Reviews tagging 'Grief'

How to Sell a Haunted House, by Grady Hendrix

23 reviews

emilymdxn's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

jayjm94's review

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I read this 415 page book in one sitting. It was everything I love about Grady Hendrix— there is plenty of reflection, but it is mainly scary messed up stuff happening and men being absolutely awful to women. This is as good as a scary puppet book gets; it’s full of camp, gore and family secrets. I don’t think it dragged a bit. So much fun!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gaslighting, Child death, Gore, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pregnancy, Murder, Excrement, Blood, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Addiction, Body horror, and Abandonment

Minor: Excrement and Animal death

mx_manda's review

dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This one is an Experience.

<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/26BRyfjVouafFghcA/giphy.gif"/>

Possibly his creepiest work to date, HtSaHH delves deep into loss, grieving, family secrets, strained family relations, the realities and narratives we create for ourselves, and the anarchy of puppets. All with a big dose of humor to break up some of that tension, lest you take things too seriously. Louise's mother, Nancy, gives off some real strong Tammy Faye vibes.

I want to write an essay or three about this work, but it's so fresh and new that I'm going to avoid anything spoilery for everyone—y'all just need to know that I loved it and will revisit in the future. But for now, I have a lot to chew on. I will say this: Hendrix never fails to impress me with how well he writes middle-aged women, and Louise's navigating the ideals and reality of mothering was no exception.

The extra essay material in the B&N special edition is totally worth the read if you love educational bonuses. 

<b>TW/CW</b>:

Spoiler

child death, parental death, gore, strained/antagonistic familial relationships, mental health

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Blood, and Injury/injury detail

Moderate: Death, Car accident, and Child death

kierstm's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death of parent, Car accident, Grief, and Injury/injury detail

musesandmoons's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Blood, Death, Alcoholism, Child death, and Gore

peachy_dreamy's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Injury/injury detail, Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

mariecaat02's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Animal death, Injury/injury detail, Body horror, and Self harm

Moderate: Self harm, Blood, Animal death, Car accident, Child death, and Injury/injury detail

Minor: Blood, Body horror, Car accident, and Injury/injury detail

bugaboobear's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

It started out sad and slow but ramped up the pace before long. I really enjoyed the novel and look forward to more from Mr Hendrix. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gore and Car accident

Minor: Animal death

jaedia's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow, I could not put this book down. How to Sell a Haunted House follows Louise as she returns home following the sudden death of her parents, only to find herself feeling frustrated by her brother Mark who has already taken control of all of the funeral arrangements and she's not happy. The entire book is about grief and family, and just happens to include a haunted house as its backdrop, although this one is not exactly as you would expect. And I will say no more because the way this story unwinds is so good. As I said, could not put it down. All this did was remind me that I need to pick up his other books because this is the second time I have fallen in love with his writing! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Car accident, Blood, Gore, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Self harm, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content

Minor: Fatphobia, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Gun violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

kkalicky94's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Injury/injury detail, Death of parent, Violence, Car accident, Death, and Grief