Scan barcode
A review by cynicaltrilobite
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
2.0
This book, I swear on God. I want to like it so badly, I really do. The technical writing and the imagery are just top notch phenomenal. I think the characters can be a little one note, but they're serviceable. I also think the villain is absolutely wretched and thus his eventual death is a delight.
And then, there's the issues. This book is too real with its horror. Yes, there's a vampire running around sucking blood, controlling rats, and disliking sunlight. He also really prefers to feed on children and starts by targeting poor black kids. So... there's that. Also, an old woman with dementia is eaten alive by rats. Also also, there's a super vicious and disturbing rape sequence about 2/3 of the way through, so thanks for that.
By far the worst part of this book is the husbands. Explain to me how a book written in 2020 has worse male characters than another vampire book written in 1897 (Dracula, my beloved)? I cannot STAND how the wives are constantly talked down to, pushed around, and sometimes literally beaten by these awful shitty men. I get that it happens in real life, I get that it's a reality for millions of women every day, but why the fuck is it in my whimsically titled "The Southern Book Club's Guide to Vampire Slaying?" I feel like I was given a damned bait and switch.
I am also not a fan of how this book treats its black characters and it's a sparrow fart away from some white savior nonsense.
The thing that most frustrates me is that I can't just say "Oh, this sucks, one star" and move on with my day. It's very very well written and I love certain aspects of it, the initial attack by Ann Savage and the attic scene are *chef's kiss*. In fact, the extended dismembering scene at the end of the book is the sole reason I didn't give it one star and call it a day.
The thing I want to end on is that in his Forward, Grady Hendrix says that this book is the fruition of the idea "What if my Mom fought Dracula?" After reading this book, that sentence is absolutely fascinating to me in all the wrong ways.
And then, there's the issues. This book is too real with its horror. Yes, there's a vampire running around sucking blood, controlling rats, and disliking sunlight. He also really prefers to feed on children and starts by targeting poor black kids. So... there's that. Also, an old woman with dementia is eaten alive by rats. Also also, there's a super vicious and disturbing rape sequence about 2/3 of the way through, so thanks for that.
By far the worst part of this book is the husbands. Explain to me how a book written in 2020 has worse male characters than another vampire book written in 1897 (Dracula, my beloved)? I cannot STAND how the wives are constantly talked down to, pushed around, and sometimes literally beaten by these awful shitty men. I get that it happens in real life, I get that it's a reality for millions of women every day, but why the fuck is it in my whimsically titled "The Southern Book Club's Guide to Vampire Slaying?" I feel like I was given a damned bait and switch.
I am also not a fan of how this book treats its black characters and it's a sparrow fart away from some white savior nonsense.
The thing that most frustrates me is that I can't just say "Oh, this sucks, one star" and move on with my day. It's very very well written and I love certain aspects of it, the initial attack by Ann Savage and the attic scene are *chef's kiss*. In fact, the extended dismembering scene at the end of the book is the sole reason I didn't give it one star and call it a day.
The thing I want to end on is that in his Forward, Grady Hendrix says that this book is the fruition of the idea "What if my Mom fought Dracula?" After reading this book, that sentence is absolutely fascinating to me in all the wrong ways.