Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

21 reviews

imstephtacular's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

I'm not sure I even understand what happened, but this was exactly the book I needed post-election. Propulsive and choppy writing, mixed media elements, and a confusing plot that kept me reading was a winning combo. My first Tremblay, but won't be my last!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Abandonment

sammy357's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia

daniellecherny's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

Ending is left open/ambiguous. If you need a clear ending that explains exactly what happened, don't read this book.

lata's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Holy shit, that was pretty sad. AND THE END... WHAT?! the start was boring, but the third part of the book compensates that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

hellokatya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.5

i wanted to like this book; i went in so excited but it really just fell flat. i had read in someone else’s review about the blog posts being out of place, and considering there wasn’t much done with them — and it spoiled the biggest twist — i am also not a fan. i feel like the story being told on chronological order, through the unreliable perspective of an 8 year old would’ve served the book a lot better. saddened to see the loss of the potential it had.
 try hard to pick back up once i’d put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body horror, Vomit, and Grief

Minor: Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

atthediscotech's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Ending was good until “The twist”. The twist made it less interesting. 3.5 bc the twist was a let down. I would have given it 5 without it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

ilaxaria's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Excrement

Minor: Pedophilia, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

thebearnest's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Gore, Misogyny, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

5.0

Horrifyingly tragic, A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay is filled to the brim with terrible scenes, all told from the point of view of the youngest character to witness everything. I just felt so bad the entire time reading this for not just Marjorie and Merry, who were just kids, but also characters like Sarah and Ken; who while aren't blameless entirely, are forced to witness a lot of this horror with seemingly no agency to fight against it. 

I also felt really bad that the one who I felt more creeped out by was not Marjorie, with her gruesome stories and actions, but Merry, who seemed to take glee from her and her sister's trauma. Merry should be a somewhat reliable narrator as a kid, aside from her shoddy memory. There isn't a reason to suspect her of leaving things out. However, I felt wary all the same as Merry became known for being an exaggerator and a storyteller. There's a few reveals later on in the book that highlight this fact and it just made me very suspicious of someone who is just a very traumatized child/person. 

Tremblay has done a fantastic job here with this book. A reader questioning a narrator's true feelings makes for good conversation and deeper reading. I am so torn with Merry as a character. My initial feelings were as stated above: Merry is creepy for the way she expresses her thoughts on the situation and her sister. However, after I finished the book, I couldn't help but think that maybe Merry was just trying to find her own way of understanding what all happened in her childhood, everything that led up to the greatest tragedy of her life. Afterward, all I could see was a girl-now-adult, still struggling to figure out why her sister acted the way she did, what her sister could've been thinking throughout it all.

When I started this book, the summary had not prepared me for the gruesome descriptions Tremblay employed, nor how sad a story this really was. I just felt so bad for Marjorie, more than anything. She didn't deserve anything that happened to her, and needed to be taken out of the home and cameras that were definitely making things worse. I am curious to know of other's opinions of the portrayal of schizophrenia in this book. I did not touch on it as I am not an expert on the condition, nor do I have the condition. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement and Domestic abuse

simp4sneks's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail