book. There are quite a few, some of which I will mention below in my review.
----------------------------------
Okay, so let me start by saying that horror isn’t really my genre unless it is a supernatural style of horror, which this one is. The main baddie is a vampire, as the book title suggests. You get a clue from the beginning who the vampire is, but up until you first see him feeding on someone, you’re under the impression that he is like other vampires you’ve read about. He’s not. Honestly, he’s way more disturbing. There’s nothing sexy about him.
In addition to the supernatural horror elements, there were just some good, old-fashioned regular horror elements, like body horror and animal/insect horror. And then there were other oft-used horror elements that I just really hate as a reader, but I’ll get to those later.
What I liked:
Pacing: I was engaged in this story immediately, and that engagement carried me consistently throughout the narrative. There wasn’t any point at which I was bored with what was happening, and I constantly had a feeling of unease, like SOMETHING is going to happen. It spans several years, and the time skips made sense for the trajectory of the story.
The Use of Horror Elements: Even those horror elements that I don’t particularly enjoy served a meaningful purpose in this, and Hendrix did a good job of weaving them in to ratchet up the tension. His descriptions of the animal/insect horror are absolutely disgusting, and more than once I felt like bugs were on me because of the way he described a particular scene in the novel (even talking about it makes me itch!). There is a scene of dismemberment that is also particularly graphic, but in a really satisfying way. And then, of course, the vampire scenes were definitely uncomfortable to witness.
The Use of the Time Period: So this story takes place in the 90s, and in case anyone was unaware, things weren’t all that great for women or minorities in the south in the 90s. (They’re not much better today, either, but I digress.) The men in this story are the true villains, and I made a lot of angry noises while reading that caused my husband to ask if I was okay. Lol. I told him I hated every man in the book, and he laughed and said “oh goody” because he’s going to read it soon and also hate every man in the story.
I can hang my hatred on a hook and admit that even though the way the men treated their wives in this made me violently angry, it was realistic, and it made me even more invested in what the eventual outcome would be. But I warn you – as a woman who has experienced gas-lighting, it was not easy to read some of those moments because it was very intense and infuriating. The way in which the MC, Patricia, was treated and infantilized by her husband on page was enough to make my blood boil.
Apart from the misogyny, the lack of cell phones and the ability to use the internet were also features of the story that worked well because it caused the main character to have to get a little bit creative by modern standards when researching her potentially vampiric community member.
The Community of Women: This book, with all of its chauvinistic male characters and paternalistic societal standards, shows a group of women coming together in the face of the very real male threats in their community. The women are all part of a book club, as evidenced by the title, and they help one another in that way that only those familiar with southern hospitality can truly appreciate. This even crosses ethnic lines, with white and black women working together for a common good, but there ARE some issues that can be taken with the portrayal of certain races in the novel, and how they are treated by the characters in power.
What I Didn’t Like:
Rape and SA/CSA: These are the reason why I struggle so much with reading horror, particularly horror written by men. Women can be horrified and broken by their experiences without resorting to the rape trope. There are also some instances that could be construed as sexual assault or child sexual assault, but it is a bit complicated. I’ll wrap the explanation in spoiler tags if the context can inform whether you want to read it or not. (view spoiler)
Nazi Symbolism: There is a character in the book who is weirdly obsessed with Hitler, Nazis, and the Holocaust, almost in a sympathizing way, and I got so tired of reading about it. After finishing the novel, I truly don’t know the point of it, other than to possibly make the character generally unsympathetic in the eyes of the reader. This character is also close to another character, who entertains the talk of Nazis with them, and I think it lends a general “ick” feeling to both of them. But there were several other ways this could have been done, and it just didn’t seem necessary to include. It’s also never really addressed in any meaningful way.
What I Wasn’t Sure About:
The Handling of Racism: So, given that this book is set in the 90s, there are unfortunately some realistic depictions of the socioeconomic disparities between whites and blacks in the south, and the way in which those in the Black communities are obviously stigmatized and valued far less than the White ones. One of the main characters in the story is a Black woman who lives in a poor, predominantly Black neighborhood called Six Mile, and she works as a cleaning lady employed by one of the White families in the Old Village, where Patricia (our MC) and the other White families live. She eventually works for Patricia’s family and becomes involved in the horrific happenings occurring in both places. She deals with so much casual racism from the White folks in the story, and in spite of it all, she does her best to help when they need it (and they usually do need it because they are inept). There are several moments where Patricia could be perceived as being a White savior, but it also read a lot like trying to get her white counterparts to see the Black children in Six Mile as having equal importance to their own White children, since they are obviously the type that wouldn’t care about the same message from a Black mother.
As a White person myself, I do think that Hendrix handled the interactions realistically for the setting and time period. I don’t think that he overdid it or painted the Black characters in an overly negative light. In fact, the White female characters are intentionally portrayed as spineless or cowardly, or too afraid to upset their perfect little lives to do the right thing, and looked upon with derision by others for their behavior. The White male characters are controlling, misogynistic, and view their women as ignorant ninnies. Truly, the Black characters were the only sympathetic characters to me, their uneasiness about Patricia and her friend visiting their neighborhood made perfect sense, especially when considering that a White man called “Boo Daddy” had been taking their children in to the woods and hurting them. Their hesitance to call the police was also completely understandable because it hints that the police take their time to get out there, when their response time to the Old Village is 3 minutes. I appreciated that Hendrix didn’t have any white characters use the “n” word or use pejoratives when referring to anyone in Six Mile , but he did illustrate an obvious “us vs. them” mentality amongst the two communities, which I do think would have also fit the setting and time period.
Obviously, my interpretation of the way he handles this is by no means the correct one, and those who read my review should take it with a grain of salt. I’d love to hear more or be linked to Black reviewers specifically who have read the book and shared their thoughts on it all. Those are the opinions that matter most.
Overall, in spite of some personal triggers to the content in the book, it was a fast-paced and well-written horror novel that purposefully examined racism and sexism, as well as kept me engaged. Plus it was legitimately creepy. Not much more I can ask for, tbh.
----------------------------------
Okay, so let me start by saying that horror isn’t really my genre unless it is a supernatural style of horror, which this one is. The main baddie is a vampire, as the book title suggests. You get a clue from the beginning who the vampire is, but up until you first see him feeding on someone, you’re under the impression that he is like other vampires you’ve read about. He’s not. Honestly, he’s way more disturbing. There’s nothing sexy about him.
In addition to the supernatural horror elements, there were just some good, old-fashioned regular horror elements, like body horror and animal/insect horror. And then there were other oft-used horror elements that I just really hate as a reader, but I’ll get to those later.
What I liked:
Pacing: I was engaged in this story immediately, and that engagement carried me consistently throughout the narrative. There wasn’t any point at which I was bored with what was happening, and I constantly had a feeling of unease, like SOMETHING is going to happen. It spans several years, and the time skips made sense for the trajectory of the story.
The Use of Horror Elements: Even those horror elements that I don’t particularly enjoy served a meaningful purpose in this, and Hendrix did a good job of weaving them in to ratchet up the tension. His descriptions of the animal/insect horror are absolutely disgusting, and more than once I felt like bugs were on me because of the way he described a particular scene in the novel (even talking about it makes me itch!). There is a scene of dismemberment that is also particularly graphic, but in a really satisfying way. And then, of course, the vampire scenes were definitely uncomfortable to witness.
The Use of the Time Period: So this story takes place in the 90s, and in case anyone was unaware, things weren’t all that great for women or minorities in the south in the 90s. (They’re not much better today, either, but I digress.) The men in this story are the true villains, and I made a lot of angry noises while reading that caused my husband to ask if I was okay. Lol. I told him I hated every man in the book, and he laughed and said “oh goody” because he’s going to read it soon and also hate every man in the story.
I can hang my hatred on a hook and admit that even though the way the men treated their wives in this made me violently angry, it was realistic, and it made me even more invested in what the eventual outcome would be. But I warn you – as a woman who has experienced gas-lighting, it was not easy to read some of those moments because it was very intense and infuriating. The way in which the MC, Patricia, was treated and infantilized by her husband on page was enough to make my blood boil.
Apart from the misogyny, the lack of cell phones and the ability to use the internet were also features of the story that worked well because it caused the main character to have to get a little bit creative by modern standards when researching her potentially vampiric community member.
The Community of Women: This book, with all of its chauvinistic male characters and paternalistic societal standards, shows a group of women coming together in the face of the very real male threats in their community. The women are all part of a book club, as evidenced by the title, and they help one another in that way that only those familiar with southern hospitality can truly appreciate. This even crosses ethnic lines, with white and black women working together for a common good, but there ARE some issues that can be taken with the portrayal of certain races in the novel, and how they are treated by the characters in power.
What I Didn’t Like:
Rape and SA/CSA: These are the reason why I struggle so much with reading horror, particularly horror written by men. Women can be horrified and broken by their experiences without resorting to the rape trope. There are also some instances that could be construed as sexual assault or child sexual assault, but it is a bit complicated. I’ll wrap the explanation in spoiler tags if the context can inform whether you want to read it or not. (view spoiler)
Nazi Symbolism: There is a character in the book who is weirdly obsessed with Hitler, Nazis, and the Holocaust, almost in a sympathizing way, and I got so tired of reading about it. After finishing the novel, I truly don’t know the point of it, other than to possibly make the character generally unsympathetic in the eyes of the reader. This character is also close to another character, who entertains the talk of Nazis with them, and I think it lends a general “ick” feeling to both of them. But there were several other ways this could have been done, and it just didn’t seem necessary to include. It’s also never really addressed in any meaningful way.
What I Wasn’t Sure About:
The Handling of Racism: So, given that this book is set in the 90s, there are unfortunately some realistic depictions of the socioeconomic disparities between whites and blacks in the south, and the way in which those in the Black communities are obviously stigmatized and valued far less than the White ones. One of the main characters in the story is a Black woman who lives in a poor, predominantly Black neighborhood called Six Mile, and she works as a cleaning lady employed by one of the White families in the Old Village, where Patricia (our MC) and the other White families live. She eventually works for Patricia’s family and becomes involved in the horrific happenings occurring in both places. She deals with so much casual racism from the White folks in the story, and in spite of it all, she does her best to help when they need it (and they usually do need it because they are inept). There are several moments where Patricia could be perceived as being a White savior, but it also read a lot like trying to get her white counterparts to see the Black children in Six Mile as having equal importance to their own White children, since they are obviously the type that wouldn’t care about the same message from a Black mother.
As a White person myself, I do think that Hendrix handled the interactions realistically for the setting and time period. I don’t think that he overdid it or painted the Black characters in an overly negative light. In fact, the White female characters are intentionally portrayed as spineless or cowardly, or too afraid to upset their perfect little lives to do the right thing, and looked upon with derision by others for their behavior. The White male characters are controlling, misogynistic, and view their women as ignorant ninnies. Truly, the Black characters were the only sympathetic characters to me, their uneasiness about Patricia and her friend visiting their neighborhood made perfect sense, especially when considering that a White man called “Boo Daddy” had been taking their children in to the woods and hurting them. Their hesitance to call the police was also completely understandable because it hints that the police take their time to get out there, when their response time to the Old Village is 3 minutes. I appreciated that Hendrix didn’t have any white characters use the “n” word or use pejoratives when referring to anyone in Six Mile , but he did illustrate an obvious “us vs. them” mentality amongst the two communities, which I do think would have also fit the setting and time period.
Obviously, my interpretation of the way he handles this is by no means the correct one, and those who read my review should take it with a grain of salt. I’d love to hear more or be linked to Black reviewers specifically who have read the book and shared their thoughts on it all. Those are the opinions that matter most.
Overall, in spite of some personal triggers to the content in the book, it was a fast-paced and well-written horror novel that purposefully examined racism and sexism, as well as kept me engaged. Plus it was legitimately creepy. Not much more I can ask for, tbh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Dementia, Gaslighting, Body horror, Mental illness, Blood, Classism, Injury/injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Murder, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, and Gore
Moderate: Rape, Child abuse, Child death, and Antisemitism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Drug abuse, and Forced institutionalization
tonyanicole's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Antisemitism, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual violence, Dementia, Physical abuse, Torture, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Murder, Gaslighting, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence
thiskelsey's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Death of parent, Blood, Addiction, Sexism, Infidelity, Classism, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Death, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Animal death
Minor: Abortion and Vomit
maralvarez's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual violence, Self harm, Suicide, and Classism
madyou's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.5
I’m not sure how to rate this book because on one hand I felt a lot of strong emotions. There was disgust, annoyance, anger…but on the other hand I feel like that was the point. It’s confusing me that this takes place in the 90s and the women were watered down to being housewives. It would make more sense if this took place earlier if the author wanted to write about housewives. Then again, their town sounds pretty small so perhaps they just didn’t want change like the rest of the world was doing.
The husbands annoyed me to no end, and so did Patricia’s children. I also felt like the main antagonist could have been so much more if only he didn’t feed the way he did. I wasn’t ready for that but that’s my fault for going into this book without reading the trigger warnings. Either way, this book was gripping despite its slow pace.
The husbands annoyed me to no end, and so did Patricia’s children. I also felt like the main antagonist could have been so much more if only he didn’t feed the way he did. I wasn’t ready for that but that’s my fault for going into this book without reading the trigger warnings. Either way, this book was gripping despite its slow pace.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Sexual assault, Injury/injury detail, Classism, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Gore, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Medical trauma, Rape, and Medical content
jennshelfishlife's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
"Sometimes she craved a little danger. And that was why she had book club."
Patricia Campbell has an uneventful life in the Charleston area, where she takes care of her family, and her joy in life is meeting with the other ladies in the Old Village for their book club. While at book club, they discuss true crime novels filled with violence and other dastardly deeds. And then, her life changes one evening when she walks around the side of her dark house to retrieve the trash bins. Patricia is attacked, and a mystery begins to unfold, as well as other horrors in her small neighborhood and the rural area called Six Mile. Patricia is determined to discover the root cause of all the evil and runs into several roadblocks, primarily due to her husband and his old-fashioned friends. She loses her friends while continuing her probe into the popular but frightening new neighbor, James Harris. Will Patricia be able to stop the horrors, believe me, there are some horrifying events, Ann was particularly frightful, and the attic scene was so creepy I released a scream.
I recommend The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires to fans of vampire books and horror.
PS I love the description, Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula, spot on!
PSS The audio narration was well executed; kudos to Bahni Turpin, she made this creepy novel even more hair-raising!
Patricia Campbell has an uneventful life in the Charleston area, where she takes care of her family, and her joy in life is meeting with the other ladies in the Old Village for their book club. While at book club, they discuss true crime novels filled with violence and other dastardly deeds. And then, her life changes one evening when she walks around the side of her dark house to retrieve the trash bins. Patricia is attacked, and a mystery begins to unfold, as well as other horrors in her small neighborhood and the rural area called Six Mile. Patricia is determined to discover the root cause of all the evil and runs into several roadblocks, primarily due to her husband and his old-fashioned friends. She loses her friends while continuing her probe into the popular but frightening new neighbor, James Harris. Will Patricia be able to stop the horrors, believe me, there are some horrifying events, Ann was particularly frightful, and the attic scene was so creepy I released a scream.
I recommend The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires to fans of vampire books and horror.
PS I love the description, Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula, spot on!
PSS The audio narration was well executed; kudos to Bahni Turpin, she made this creepy novel even more hair-raising!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, Rape, Murder, Gaslighting, Blood, Sexism, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Animal cruelty, and Classism
atlas0fstars's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, and Rape
pumpkinbisque's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
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? Yes
3.75
i support women’s wrongs!!!!!!!
seriously though this book was so fun i loved it <3 looked up the author and was literally shocked to see that a man wrote it so uh congrats mr. hendrix this was a well-written book from the perspective of a woman. would recommend to horror fans and those who are tired of seeing “women’s work” devalued.
ps fuck all the husbands except horse i <3 horse
seriously though this book was so fun i loved it <3 looked up the author and was literally shocked to see that a man wrote it so uh congrats mr. hendrix this was a well-written book from the perspective of a woman. would recommend to horror fans and those who are tired of seeing “women’s work” devalued.
ps fuck all the husbands except horse i <3 horse
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, Injury/injury detail, Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Gore, and Child death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Animal death, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Body horror
Minor: Grief, Classism, Confinement, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, and Death of parent
Spoiler
eat shit carterjasper_wildlife's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I wouldn't call this his best work, but Hendrix has done something amazing in this book. Once again, I am floored by his ability to write women in ways that I've never seen another male author accomplish. As someone from South Carolina, I love seeing the places I know represented in fictional horror that doesn't revolve around ghosts. This is such a unique take on vampires and I absolutely adore it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Grief, Dementia, Misogyny, Body horror, Classism, and Gore
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Animal cruelty, and Blood