Same in Montana. Growing up in the 1900s (lol I’m starting to love it!), even the very common overt racists would never admit to having alliances with the Rebels. Although a lot of not great people snuck up here. It’s just weird that you took it for granted in the 80s that Montana was a Yankee state, & we were proud despite not being involved in any way. Now omg wtf is with Traitor Pride?? We’ve always been a purple state, for decades upon decades, but the red has turned blood red and things are so tense.
Omg I just wanted to say thank you SO much for giving bugs as a trigger warning. I feel like i never see that and certain bugs are a huge trigger for me, so I usually just rely on tws from people who know me. So. Thank you!!
Grady Hendrix is a wildly successful example of women written by men done perfectly. Anyone reading this, I highly recommend every book of his. Thank you Rachel, for talking about this!
4:47 I was my MIL’s carer for two years, including staying with her 24/7 in the hospital for her last 2.5 months. She was the rare and precious type of mother-in-law who loved me for loving her son, besides being an awesome person in her own right. Spending every day with her was only hard in watching her suffer and only being able to help in small ways, but I didn’t realize until it was over how draining the hospital stay was for me. It was difficult to go back to “normal” life, while grieving too. I hope i would have been able to care and advocate for her the same for my husband’s sake and for her own as a human even if she’d been the harpy so many MILs are to their DILs, but of course i don’t actually know
I remember you saying ages ago you were less confident in writing the positive reviews because you felt like you had less to say, but this was a brilliant review, really interesting and got me really hyped for the book.
I read this book and really enjoyed it. I've heard a lot of people say things like they DNFed it because of the misogyny and stuff and I'm just like dude... that's the POINT.
Hm that's interesting. I loved horrorstor by him and then I read best friend's exorcism and I was quite horrified by what was in the book. It really felt like Grady just used the setting as an excuse to throw in every bigoted thing he could without a single reason for it other than "it's the 80s!". A lot of people also just say "that's the point" for all that stuff, but idk. The film had no issues changing a lot of the worst parts and nothing was lost through it.
@skylarkblue1 you need to have some nuance. censoring doesn’t make bad things go away. it all depends on the point and how it is handled. grady hendrix writes it in a way that shows you the casual misogyny women go through and how it contributes to the most horrible violence possible.
@@marykateandnoashley aye, but best friends exorcism literally had a "slave day" event in the book which was just used to go "haha be my slave". Film changed it to be a funfair with a dunk tank as the humiliation and literally nothing story wise/character wise was lost except needless bigotry and just "it's the 80s!"
@@shayshay513 I am aware. That's not really what the point of it is meant to be in the book though it feels like. Not to mention how queerbait-y the book felt in its writing. 2 main characters are "best friends" despite really just being more including just straight up saying they love each other, but no, they're just friends. The ending just makes that all a lot worse too
I absolutely tore through this book in two days, I really can't explain why it was so captivating to me. There was so much I loved about this book. It is such a good and interesting way to discuss the lingering horrors of racism, sexism and classism in our society.
I tell you what, listening to the audiobook when the body horror scenes happened was a new level of terror for me - most horror books don’t get me and this one wasn’t scary to me over all but oof I almost couldn’t sleep after that attic scene
I met Grady Hendrix when we came to my university in South Carolina as a southern writer and he was amazingly nice and encouraging to all undergrad writers. I haven’t read his books yet, but I’m super excited to start! It’s so inspiring to see a writer from South Carolina who writes southern based literature
Hendrix's best books are his nonfiction Paperbacks from Hell, the mass market horror boom from the mid-1970 to 1988, and These Fists Break Bricks, the rise of popularity and importance of king fu films in the US. He is just so into both topics with firm understanding and really geeks out getting into the whys, hows, and larger cultural importance.
I just finished this book like 3 hours ago. I can’t decide if I like it or “How to Sell a Haunted House” also by Hendrix more. You can tell that Hendrix just has a deep love and understanding of women and women’s issues from his writing. How to Sell a Haunted House deals with parenting (specifically being a mother like “Southern Book Club”), growing up as the child of a parent with a personality disorder, and most of all, generational trauma. I cried twice when reading it, and while the sexism Patricia and the other women experienced in Southern Book Club made me so angry I had to put the book down, I can’t say I was as moved as I was reading “How to Sell a Haunted House” (and I think anyone who likes one book will like the other). Last thing I do agree about Rachel on is that Hendrix needs to work on his titles. Southern Book Club, How to Sell a Haunted House, and We Sold Our Souls (especially We Sold Our Souls) are the ones I think should have been different.
I just finished this book and I had to google the author haflway through bc I'd never read him before and I genuinely thought he was a woman. Like, now whenever men try to give me an excuse that they can't understand women, Grady Hendrix is who I'm throwing back in theri face. Because this book is to tender towards housewives and the prisons that they live in. Everything to do with Slick was ladened with empathy and kindness. I think my favorite part is the thing that makes these women strong female characters are the skills they have from their gender roles as 90s housewives in the south. Like the fact they're good at cleaning is what helps them accomplish their goals--and it was nice that we didn't just do "I'm a strong woman and I hit things!"
I've read My Best Friend's Exorcism before I read this one. It focuses on this group of teenage girls in 1980's south carolina and I for real thought the author was a woman cause Hendrix absolutely nailed what a lot of nebulous teen girl friendships feel like when you're one of the people in that group! Like I have rarely seen a portrayal of those dynamics that really nails it so well.
I’m SO glad you enjoyed this book! I listened to the audiobook a few years ago and I really enjoyed it. I listened to it in the summer on my lunch breaks and I always think of that time when I recall the book. I’m surprised Hendrix was able to capture the frustration/dehumanization of becoming just stay-at-home-mom/housewife. There’s something so unique about the southern housewife, the setting, and southern horror that Hendrix really nails. The characters are so well-realized, and I cried during the end. It’s just so good. I need to buy it and read it again!
I am convinced that Grady Hendrix comes up with banger titles first and then just attaches a vaguely related story to it. Your perspective on Patricia was interesting to hear because at times I found her very frustrating as a protagonist and thought Mrs. Green should have been the POV character. Whenever I reread this book I’ll go into it with some better insight into her as a character, and hopefully enjoy the experience more this time. I had such a bad experience with Final Girls Support Group that I haven’t read How to Sell a Haunted House yet, but I’ve read all his other books. If you plan on reading My Best Friend’s Exorcism (which is definitely my favorite now that I’ve thought about it) I don’t want to spoil anything, but proceed with caution if you have any triggers about animal cruelty. There’s only one scene, but it broke my heart. I almost didn’t want to continue reading after it.
Having had started my Hendrix readings with Final Girls that ended with How to Sell A Haunted House as the most recent...it def reads and is paced a lot better and a bit more coherent. It's def still campy and gruesome as his other works, but I would def rank it above Final Girls, which isn't even in maybe my top 5 of his works now that I'm thinking about it, with BFE being at first or just on the same level as Southern Book Club. ((I'm so glad I found booktube and now am able to talk about this more))
@@jellieschaos Thank you for sharing your experience. I was really excited about How to Sell a Haunted House because I love ghosts and supernatural horror stories, but after I read Final Girls, I was like, “Oh, so he’s getting worse not better.” lol. I’ll see if I can get it from my library soon. My personal ranking would be My Best Friend’s Exorcism, Horrorstör, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, We Sold Our Souls, and then Final Girls. When I first read Horrorstör I thought it had dethroned MBFE, but MBFE made me cry like a bitch at the end, so I think I have to say it’s my favorite.
Ahhhhh it's the same person who wrote the Final Girls one? I DNF'd that one because I thought the characters and their trauma was written as very surface level (although festooned by gimmicks, none of those gimmicks/archetypes felt fleshed out with meat and nuance to all their imperfections to me.) And I will be completely honest learning it was writing by a man - for some reason I thought it was by a woman? - makes literally everything that I bounced off in that book click perfectly into place.
I really wish I had a trigger warning for My Best Friend's Exorcism because that part broke me. I read We Sold Our Souls and had a great time, then MBFE and had a horrible time. Was really reluctant to read any more of his books specifically because not only was that scene just soul crushing to me (I think I cried four times that night because of it) but also felt unnecessary. Glad I gave his books a second chance after and read this book but I'm kinda nervous to read any more. I saw How to Sell a Haunted House has a warning about animal death but haven't been able to find the specifics of what that entails so it feels like a real tossup.
I've heard you say before that you don't know what to say when you like a book and I feel like you did a really good job at this review. I also really liked the book. You even pointed out something I didn't catch, which is that whenever Patricia is trying to puzzle out what to do, she is doing work, and not even noticing it. I find this ironically coincidental, because whenever I'm trying to figure things out or deal with stuff, I'm also doing work and not noticing it. Also, I had the same expectation - that this would be a group of older ladies in a book club reading Dracula to get some hints at how to deal with their weird neighbor, but I was pleasantly surprised with what we did get instead.
Hilariously, I'm from South Carolina and had my open heart surgery in Charleston in 1999 (I was 5 at the time). This book weirdly resonates with my Vampire obsessed Southern self. 😂 Also, I love Labour by Paris Paloma. Definitely in my top 20 songs.
1) i’m an anxious person so even though I’m recently a patrón, I’ve never actually commented yet so sorry for being a weird lurker but I love your videos ♥️ and 2) ahhhhh I’m so glad you loved it! I was kind of nervous to see what you thought b/c this was my favorite book of last year (tied with My Best Friend’s Exorcism, which made me cry). I was reading it thinking “how… am I ever going to write anything even a sixteenth as good as this? He’s got themes! Commentary! Character development! Laughs! Scares! Damn it, Hendrix.” lol 3) I was listening to this video while I was doing the evening cleanup so yeah… primary homemaker vibes and 4) oh my god I hate Carter SO. FUCKING. MUCH. Anyway, thanks for all you do! ♥️
This is one of my favorite books and I am beyond thrilled that you read it and loved it and saw all the things I saw when I read it. I have never had a book make me feel more seen and understood. I’m a mom of two and I read this when it first came out and both of my kids were late teens at that time. It’s a very hard age to navigate. This was my favorite review of yours because you just got what the author was trying to say and I too grew up down south and I know the author is originally from Charleston. All his books are set in the South. Thanks Rachel for your intelligent and insightful review. You are the best!!
I’m so, so pleased to see you reading and reviewing Grady’s work. I think it’s some of the best coming out in horror literature lately. Every one is a hit (in my opinion). My Best Friends Exorcism is my favourite of his, bawled my eyes out at the end, I’d love to know your thoughts!
I'm so glad I'm not the only one that was sobbing at the end of this book, at 3am... ((also wide the fuck awake b/c of the tapeworm haunting my literal days and nights rent-free in my mind))
after a long reading dry spell (nearly a decade and a half) his book "how to sell a haunted house" was the first i read, and i'm so glad i did! it reignited my love for reading and now he's one of my favourite authors. it's been fun going through his backlist!
Stopping 8 min in bc I had the ebook on hold once online but forgot to actually check it out when it became available. You giving a nod of approval, I’ll definitely need to actually read it now!❤
I’m finally making myself get back into reading. I’ve been so scared to for so long because I got a head injury years ago that makes taking in new information really difficult, but watching videos like yours are giving me a nudge because I want to be more a part of conversations. I’m starting with The Bruising of Qilwa because… it was available in audiobook. So wish me luck!
idk if you’ve ever used dialectical journaling before, but it’s a great habit for anyone who struggles with comprehension, memory, etc but also literally everyone*. the simplest one is just two columns, one side is summarizing/key points and the other is reaction/predictions/vibes/etc. *particularly with how often readers in general seem to be more frequently forgetting books as soon as they finish reading. For ebooks (and on if I plan to keep a physical book) I highlight and add notes to make sure I’m actively engaged and can reference my notes later when my head gets too crowded with other things. I don’t listen to audiobooks much at all (audio processing disorder + ADHD makes verbal instructions/info so much more difficult) but I think with audiobooks you could use your notes app or a google doc if you wanted to try it but didn’t want to/not practical to carry a physical notebook. It’s been nearly a year so idk where you’re at with recovery or anything, but just wanted to mention it in case it helped
"... _and Kitty hit him from behind like a Freight train_ " 😂 What a frigging BAD ASS!!! She phucked his ass up 😂 Kitty and Ragtag were my most favorite characters in the whole book Ragtag 😢 What a solider!
This has been sitting on my nightstand, barely started, for a couple months because life. I was so nervous when you posted this since I respect your opinion and thought it would put me off finishing it, but I was pleasantly surprised and it may be the push I needed to get back into it! I totally agree with the first third being slow going and it being hard to keep track of all the members. When books throw like 12 characters at me my brain goes "nope."
Thank you for the laundry list of trigger warnings. Im really glad you enjoyed it. You deserve to read books you enjoy and don’t suffer through. But definitely one I won’t be picking up based on said trigger warnings. ❤️
I don't understand people who dismiss or devalue the work done by a atay at home person and primary caregiver. We all know how much wotj it is when it is just YOU, yet alone nore than 2 people. Its so wied.
You are the first person to recommend this book in a way that intrigues me. Every other booktuber made it sound like it was something that just wasn’t for me, but now I’m definitely interested!
I grew up in Polk County, FL. Class of '76, which is also the year I left the state.... Ordered the book, intend to love it because of you. Do you feel the weight of it? 😉 Don't. Even if I hate it, I'll be glad I read it.
I love this book so much, the themes of consent, believing people and so many other things reflected through the housewives and their relationship is so amazing 😊
Im so glad you started talking about this. I started it but havent been able to finish and it feels good to know it's worth it when i only have so much time to read
The way you described the use of the vampire in the greater story makes the book sound really neat, because Vampires have always served as an analogy but in modern times it's not as well utilized as it use to be. In the Victorian era there was a fear of handsome men basically "sucking the life" out of young woman; distracting them from pursuing various life goals and eating up their time until getting board and abandoning them. In many cases these guys would often leave the woman diseased (before modern medicine made most of them curable and many either lead to death, madness or disfigurement), so she could not then really pick up the pieces of her life after the break-up. Dracula embodied this by pursuing young woman who could not immediately recognize his predatory intent, while at the same time Dracula would charm the men around him to create a smoke screen and prevent people from calling him out for being a murderous, destructive rake. In modern media the predatory rake (except in Jane Austin movies) is not really a popular villain anymore, so the use of the Vampire analogy has kind of gotten under served; it's nice to hear an author has taken it up again as a way to communicate something else, putting the monster back into use instead of letting it float around sort of disconnected from it's original intent as the foil, or analogy to take about greater social concerns.
I also LOVED this book. Literally just finished it! I did feel like it was mainly Patricia and not the whole book club working together. But omg u worded everything perfectly. Now I'm going to look up more of your videos! Lol
This is the first video of yours I've watched about a book I've personally read (and thoroughly enjoyed) and I am SO HAPPY (not surprised, just pleased) that you picked up on what it was doing and enjoyed it
I read this last year and I was so enthralled by the commentary on social issues. I have read all his books and totally recommend them, specially Horrorstor. I have been watching your videos voraciously and I got so excited knowing that you like this book too, I was like Rachel likes it, I have good taste
I'm so happy that you read this!!! It's one of my favorite books I've read in recent years and wanted to see what you thought about it! The title being misleading is something that is obviously true but it caught me off guard because I never thought about it? I kind of go into his books without even thinking of the titles bc I think he is just like "this sounds cool and it's vaguely related" and I liked hearing you discuss it and reading other comments about it ❤ (Sorry if this was worded weirdly? English is not my first language and I just woke up)
Hey Rachel, I stumbled upon your channel a few weeks back and have been binging your vids on authors behaving badly. When I saw Southern Book Club in the thumbnail, I was worried! I became an avid bookworm when the pandemic hit and this was the book that got it all started for me. Been a horror/thriller reader ever since, with Hendrix being one of my favorite authors. I enjoyed sitting through your video and hearing your thoughts on the book. Everything was on point.
100% agree with your critique of the title and the use of "soon" on the jacket compared to the pacing. I nearly DNFed it twice because I felt like I was back at square 1 with Patricia and it was making me frustrated...but I also think that was the point. I did not love the book (body horror not my thing), but I LOVED the writing. I still cannot get over the fact that a man wrote this book. It kind of blew my mind how well Hendrix wrote the female perspective. Felt like he helped me understand my mom and her 90s housewife experience on a deeper level, which I very much did not expect from a vampire book.
Started reading The Final Girl Support Group and I’ve been contemplating whether or not to get this book for a WHILE. Thanks so much for this review, I’m ABSOLUTELY gonna grab it the next time I’m out!!
Ahh!! My favorite reviewer reviews one of my favorite books! What a perfect day!! This was my first dive into Grady and I loved this novel. I remember reading it after I finished Nick cutter’s The Troop (read at your discretion) and this was the perfect amount of body horror and gore that didn’t make me feel like scrubbing my skin off. I’m so happy to see that you covered it!!
i looove grady hendrix so much. my friend got me My Best Friend’s Exorcism for my grad present and i was rlly iffy on it but then i actually read it and ended up sobbing when i finished. easily one of my faves of all time and there were parts that genuinely scared me too, which is hard with horror books for me!!
Found your channel cause I thought I was insane in not liking the Fourth Wing and your 3 part series brought me so much validation! Lmao My bookclub actually picked this book for our June 2022 book......to say we had SUCH a robust hate for all the husbands and some of the topics when we met up (the week after roe v wade was overturned) to discuss was an understatement 😂
I loved this one too! And I agree, Final Girls Support Club was ok, but wasn't quite what I was hoping for/expecting. This one though, I loved and gave it 4.5 stars as well. I did a whole analysis/breakdown of this book on channel cause I saw a reviewer on Goodreads who was talking down/over other female reviewers who enjoyed this book. It's like tell me you lack reading comprehension skills without telling me you lack reading comprehension skills. 😂Everything he was complaining about in the review, I'm like, "but that's the whole fucking point!" So glad you enjoyed this one too. I knocked down half a star cause 1) I wanted to see a bit more with the other characters, especially Mrs. Greene, and 2) when I first read this book, I was eating lunch when I got to that rat scene. Will never make that mistake again. 🤢🤮
Have you done anything on A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating A Demon? I just read it and love it so much. It’s a modern fantasy romcom basically and I love the worldbuilding and characters
I was so surprised to find out Grady Hendrix was a man as well - I first read his "Final Girl Support Group" and the way he writes women and struggles women face feels so personal that I just assumed he was one as well - Imagine my surprise when I googled him to see what other books he wrote and his image popped up. I really liked both of those books and I hope to read more of him :)
I read Final Girls Support Group, and it just wasn't my thing, so I didn't take this book seriously because of the title. Now I know to give this a shot. 😊 Thank you!
I’m really thankful for this review; the title actually put me off the book (just doesn’t seem like my thing) but your review made me put it on my to-read!
I absolutely adore Grady Hendrix and his books. There's a few passages in the beginning that absolutely spoke to me about being a SAHM and primary caretaker.
I am currently listening to this..at first I was bored of this then the humor started kicking in and I am LMAO (at work no less 😂😂) I like how the flow of writing has changed. So far when they are discussing bridges of madison county book that was so funny!
I absolutely LOVE this book. This is definitely his best, but everything else he’s written is pretty good and worth checking out. My Best Friends Exorcism is really good too. Grady Hendrix is legit, don’t sleep on him.
Ah, damn. I grew up near Charleston and this book sounds SO interesting. But I can’t do body horror. 😭 Appreciate you for calling that out, I wouldn’t have thought to look at the TWs.
I listened to the audiobook, and it sucked me in so hard the end sequence stuck with me to the point I was convinced I had seen it in a movie and it took me a few days of trying to convince people we had watched that movie together before I was like wait THAT BOOK. Grady Hendrix is amazing lol
Body horror and torture are Grady Hendrix's things. Every single one of his books has extended passages, sometimes combining the two and sometimes having multiple passages describing them separately. Some of it I can handle and some of it I absolutely can't.
I really enjoyed this one myself even though I couldn't relate to much in the book, seeing as I've never even visited the states and I think it speaks a lot to Grady's skill cause even without identifying with the characters, I was hooked. I do have to say I did enjoy My Best Friend's Exorcism a bit more than this one, I really recommend it if you hadn't already read it! I think they made a movie adaptation a few years ago but I haven't seen it yet so I can't speak to its quality.
Sounds interesting, I just can't read because of the horror. My brain loves to latch onto stuff like that and run with it in my dreams. I once dreamed I was kidnapped and tortured after watching Criminal Minds.
I’m the same. When I was a teen I watched the early 2000s Texas Chainsaw Massacre with friends, and no joke I had nightmares about that movie for 3-4 years afterwards. I can’t do horror or disturbing things like Criminal Minds. I stopped watching that show somewhere in season 1 because, well, they almost always do disturbing stories.
i’m from charleston sc and i still live here. people here definitelyyy fly a certain flag and say a certain word to this day. also i’ve been hesitant on reading this one, but i think i’ve been convinced!
I like that you’ve mentioned that Patricia’s husband is a dick because I hated him, especially towards the the final chapter, when he started interrogating her about James. I was glad that she asked for a divorce.
Rachel, adorei conhecer o seu canal! Estou maratonando todos os vídeos. Ainda não li esse, ele está na minha lista há um tempo e agora vou colocar ele entre os primeiros para ler logo 😊
This review makes me really want to show this to my friend, the primary parent and former stay at home mom to a bunch of teenagers whose ex husband DEFINITELY is a bloodsucker. She'll get a lot out of it, it seems like
I own this book and I read it a month after it was released, I remember just being "whelmed" by it (2.5-3 stars). The biggest things I remember are how mid the body horror was in comparison to past stories I've read, getting 2 books when I asked for one and white saviorism. There was also a missed opportunity for some satanic panic because of when and where this story takes place. I think Grady has already written a book with it as the focus, but a little nod could have been done since people were weirdly fixated on this back in the day. Like DnD was the ultimate evil, priests and pastors were claiming it promoted unaliving, mur der, SA, blasphemy, witchcraft, satanism, smex work, etc. Anyway for me it wasn't a seamless transition, it was abrupt and felt like poor writing, otherwise we would have seen a cleaner segue into the insidiously benign creep of this monster's MO. There was a way to do and still have it be interesting, Grady either couldn't nail the proverbial landing or was rushed by the publisher. It was like getting one unfinished book squished together with a totally different book. Basically I enjoyed the first one and not the other. I recall the white saviorism was so casually slid in that it felt weird and gross? Like weird in the way people bring in racism without any supporting structure so the book can be "edgy" or shown to be "progressive" because it's a flimsy one-sided argument for the main characters to knock over. I remember feeling like I needed a shower after finishing up the book.
This was also my first read of the year! And I fully agree with all of this! I have this book a 3/5 because of the lull at the beginning, and I felt in the middle too, and for the misleading title. Was looking for the book club shenanigans, so even though I LOVED the feminist commentary, it wasn’t what I expected/“wanted” out of this read, so I was a bit thrown off. However, the commentary is fantastic, and it is the first horror book I’ve read that actually scared me. So glad you reviewed this!
Oh man, I feel that pain of growing up in conservative FL (highlands county born and raise, so county neighbors). There was a bar close to my parents’ previous house that had trump signs and merch outside
I think the title, authors note, and synopsis made me expect something and then when it wasn’t that, it just made me very angry and ruined the book for me. It was a 5 star read for like the first half (hard to tell because it was audiobook). Bahni Turpin though, absolutely amazing narrator.
This book was very uncomfortable to read. Insanely dark and misogynistic. But the misogyny isn’t portrayed in a good way- it shows the shit the average mother goes through, went through, and takes it to an insane degree. Grady Hendrix is one of the few men I trust to write women. It haunted me for days and I do not want to read it again, but it was a meaningful book.
Circling back to this video because after this vid I bought this for both me and my grandma, and while she hasn't read it yet because she's still reading Outlander, I loved it so much i bought another book by the author. Yes, lots of very realistic mysoginy, but that's the POINT and I honestly hate the husband more than the antagonist and yelled about him so much my parter closed my door because he couldn't take it anymore.
I agree with a lot of what you say, but this book gave me the ick for how much of a white savior story it is, and how the black community was depicted compared to the white community
I think this is the first time where we've come out on opposite sides of a book and it's fascinating. I've read two of Grady's books, this one and The Final Girl Support Group and I didn't like either. Though, I did like this one slightly more. My big thing is I don't think he writes women well, especially female friendships. I think we've gotten used to the bar being so low for male authors writing women, that he gets a pass. I still think he could do better. It was interesting hearing your perspective though! Funnily enough, I was the only one in my book club who didn't like this book. 😅
I'm kind of thinking about getting this for my mom, I feel like she would feel very seen by this book (she is also in a book club) but I don't know how she would feel about the horror aspect of it, I've never known her to read or watch horror. But we also just had a fight about me not being Christian, so I might get it for her for mother's day.
So I'm a Huge Grady Hendrix Fan! I loved Best Friend's Exorcism and thought Final Girl Support Group was good and I really liked Southern Book Club although I keep running into people who seemed to not like the book or think it sucks. When I first saw your video, I was a bit nervous because you seemed like a very strict reviewer and that Grady Hendrix was a man writting women. I am so happy to have watched this video to find out that you're so surprised by that. I believe it's his strength as an author.
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I'm from Indiana, a Union state, and the clowns fly the confederate flag from their trucks, in their yards, man caves, and displayed in their homes.
As someone who is also from Indiana, I can sadly confirm this
Same in Montana. Growing up in the 1900s (lol I’m starting to love it!), even the very common overt racists would never admit to having alliances with the Rebels. Although a lot of not great people snuck up here. It’s just weird that you took it for granted in the 80s that Montana was a Yankee state, & we were proud despite not being involved in any way. Now omg wtf is with Traitor Pride?? We’ve always been a purple state, for decades upon decades, but the red has turned blood red and things are so tense.
I'm from Canada and we have jackasses that fly the Confederate flag here 🙄
this baffles me but its also probably due to the fact that flying a confederate flag in my country (france) is illegal
im pretty sure it is
this baffles me but its also probably due to the fact that flying a confederate flag in my country (france) is illegal
im pretty sure it is
Omg I just wanted to say thank you SO much for giving bugs as a trigger warning. I feel like i never see that and certain bugs are a huge trigger for me, so I usually just rely on tws from people who know me. So. Thank you!!
Happy to help!
Grady Hendrix is a wildly successful example of women written by men done perfectly. Anyone reading this, I highly recommend every book of his.
Thank you Rachel, for talking about this!
4:47 I was my MIL’s carer for two years, including staying with her 24/7 in the hospital for her last 2.5 months. She was the rare and precious type of mother-in-law who loved me for loving her son, besides being an awesome person in her own right. Spending every day with her was only hard in watching her suffer and only being able to help in small ways, but I didn’t realize until it was over how draining the hospital stay was for me. It was difficult to go back to “normal” life, while grieving too.
I hope i would have been able to care and advocate for her the same for my husband’s sake and for her own as a human even if she’d been the harpy so many MILs are to their DILs, but of course i don’t actually know
I remember you saying ages ago you were less confident in writing the positive reviews because you felt like you had less to say, but this was a brilliant review, really interesting and got me really hyped for the book.
I got this as an audiobook, and Bahni Turpin absolutely nailed the narration.
Yes! And she did such a good job with giving the different women different voices
I LOVED what Bahni Turpi did with this audio, she really brought it to life!
Bahni was amazing!
Bahni Turpin is one of my favorite narrators! I might check this out as an audiobook then if she narrates!
AGREED
I read this book and really enjoyed it. I've heard a lot of people say things like they DNFed it because of the misogyny and stuff and I'm just like dude... that's the POINT.
Hm that's interesting. I loved horrorstor by him and then I read best friend's exorcism and I was quite horrified by what was in the book. It really felt like Grady just used the setting as an excuse to throw in every bigoted thing he could without a single reason for it other than "it's the 80s!". A lot of people also just say "that's the point" for all that stuff, but idk. The film had no issues changing a lot of the worst parts and nothing was lost through it.
@skylarkblue1 you need to have some nuance. censoring doesn’t make bad things go away. it all depends on the point and how it is handled. grady hendrix writes it in a way that shows you the casual misogyny women go through and how it contributes to the most horrible violence possible.
@@marykateandnoashley aye, but best friends exorcism literally had a "slave day" event in the book which was just used to go "haha be my slave". Film changed it to be a funfair with a dunk tank as the humiliation and literally nothing story wise/character wise was lost except needless bigotry and just "it's the 80s!"
@@skylarkblue1people actually did this crap tho. He isn’t throwing it in there to be edgy. Schools did it.
@@shayshay513 I am aware. That's not really what the point of it is meant to be in the book though it feels like.
Not to mention how queerbait-y the book felt in its writing. 2 main characters are "best friends" despite really just being more including just straight up saying they love each other, but no, they're just friends. The ending just makes that all a lot worse too
AHHH THE PARIS PALOMA REFERENCE! God that’s SUCH a good song!!
and the new version with all the other voices,too! so so good
I absolutely tore through this book in two days, I really can't explain why it was so captivating to me. There was so much I loved about this book. It is such a good and interesting way to discuss the lingering horrors of racism, sexism and classism in our society.
Queen you GOTTA stop adding books to my TBR (affectionate)
I tell you what, listening to the audiobook when the body horror scenes happened was a new level of terror for me - most horror books don’t get me and this one wasn’t scary to me over all but oof I almost couldn’t sleep after that attic scene
I met Grady Hendrix when we came to my university in South Carolina as a southern writer and he was amazingly nice and encouraging to all undergrad writers. I haven’t read his books yet, but I’m super excited to start! It’s so inspiring to see a writer from South Carolina who writes southern based literature
Hendrix's best books are his nonfiction Paperbacks from Hell, the mass market horror boom from the mid-1970 to 1988, and These Fists Break Bricks, the rise of popularity and importance of king fu films in the US. He is just so into both topics with firm understanding and really geeks out getting into the whys, hows, and larger cultural importance.
I personally bounced off his fiction, I'll definitely look those up. They sound super interesting.
I just finished this book like 3 hours ago. I can’t decide if I like it or “How to Sell a Haunted House” also by Hendrix more.
You can tell that Hendrix just has a deep love and understanding of women and women’s issues from his writing. How to Sell a Haunted House deals with parenting (specifically being a mother like “Southern Book Club”), growing up as the child of a parent with a personality disorder, and most of all, generational trauma. I cried twice when reading it, and while the sexism Patricia and the other women experienced in Southern Book Club made me so angry I had to put the book down, I can’t say I was as moved as I was reading “How to Sell a Haunted House” (and I think anyone who likes one book will like the other).
Last thing I do agree about Rachel on is that Hendrix needs to work on his titles. Southern Book Club, How to Sell a Haunted House, and We Sold Our Souls (especially We Sold Our Souls) are the ones I think should have been different.
I just finished this book and I had to google the author haflway through bc I'd never read him before and I genuinely thought he was a woman. Like, now whenever men try to give me an excuse that they can't understand women, Grady Hendrix is who I'm throwing back in theri face. Because this book is to tender towards housewives and the prisons that they live in. Everything to do with Slick was ladened with empathy and kindness. I think my favorite part is the thing that makes these women strong female characters are the skills they have from their gender roles as 90s housewives in the south. Like the fact they're good at cleaning is what helps them accomplish their goals--and it was nice that we didn't just do "I'm a strong woman and I hit things!"
I've read My Best Friend's Exorcism before I read this one. It focuses on this group of teenage girls in 1980's south carolina and I for real thought the author was a woman cause Hendrix absolutely nailed what a lot of nebulous teen girl friendships feel like when you're one of the people in that group! Like I have rarely seen a portrayal of those dynamics that really nails it so well.
I swear everytime you played the Paris Paloma snippet I had to fight the urge to just play the entire song.
I’m SO glad you enjoyed this book! I listened to the audiobook a few years ago and I really enjoyed it. I listened to it in the summer on my lunch breaks and I always think of that time when I recall the book.
I’m surprised Hendrix was able to capture the frustration/dehumanization of becoming just stay-at-home-mom/housewife. There’s something so unique about the southern housewife, the setting, and southern horror that Hendrix really nails. The characters are so well-realized, and I cried during the end.
It’s just so good. I need to buy it and read it again!
I am convinced that Grady Hendrix comes up with banger titles first and then just attaches a vaguely related story to it.
Your perspective on Patricia was interesting to hear because at times I found her very frustrating as a protagonist and thought Mrs. Green should have been the POV character. Whenever I reread this book I’ll go into it with some better insight into her as a character, and hopefully enjoy the experience more this time.
I had such a bad experience with Final Girls Support Group that I haven’t read How to Sell a Haunted House yet, but I’ve read all his other books. If you plan on reading My Best Friend’s Exorcism (which is definitely my favorite now that I’ve thought about it) I don’t want to spoil anything, but proceed with caution if you have any triggers about animal cruelty. There’s only one scene, but it broke my heart. I almost didn’t want to continue reading after it.
Having had started my Hendrix readings with Final Girls that ended with How to Sell A Haunted House as the most recent...it def reads and is paced a lot better and a bit more coherent. It's def still campy and gruesome as his other works, but I would def rank it above Final Girls, which isn't even in maybe my top 5 of his works now that I'm thinking about it, with BFE being at first or just on the same level as Southern Book Club.
((I'm so glad I found booktube and now am able to talk about this more))
@@jellieschaos Thank you for sharing your experience. I was really excited about How to Sell a Haunted House because I love ghosts and supernatural horror stories, but after I read Final Girls, I was like, “Oh, so he’s getting worse not better.” lol. I’ll see if I can get it from my library soon.
My personal ranking would be My Best Friend’s Exorcism, Horrorstör, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, We Sold Our Souls, and then Final Girls. When I first read Horrorstör I thought it had dethroned MBFE, but MBFE made me cry like a bitch at the end, so I think I have to say it’s my favorite.
Ahhhhh it's the same person who wrote the Final Girls one? I DNF'd that one because I thought the characters and their trauma was written as very surface level (although festooned by gimmicks, none of those gimmicks/archetypes felt fleshed out with meat and nuance to all their imperfections to me.) And I will be completely honest learning it was writing by a man - for some reason I thought it was by a woman? - makes literally everything that I bounced off in that book click perfectly into place.
I really wish I had a trigger warning for My Best Friend's Exorcism because that part broke me. I read We Sold Our Souls and had a great time, then MBFE and had a horrible time. Was really reluctant to read any more of his books specifically because not only was that scene just soul crushing to me (I think I cried four times that night because of it) but also felt unnecessary.
Glad I gave his books a second chance after and read this book but I'm kinda nervous to read any more. I saw How to Sell a Haunted House has a warning about animal death but haven't been able to find the specifics of what that entails so it feels like a real tossup.
I've heard you say before that you don't know what to say when you like a book and I feel like you did a really good job at this review. I also really liked the book. You even pointed out something I didn't catch, which is that whenever Patricia is trying to puzzle out what to do, she is doing work, and not even noticing it. I find this ironically coincidental, because whenever I'm trying to figure things out or deal with stuff, I'm also doing work and not noticing it. Also, I had the same expectation - that this would be a group of older ladies in a book club reading Dracula to get some hints at how to deal with their weird neighbor, but I was pleasantly surprised with what we did get instead.
Hilariously, I'm from South Carolina and had my open heart surgery in Charleston in 1999 (I was 5 at the time). This book weirdly resonates with my Vampire obsessed Southern self. 😂 Also, I love Labour by Paris Paloma. Definitely in my top 20 songs.
The trigger warnings scream Southern Gothic.
Every abuse speedrun
@@teslashark abuse%
Yes, the genre Southern Gothic often features abuse.
1) i’m an anxious person so even though I’m recently a patrón, I’ve never actually commented yet so sorry for being a weird lurker but I love your videos ♥️ and 2) ahhhhh I’m so glad you loved it! I was kind of nervous to see what you thought b/c this was my favorite book of last year (tied with My Best Friend’s Exorcism, which made me cry). I was reading it thinking “how… am I ever going to write anything even a sixteenth as good as this? He’s got themes! Commentary! Character development! Laughs! Scares! Damn it, Hendrix.” lol 3) I was listening to this video while I was doing the evening cleanup so yeah… primary homemaker vibes and 4) oh my god I hate Carter SO. FUCKING. MUCH. Anyway, thanks for all you do! ♥️
This is one of my favorite books and I am beyond thrilled that you read it and loved it and saw all the things I saw when I read it. I have never had a book make me feel more seen and understood. I’m a mom of two and I read this when it first came out and both of my kids were late teens at that time. It’s a very hard age to navigate. This was my favorite review of yours because you just got what the author was trying to say and I too grew up down south and I know the author is originally from Charleston. All his books are set in the South. Thanks Rachel for your intelligent and insightful review. You are the best!!
I’m so, so pleased to see you reading and reviewing Grady’s work. I think it’s some of the best coming out in horror literature lately. Every one is a hit (in my opinion).
My Best Friends Exorcism is my favourite of his, bawled my eyes out at the end, I’d love to know your thoughts!
I cried at the end of that one too and then called my high school best friend to tell her I miss her!
I'm so glad I'm not the only one that was sobbing at the end of this book, at 3am...
((also wide the fuck awake b/c of the tapeworm haunting my literal days and nights rent-free in my mind))
& also apparently it's a amazon prime movie??
after a long reading dry spell (nearly a decade and a half) his book "how to sell a haunted house" was the first i read, and i'm so glad i did! it reignited my love for reading and now he's one of my favourite authors. it's been fun going through his backlist!
My first was the Final Girl Support Group. So good. And then I listwned to “How to Sell a Haunted House” on audio during bike rides and I was hooked
Stopping 8 min in bc I had the ebook on hold once online but forgot to actually check it out when it became available. You giving a nod of approval, I’ll definitely need to actually read it now!❤
I’m finally making myself get back into reading. I’ve been so scared to for so long because I got a head injury years ago that makes taking in new information really difficult, but watching videos like yours are giving me a nudge because I want to be more a part of conversations. I’m starting with The Bruising of Qilwa because… it was available in audiobook. So wish me luck!
idk if you’ve ever used dialectical journaling before, but it’s a great habit for anyone who struggles with comprehension, memory, etc but also literally everyone*. the simplest one is just two columns, one side is summarizing/key points and the other is reaction/predictions/vibes/etc.
*particularly with how often readers in general seem to be more frequently forgetting books as soon as they finish reading. For ebooks (and on if I plan to keep a physical book) I highlight and add notes to make sure I’m actively engaged and can reference my notes later when my head gets too crowded with other things. I don’t listen to audiobooks much at all (audio processing disorder + ADHD makes verbal instructions/info so much more difficult) but I think with audiobooks you could use your notes app or a google doc if you wanted to try it but didn’t want to/not practical to carry a physical notebook.
It’s been nearly a year so idk where you’re at with recovery or anything, but just wanted to mention it in case it helped
"... _and Kitty hit him from behind like a Freight train_ " 😂
What a frigging BAD ASS!!!
She phucked his ass up 😂
Kitty and Ragtag were my most favorite characters in the whole book
Ragtag 😢
What a solider!
This has been sitting on my nightstand, barely started, for a couple months because life. I was so nervous when you posted this since I respect your opinion and thought it would put me off finishing it, but I was pleasantly surprised and it may be the push I needed to get back into it! I totally agree with the first third being slow going and it being hard to keep track of all the members. When books throw like 12 characters at me my brain goes "nope."
Thank you for the laundry list of trigger warnings.
Im really glad you enjoyed it. You deserve to read books you enjoy and don’t suffer through.
But definitely one I won’t be picking up based on said trigger warnings. ❤️
Same, I could probably deal with most of it, but the bugs crawling in ears is a big NO for me.
I don't understand people who dismiss or devalue the work done by a atay at home person and primary caregiver. We all know how much wotj it is when it is just YOU, yet alone nore than 2 people. Its so wied.
You are the first person to recommend this book in a way that intrigues me. Every other booktuber made it sound like it was something that just wasn’t for me, but now I’m definitely interested!
I grew up in Polk County, FL. Class of '76, which is also the year I left the state....
Ordered the book, intend to love it because of you. Do you feel the weight of it? 😉
Don't. Even if I hate it, I'll be glad I read it.
I love this book so much, the themes of consent, believing people and so many other things reflected through the housewives and their relationship is so amazing 😊
Im so glad you started talking about this. I started it but havent been able to finish and it feels good to know it's worth it when i only have so much time to read
The way you described the use of the vampire in the greater story makes the book sound really neat, because Vampires have always served as an analogy but in modern times it's not as well utilized as it use to be. In the Victorian era there was a fear of handsome men basically "sucking the life" out of young woman; distracting them from pursuing various life goals and eating up their time until getting board and abandoning them. In many cases these guys would often leave the woman diseased (before modern medicine made most of them curable and many either lead to death, madness or disfigurement), so she could not then really pick up the pieces of her life after the break-up. Dracula embodied this by pursuing young woman who could not immediately recognize his predatory intent, while at the same time Dracula would charm the men around him to create a smoke screen and prevent people from calling him out for being a murderous, destructive rake.
In modern media the predatory rake (except in Jane Austin movies) is not really a popular villain anymore, so the use of the Vampire analogy has kind of gotten under served; it's nice to hear an author has taken it up again as a way to communicate something else, putting the monster back into use instead of letting it float around sort of disconnected from it's original intent as the foil, or analogy to take about greater social concerns.
I also LOVED this book. Literally just finished it!
I did feel like it was mainly Patricia and not the whole book club working together. But omg u worded everything perfectly. Now I'm going to look up more of your videos! Lol
I had the same issues with Final GIrl Support Group...but I LOVED How to Sell a Haunted House. I think you would too!
This is the first video of yours I've watched about a book I've personally read (and thoroughly enjoyed) and I am SO HAPPY (not surprised, just pleased) that you picked up on what it was doing and enjoyed it
I read this last year and I was so enthralled by the commentary on social issues. I have read all his books and totally recommend them, specially Horrorstor. I have been watching your videos voraciously and I got so excited knowing that you like this book too, I was like Rachel likes it, I have good taste
I'm so happy that you read this!!! It's one of my favorite books I've read in recent years and wanted to see what you thought about it!
The title being misleading is something that is obviously true but it caught me off guard because I never thought about it? I kind of go into his books without even thinking of the titles bc I think he is just like "this sounds cool and it's vaguely related" and I liked hearing you discuss it and reading other comments about it ❤
(Sorry if this was worded weirdly? English is not my first language and I just woke up)
Love love love the intro art! So gorgeous!
Hey Rachel, I stumbled upon your channel a few weeks back and have been binging your vids on authors behaving badly. When I saw Southern Book Club in the thumbnail, I was worried! I became an avid bookworm when the pandemic hit and this was the book that got it all started for me. Been a horror/thriller reader ever since, with Hendrix being one of my favorite authors. I enjoyed sitting through your video and hearing your thoughts on the book. Everything was on point.
I just found your channel and I’m obsessed. I can’t stop watching your videos.
Glad you like them!
100% agree with your critique of the title and the use of "soon" on the jacket compared to the pacing. I nearly DNFed it twice because I felt like I was back at square 1 with Patricia and it was making me frustrated...but I also think that was the point. I did not love the book (body horror not my thing), but I LOVED the writing. I still cannot get over the fact that a man wrote this book. It kind of blew my mind how well Hendrix wrote the female perspective. Felt like he helped me understand my mom and her 90s housewife experience on a deeper level, which I very much did not expect from a vampire book.
I've watched this video like 4 times now. You just describe everything perfectly and throughly
Started reading The Final Girl Support Group and I’ve been contemplating whether or not to get this book for a WHILE. Thanks so much for this review, I’m ABSOLUTELY gonna grab it the next time I’m out!!
Ahh!! My favorite reviewer reviews one of my favorite books! What a perfect day!! This was my first dive into Grady and I loved this novel. I remember reading it after I finished Nick cutter’s The Troop (read at your discretion) and this was the perfect amount of body horror and gore that didn’t make me feel like scrubbing my skin off. I’m so happy to see that you covered it!!
I think the title was supposed to be like an over exaggerated book title, since it’s about a book club. That’s how I looked at it anyway
I’m for sure gonna check this out. The only other Grady Hendrix book I’ve read was “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” which I remember really enjoying
i looove grady hendrix so much. my friend got me My Best Friend’s Exorcism for my grad present and i was rlly iffy on it but then i actually read it and ended up sobbing when i finished. easily one of my faves of all time and there were parts that genuinely scared me too, which is hard with horror books for me!!
This is one of my favorite books and authors and I’m SO HAPPY you liked it!!!!
If you guys want a Grady Hendrix book that isn’t SO dark, I’d recommend How to Sell a Haunted House. It’s a puppet haunting and very fun.
Found your channel cause I thought I was insane in not liking the Fourth Wing and your 3 part series brought me so much validation! Lmao
My bookclub actually picked this book for our June 2022 book......to say we had SUCH a robust hate for all the husbands and some of the topics when we met up (the week after roe v wade was overturned) to discuss was an understatement 😂
I really hope you read "My Best Friend's Exorcism", in my opinion it's his best work.
I plan to!
Absolutely loved this book!!! I felt so immersed the entire read and couldn't put it down 💕💕
Im planning on reading this book this year thanks for the trigger warnings Rachel
Fantastic review ! Its one I've been meaning to read but this has really moved it up my tbr
I loved this one too! And I agree, Final Girls Support Club was ok, but wasn't quite what I was hoping for/expecting. This one though, I loved and gave it 4.5 stars as well. I did a whole analysis/breakdown of this book on channel cause I saw a reviewer on Goodreads who was talking down/over other female reviewers who enjoyed this book. It's like tell me you lack reading comprehension skills without telling me you lack reading comprehension skills. 😂Everything he was complaining about in the review, I'm like, "but that's the whole fucking point!" So glad you enjoyed this one too. I knocked down half a star cause 1) I wanted to see a bit more with the other characters, especially Mrs. Greene, and 2) when I first read this book, I was eating lunch when I got to that rat scene. Will never make that mistake again. 🤢🤮
Totally agree! I didn’t know what I was getting into but ended up really enjoying it for what it was.
Have you done anything on A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating A Demon? I just read it and love it so much. It’s a modern fantasy romcom basically and I love the worldbuilding and characters
It's a shame that, "Reviews are for readers" is 6 syllables. I would have written you a RAFR haiku.
I was so surprised to find out Grady Hendrix was a man as well - I first read his "Final Girl Support Group" and the way he writes women and struggles women face feels so personal that I just assumed he was one as well - Imagine my surprise when I googled him to see what other books he wrote and his image popped up. I really liked both of those books and I hope to read more of him :)
I read Final Girls Support Group, and it just wasn't my thing, so I didn't take this book seriously because of the title. Now I know to give this a shot. 😊 Thank you!
I’m really thankful for this review; the title actually put me off the book (just doesn’t seem like my thing) but your review made me put it on my to-read!
This one has been on my to read list for a while, definitely gonna move it up the list now
I absolutely adore Grady Hendrix and his books. There's a few passages in the beginning that absolutely spoke to me about being a SAHM and primary caretaker.
I'm wrapping up The Moth Diaries (highly recommend!!!!) and I'm going to have to go on a vampire streak. I need this!
I'm glad you enjoyed it, and that it got a 4.5 I have to sit this one out because of some of the warnings, however I appreciate the fact it exists.
I am currently listening to this..at first I was bored of this then the humor started kicking in and I am LMAO (at work no less 😂😂) I like how the flow of writing has changed. So far when they are discussing bridges of madison county book that was so funny!
I absolutely LOVE this book. This is definitely his best, but everything else he’s written is pretty good and worth checking out. My Best Friends Exorcism is really good too. Grady Hendrix is legit, don’t sleep on him.
Ah, damn. I grew up near Charleston and this book sounds SO interesting. But I can’t do body horror. 😭 Appreciate you for calling that out, I wouldn’t have thought to look at the TWs.
I listened to the audiobook, and it sucked me in so hard the end sequence stuck with me to the point I was convinced I had seen it in a movie and it took me a few days of trying to convince people we had watched that movie together before I was like wait THAT BOOK. Grady Hendrix is amazing lol
Just borrowed the audiobook on hoopla (wish they had an ebook)- thanks for the review (and content warnings!)
Body horror and torture are Grady Hendrix's things. Every single one of his books has extended passages, sometimes combining the two and sometimes having multiple passages describing them separately. Some of it I can handle and some of it I absolutely can't.
You have made me want to watch it more now
I really enjoyed this one myself even though I couldn't relate to much in the book, seeing as I've never even visited the states and I think it speaks a lot to Grady's skill cause even without identifying with the characters, I was hooked. I do have to say I did enjoy My Best Friend's Exorcism a bit more than this one, I really recommend it if you hadn't already read it! I think they made a movie adaptation a few years ago but I haven't seen it yet so I can't speak to its quality.
Sounds interesting, I just can't read because of the horror. My brain loves to latch onto stuff like that and run with it in my dreams. I once dreamed I was kidnapped and tortured after watching Criminal Minds.
I’m the same. When I was a teen I watched the early 2000s Texas Chainsaw Massacre with friends, and no joke I had nightmares about that movie for 3-4 years afterwards. I can’t do horror or disturbing things like Criminal Minds. I stopped watching that show somewhere in season 1 because, well, they almost always do disturbing stories.
i’m from charleston sc and i still live here. people here definitelyyy fly a certain flag and say a certain word to this day. also i’ve been hesitant on reading this one, but i think i’ve been convinced!
I'm literally eating through this book right now, can't wait to watch when I'm done
I like that you’ve mentioned that Patricia’s husband is a dick because I hated him, especially towards the the final chapter, when he started interrogating her about James. I was glad that she asked for a divorce.
I neeeeeed you to read more of his books! He’s one of my favorite horror authors ever!!!
Rachel, adorei conhecer o seu canal! Estou maratonando todos os vídeos. Ainda não li esse, ele está na minha lista há um tempo e agora vou colocar ele entre os primeiros para ler logo 😊
This review makes me really want to show this to my friend, the primary parent and former stay at home mom to a bunch of teenagers whose ex husband DEFINITELY is a bloodsucker. She'll get a lot out of it, it seems like
I own this book and I read it a month after it was released, I remember just being "whelmed" by it (2.5-3 stars). The biggest things I remember are how mid the body horror was in comparison to past stories I've read, getting 2 books when I asked for one and white saviorism. There was also a missed opportunity for some satanic panic because of when and where this story takes place. I think Grady has already written a book with it as the focus, but a little nod could have been done since people were weirdly fixated on this back in the day. Like DnD was the ultimate evil, priests and pastors were claiming it promoted unaliving, mur der, SA, blasphemy, witchcraft, satanism, smex work, etc.
Anyway for me it wasn't a seamless transition, it was abrupt and felt like poor writing, otherwise we would have seen a cleaner segue into the insidiously benign creep of this monster's MO. There was a way to do and still have it be interesting, Grady either couldn't nail the proverbial landing or was rushed by the publisher. It was like getting one unfinished book squished together with a totally different book. Basically I enjoyed the first one and not the other. I recall the white saviorism was so casually slid in that it felt weird and gross? Like weird in the way people bring in racism without any supporting structure so the book can be "edgy" or shown to be "progressive" because it's a flimsy one-sided argument for the main characters to knock over. I remember feeling like I needed a shower after finishing up the book.
This was also my first read of the year! And I fully agree with all of this! I have this book a 3/5 because of the lull at the beginning, and I felt in the middle too, and for the misleading title. Was looking for the book club shenanigans, so even though I LOVED the feminist commentary, it wasn’t what I expected/“wanted” out of this read, so I was a bit thrown off. However, the commentary is fantastic, and it is the first horror book I’ve read that actually scared me. So glad you reviewed this!
Uuu, can't wait to read this, it sounds great!
I agree with most of your views and got real scared for a minute when I saw the title 😂
moving up on my tbr ty for the review
Oh man, I feel that pain of growing up in conservative FL (highlands county born and raise, so county neighbors). There was a bar close to my parents’ previous house that had trump signs and merch outside
I think the title, authors note, and synopsis made me expect something and then when it wasn’t that, it just made me very angry and ruined the book for me. It was a 5 star read for like the first half (hard to tell because it was audiobook). Bahni Turpin though, absolutely amazing narrator.
oh my god Bahni's narration absolutely knocked this outta the park
This book was very uncomfortable to read. Insanely dark and misogynistic. But the misogyny isn’t portrayed in a good way- it shows the shit the average mother goes through, went through, and takes it to an insane degree. Grady Hendrix is one of the few men I trust to write women. It haunted me for days and I do not want to read it again, but it was a meaningful book.
I loved My Best Friend's Exorcism, by the same author and the title was perfect lol
i love snarky rachel, but i also love when you love a book!
I loved this creepy book.
I loved this book so much as well! But I love all of Hendrix books, the ones that I have read anyway.
Circling back to this video because after this vid I bought this for both me and my grandma, and while she hasn't read it yet because she's still reading Outlander, I loved it so much i bought another book by the author.
Yes, lots of very realistic mysoginy, but that's the POINT and I honestly hate the husband more than the antagonist and yelled about him so much my parter closed my door because he couldn't take it anymore.
I agree with a lot of what you say, but this book gave me the ick for how much of a white savior story it is, and how the black community was depicted compared to the white community
I think this is the first time where we've come out on opposite sides of a book and it's fascinating.
I've read two of Grady's books, this one and The Final Girl Support Group and I didn't like either. Though, I did like this one slightly more.
My big thing is I don't think he writes women well, especially female friendships. I think we've gotten used to the bar being so low for male authors writing women, that he gets a pass. I still think he could do better.
It was interesting hearing your perspective though! Funnily enough, I was the only one in my book club who didn't like this book. 😅
I'm kind of thinking about getting this for my mom, I feel like she would feel very seen by this book (she is also in a book club) but I don't know how she would feel about the horror aspect of it, I've never known her to read or watch horror. But we also just had a fight about me not being Christian, so I might get it for her for mother's day.
So I'm a Huge Grady Hendrix Fan! I loved Best Friend's Exorcism and thought Final Girl Support Group was good and I really liked Southern Book Club although I keep running into people who seemed to not like the book or think it sucks.
When I first saw your video, I was a bit nervous because you seemed like a very strict reviewer and that Grady Hendrix was a man writting women.
I am so happy to have watched this video to find out that you're so surprised by that. I believe it's his strength as an author.