Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

869 reviews

cocheesereads's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

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koldglaze's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

After all the glowing reviews and recommendations, I wanted to like this book. There are some good parts, the relationships between the women, but I found myself frustrated with the men characters consistently gasliting their wives. The main character, Patricia, and her relationship with the other housewives perfectly enraptures southern "hospitality" that I remember from my own childhood. I think this is where the characterization shined brightest. From mentioning how church is mandatory, to gossiping about a person only to smile to their faces a moment later, to just being agreeable, it's a unique perspective that stories are not usually told from.

When I spend 80% of the book angry because of the constant gaslighting, it doesn't feel thay the plot is being moved forward. In fact, the reader feels gaslit into believing their is progress. The middle of the book is the worst with limited action, horror, or hope. About the 3rd time the main character was shut down, I too, found it tiring to continue to have hope that there would be anything different. When the pace does pick up, it's because of character being raped, and then still some try to gaslit the victim.

The writing focused immediately on what someone's breasts look like as soon as their are shirtless. Just weird serialization thay isn't really necessary unless you're covering the whole body. Considering, often the shirtless women were injured, this was an especially bizarre choice.

I also personally wished there was more lore building. The book is written from the perspective of a middle aged housewife for 90% of the pages. During the peak, the POV switches to a different housewife. I wish the POV switched to the antagonist so we could understand more of his backstory.

The ending was at least somewhat satisfying and I enjoyed the themes of motherly love, friendship, and empathy. I think the book highlights these themes well, but I wouldn't call this a horror book by any means. If anything, maybe an emotional mystery.

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poggo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

5.0

I loved this book. I went into it thinking it would be lighthearted, funny, and kinda corny, but I was wrong. It's actually kind of dark.

Hendrix did a great job at making you feel very strongly. Every big intense scene preceded with an overhwlming feeling of dread and suspense. You know something is about to happen, and you know it's going to be bad. You feel for and with Patricia, the MC.

It was fast-paced and easy to read. I loved the female characters, the male characters made me angry lol

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liyanga's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.75

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marsrovers's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

For those while enjoy a slow building horror, and wrestling with oneself while trying to live with the gaslighting from those around you, this is an incredible book. It focuses in small on a small southern group of women all with their differences. They come together and then fall apart only to come together stronger than before. It focuses on how easily the American dream is unraveled and the monster behind it, highlighting how racism and misogyny is often the culprit behind it all.
The book was well written and easy to read, with a medium pace and intriguing characters.

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fracturedpage's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

finished this in one day could not put it down.

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hellokatya's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

my expectations for this book were pretty low, when i first got it, i read some reviews that weren’t the best, so i put it off for a long time; i’m very glad i read it.
this book was pretty slow for the first 30%, but after it got really good!
it was hard to put down, kept me wanting more, and was the (more lighthearted, circumstantially) that i needed before fall time!
would highly recommend reading this book - and pushing through the first 30% - but be sure to look at content warnings before!

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