The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
A sweet little book club of proper southern ladies are faced with their own adventure when a real life vampire moves into and begins terrorizing their gated community.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Pros: story of friendship, heroism, trusting your gut and the intrinsic strength inside of a bookish southern belle.
Cons: casual racism, Edward Cullen did not make an appearance.
Trigger Warnings: Rape, Gore, Blood Racism, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault
A few months ago, my friend Paige sent me this book as a gift. She said “I really think you will enjoy it” plus the title has the word “vampires” in it, so I was excited to read it and it did not disappoint.
First of all, I love the cover. I know you technically aren’t supposed to judge a book like this but I’m an artist. Good illustrations and/or design means a lot to me. It is what it is. I loved the artwork and even the book interior was beautiful.
The title had me on the fence though because when titles tend to be too long, I am unsure. I can’t explain that one, I just know myself and I know that they tend to turn me off to the book. I am glad it didn’t deter me this time.
I was immediately invested in the story within the first few chapters. The main character, Patricia Campbell, tries her best to be a good southern housewife. Her kids kind of keep to themselves, her husband is a workaholic. Her mother in law also lives with them and has dementia so she is frequently argumentative and requires round the clock care. Her life isn’t perfect but she does have one thing that she loves: her book club.
The book club starts out reading boring, banal books, but then a few of the members splinter off from the main group and form a book club that they insist is not a book club. In this non book club, they get to read the really good stuff like The Stranger Beside Me - a book I too have read - and they are forbidden from telling their husbands about it. Scandalous.
However, and not to directly quote Bella Swan but things were getting a little… strange. One night, Patricia goes outside to take out the garbage and is viciously attacked by one of her neighbors. THE NERVE. The old lady is a snarling mess and lunges at her in the darkness, biting a piece of her ear off in the process. The wild woman later dies in the hospital and Patricia is left stunned and with only 1.5 ears.
That is just the tip of the iceberg though. I do not want to give away any more spoilers. This book is an incredibly enjoyable read and has many emotional, suspenseful and downright shocking twists and turns that you deserve to get to experience for yourself. I will note a few moments that had me shook though and you can skip ahead if you’d prefer to stay blissfully unaware until you can get yourself a copy.
LOWKEY SPOILERS
The classism and white privilege in this book are as relevant as ever. As a southern lady myself, all of these takes felt authentic and familiar and I appreciated the camaraderie across city limits, skin color and circumstance.
The sexism is also palpable and enraged me as always. Her husband is a prick. Patricia isn’t about the bullshit though, even if she remains complacent for a time. She eventually comes into her own and realizes who she is, what she is worth and where she stands. Honestly, we love this for her and I audibly cheered her on.
The friendship aspect had me up in arms. I love a good story of heroinism and I love it even more when it comes in forms you least expect. These women were bored with their books so they changed it up, they knew there was a vampire in the town and they took care of it, no men required.
All in all, I highly recommend this book. It combines all of my favorite things into one story. True crime, female friendships, discovering your own power, etc.