Reviews with content warning for Grief - House of Cotton

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

House of Cotton by Monica Brashears

25 reviews

tyler_machotka's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Wow, when heading into this book I thought it was going to be a weird mystery for some reason. Boy was I wrong, but yet i'm glad it wasn't. I'm kind of lost for words with this book(for me is a good thing!). Very fast read though, and for her first novel I think she killed it! This book felt like a A24 movie and I love that feel, it was weird and strange but leaves you thinking. If you are looking for a book with a big plot this is not going to be for you, the book took on some social commentary for poor, Black, woman in the south. It almost feels a little like black mirror! Can't wait to see whats coming next for Monica Brashears!

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ecn's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

The technical writing was really beautiful and great overall. However, the story itself was majorly lacking. I will say, this is definitely not a book for me since I cannot stand unlikeable characters, but there wasn’t a single thing to grab onto to enjoy the story.

The concept was intriguing but the shitty characters, bad sex, stupid decisions, and rushed ending take away from every good aspect. It felt like, between the last major event the and the final 3 chapters, there was a HUGE missing chapter. I needed something to bridge that gap bc I genuinely do not think it was properly finished and I could not tell you *at all* how this story actually ended or what happened? Maybe if I were to physically read the book (I listened to the audio) it would have made more sense but I highly doubt it. It was just really lackluster :/

Also wtf was going on with the grandmother and her absolute NEED for the MC to see/talk with her aborted fetus??? I cannot tell if this is supposed to be pro-life or not and I have no idea why ANY aspect of that storyline needed to be included? Unless I missed something huge but????

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sbcrra's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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martinj's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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amywhatyougonnado's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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jraley_writes's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.5

Nothing ever really seemed to happen. There was suspense not realized...I wanted more and kept waiting and then nothing really happened...

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bullockae's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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bex_inada's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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rorikae's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

‘House of Cotton’ by Monica Brashears is a haunting (both literally and figuratively) story about a young Black woman trying to find her way in life and the strange job she finds herself accepting.

After her grandmother’s funeral, Magnolia is trying to figure out how to pay the rent on her grandmother’s house when a promising job opportunity drops in her lap. A white man named Cotton, who owns a funeral parlor, proposes Magnolia act as the dead family members of mourning families so they can get closure. The job pays well and so Magnolia accepts. But as the jobs get more and more strange and Magnolia begins to see her grandmother’s ghost, she starts to second guess her decision.

Brashears’ writing is crisp and evocative. For the main characters in the story including Magnolia, Cotton, and Eden, she quickly conveys such a clear sense of their characters. They feel lived in, in all of the horrific and human ways. The job that Magnolia takes on is both a fascinating look at how people seek closure after a loved one’s death as well as a morbid take on how one funeral parlor makes money. There is a creeping sense of unease that permeates the book, especially as we learn more about Cotton and Eden. Ultimately, I think this is a fascinating character study with ghost elements. If you are looking for something a little bit unsettling but that does an excellent job of diving into the lived experience of the characters, this is a great book to pick up. I highly recommend the audiobook.

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bandysbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I recently listened to House of Cotton on audiobook. I didn't know much about the book going into it, but the summary sounded amazing and the cover was really calling my attention. Maybe I should've done a bit more research because this was quite the surprise.

This book follows a young woman who is struggling to get by and is approached by the eccentric owner of a mortuary who offers her a job modeling. While she initially assumes that it will be a standard modeling job, she finds that it requires quite a bit more than she bargained for. As she works for him, things get stranger and stranger and soon she is imitating dead people.

I don't really know where exactly to start with this review. The summary does not really adequately prepare the reader for what is going to happen. This book touches on a lot of difficult topics. Some parts felt like sharp social critique and other parts felt like they were added in just for shock value. Perhaps some of it went over my head, but I felt like some of the messaging might've been lost within the graphic and uncomfortable content.

Our main character is a tough character. She's clearly lived a hard life and seen some of the worst that society has to offer. No one has ever given her anything and she's really had to struggle to survive. That said, I'm not sure how I feel about her. I understand some of the choices she makes. The weird things she's being asked to do offer her a semblance of financial freedom, but they come with some pretty heavy strings attached.. It was also pretty hard reading about the way she approaches sex. Ultimately, I don't dislike her character, but I don't exactly like her either. I felt sad for her and angry for her too, but she was just not an easy character to read.

One thing that I did really appreciate about this story was the beautiful description. The author really did an excellent job of setting the scene. I could easily imagine what was going on and where it was happening which is part of what made this book so visceral and uncomfortable at times.

I will say that overall I found this book to be a very confusing experience. In some ways, I think that that might be intentional, but in other ways I wonder if the message would've been better understood had the story been a bit more tightly woven. The flashes between reality and dreams or hallucinations were sometimes hard to follow and all of the chaos made for a disorienting experience.

All in all, I'm not sure who to recommend this book to, but if you decide to read it, make sure you read the trigger warnings as there is a lot of dark stuff in this book.

As for the audiobook, I felt that the narrator did a good job. I was able to understand her and I felt she suited the story. It was easy to tell who the different characters were and I thought her pace worked well.

TW: Rape, Sexual Content, Illusions to Necrophilia, Drugs, Racism, Homelessness, False Imprisonment

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