Reviews tagging 'Death'
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix
339 reviews
adotzam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death of parent, Rape, Murder, Gore, and Racism
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
- 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
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
fionaraney's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Animal death, Rape, Torture, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Domestic abuse, Child death, Murder, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Death, Cannibalism, Body horror, Alcoholism, Addiction, Blood, and Animal cruelty
lydinanana's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Child death
Minor: Animal cruelty
zias's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Suicide attempt, Death, Injury/injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Domestic abuse
plantedjess's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Rape and Blood
Minor: Death
bingo_banjo's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Dementia, Rape, Sexism, Injury/injury detail, Body horror, Animal death, Death, Murder, Gore, Child death, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Excrement, and Blood
Moderate: Body shaming, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Violence, Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, and War
cuddlygryphon's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Self harm, Blood, Body horror, Death, Murder, Injury/injury detail, Gore, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Infidelity, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Sexism, Racism, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Death, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Alcohol, Child death, Medical content, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Mental illness
constellation_library's review against another edition
- 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
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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.
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
day_dreaming_vampire's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Some of the reviews said it was too gory but what do you expect when you read a horror story about vampires?? I personally didn't think the gore was overdone. Overall 4.5* for me :)
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/injury detail