Book Review: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

Patricia Campbell is like any other mother from the South, finding solace in her busy years from a book club for validation and conversation. Then, a vampire rolls into the town, and her life crumbles into pieces—the Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is a book for slow mornings taken with tea and coffee cake.

I liked the book’s story: the different way it presents vampires and how they influence their surroundings, and the fact that the protagonist is a housewife. The writing hooked me instantly. It was precise, it used all the senses, and I felt and was there with Patricia with all her glory and horror. I felt bad for her when her husband abused her, when her friends turned their backs on her, when her children wished her to be dead, and for the wobble, she felt when getting out of the car.

This is a dark book, taking on misogyny and racism in a time when it was okay to belittle both women and black people. And I fear that the book manages to do itself, too. While it criticizes the men for disregarding their wives, it doesn’t give the women any other way out than to violence, and the women in the book are one-dimensional. And when the book states that black people deserve a voice, the black people in it are cleaners and dead food for the vampires rather than actors saving themselves.

I have to say that I don’t know how to rate and review this book. While it was highly entertaining, and I read it quite fast, the issues with racism and misogyny made me question the reading experience. I could dismiss the issues with the book’s setting, but I’m pretty sure I can’t. Yet, I’m pretty sure I will read more books from the author. He knows how to make a good story.

Thank you for reading ❤ Have a magical day!