Reviews with content warning for Schizophrenia/Psychosis - The House In The Pines

Ambivalent, worrisome, humble

Narration 🙂: Croaky in parts, especially with male voices, but not too distracting

An adult (late 20s ish) is coming to terms with past trauma and is further triggered by a social media video showing someone die in a similar way to their best friend.
We are following our MC in their contemporary era, spun out on self-medicating chemies unbeknownst to their partner and family. We also see their POV through flash backs from their senior year of high school and shortly thereafter ~ 7 years ago.
Set in Berkshire (I think?) Massachusetts, USA and surrounding regions.

Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐺🐕:
-The transition between past and present wasn't necessarily jarring except for how it occurred so abruptly (even on audio). Based on the characters involved I figured out which era we were in, but maybe chapter/headings for those transitions would be helpful. It was probably easier with audio than text/digitial
-The ending just kinda happens. It's fast, all the Tea is spilled rapidly and feeling rushed, although I can also imagine complaints about this book being too long if it kept the pace (IOW maybe we could have cut down all the withdrawal/family drama bits since they're pretty much the same over time in the present day).

Cred Rating 😛: Suspended disbelief with plausible moments. Just read it going with the flow and don't overthink. Some of the obvious questions are answered in a way that relies on magical realism to keep up, but it isn't OTT magical. Hard to say more w/o spoiling it all.

Mood Reading Match Up:
-Dark psychological mystery
-Guatemalan family history and experiencing culture from afar
-Unreliable narrator trope with contemporary fiction and mental illness elements
-Coming of age friendship drama

Content Heads-Up: Adult/minor relationship. Self-medicating with alcohol and pills.

Format: Library Audio via Libby

Content Warnings

savheath's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

brittanyalexa's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-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

2.0

I really wanted to love this book. It seemed promising and the initial premise was intriguing. It was easy to get into but it quickly became super disjointed and it seemed like the author was all over the place like they had a list of things they wanted included and just threw them all in. The main character was so unlikable and not in a fun, devious, or interesting way.

Things are just so nonchalantly brought up and left off and diving into Maya’s mind could have made it more interesting. As it stands it feels like I am just getting a list of things happening to her, her not reacting like any human being would, then on to the next. And it continues like that for 3/4 for the book. When things finally start to fall into place it takes the main character way too long to draw conclusions the reader came to instantly which makes it seem like it drags on.

I just don’t think the storyline was developed enough and the characters are so flat and the main character especially was void of emotion or rational thought 90% of the time. Even when everything unfolds it’s hard to relate to her decisions and feelings.

The ending seemed like one of plot convenience. Instead of creating a world and a lead up it’s just thrown in there and has no limits or rules. Like a game made up by a little kid that changes the rules in their favor any time you try to play along. It just seemed like the book took a weird turn out of absolutely nowhere and didn’t really take the time to flesh it out.

I really liked the plot line of her fathers book and it paralleling her experiences. I think that could have been a bigger part of the book and some of the superfluous things could have been left out. It really came and went where it would be a big plot point and then not mentioned again for a long time.

Over all this books needed a few rewrites before it should have been published. There are redeeming qualities to it and the writing itself isn’t bad, but it wasn’t executed well and I am left confused how Reese picked this one.

***Spoilers ahead as I go over my worst gripe with the book***

If Frank had such powerful hypnosis powers that he could literally kill people with it why would he not be a rich and powerful guy somewhere. Why would he waste his talents on some random girl he didn’t even know. If he’s really that all powerful and void of morals he would be living in the Hollywood hills sitting on millions not in a sleeping bag on the ruins of a cabin. This book boarders on magical realism with seemingly no limits on the powers possessed but everyone including the villain is an idiot. The hypnosis thing is way too far fetched but even worse than that if it was a real thing there’s no explanation for why Frank is dropping random girls instead of convincing some imaginative daydreaming billionaire to give him a mansion. Kind of walking the line of he can only perform this way because these small town women aren’t smart enough to have control of their thoughts so they can instantly be taken over. Pretty cringey. Also when Maya realizes she blacked out and lost time and came to running through the woods covered in dirt we all know where all of our heads (at least us girls) would be at as far as speculating what happened and you expect me to believe she goes home and just doesn’t care if Frank is going to talk to Aubrey? Instead of wanting to protect your best friend from a predator you’re jealous that he wants her number and say you don’t care if he talks to her? I would tell him if he ever so much as glanced at my best friend he would get a karate chop to the windpipe but maybe he hypnotized her into being a bad friend too? And her fiancé sees her in clear distress and just makes no attempt to contact her or see what’s up and when he finally does he says this isn’t what he signed up for? He’s absent the entire time it’s convenient then suddenly he’s the love of her life again. And then she decides that she belongs with him? Also I don’t know about you but if I knew a guy could literally talk someone into dropping dead I would probably steer clear of one on one confrontations. The more I think about it the more I dislike this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Randomhouse for this ARC.

Content Warnings

redefiningrachel's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Content Warnings

leebeeloves's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

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