The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

Patricia has changed, and she is okay with that change. After her ordeal, she has emerged stronger, more thoughtful, and, most importantly, no longer doubting herself. She knows that “what had been destroyed made what remained that much more precious” (404).

The novel leaves several threads of loss, trauma, and psychological impact hanging. We never learn what happened to Wanda Taylor—a minor characters whose experiences at the hands of James Harris provide a mirror to Patricia’s own. Unlike Patricia, who could rely on her wealth, whiteness, and town connections to spirit Korey away to a treatment facility when there is a hint of drug use in the teen’s life, Wanda suffered the destruction of her family when the police came to similar conclusions about Destiny.