Reviews tagging 'Death'

Devil House: A Novel by John Darnielle

27 reviews

whofilets's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

1.0

Read by the author, in a slow and detached voice. Jumps around with narrators and situations. I was invested though, and wanted to find out the mystery of the killer... In the end it was a total letdown. I would have been happier if it ended a couple chapters early

and the main writer-character just had to wrestle with his actions after being called out by the victims family member, and never knowing who the 'real killer' was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Vomit

sheriffrockyraccoon's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

The idea is there, but the execution was lacking. I had really high hopes for this book, having loved the cover and enjoying a good mystery. That isn’t what this book is, though, and I would emphasize to anyone who wants to read it that I would hardly categorize it as crime either.

The book takes a long time to say what it wants to say. It takes WAY too long, like 350 pages too long. So much of the story is spent building up flat characters from an author whose characterization is also nonexistent. When it finally came to the plot twist, it just didn’t have much of an effect on me because there was nothing from the rest of the novel that I was truly holding on to.

I would like to think that maybe I am just so smart I saw Darnielle’s intention from the get go and that this was not a book directed toward me but I don’t think either of us should get too much credit. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

directorpurry's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Murder

kthealey's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Sexism, Xenophobia, and Vomit

rystonlentil43's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I started reading in digital format and I'd already passed the section in the different font before switching to the paperback, but it does look like it would've been pretty hard to make out in that font. That aside, its presence exemplifies what I love about this book (and is crucial to the themes!). There's such a variety of textures working together to build strong, interesting ideas. (I see from the other reviews that this was misleadingly marketed as horror, like Universal Harvester... I wish that would stop happening. It's sad that people are disappointed by these great books because they were expecting something different.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Domestic abuse

alicroz34's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Favourite line: Jesse has a fear of consequences whose constant presence at the periphery of his consciousness is a sort of tribute to his father. 

Well written! The first half or so really had me. Definitely not what I expected despite being warned it's not a horror book - but it's also not really a crime novel either in a way. It more... explores what crime media is without delivering on the crime aspect. The fourth time we were suddenly in the perspective of a peripheral character, later & later in the book, I really became impatient waiting for the answers that never caaaaame. This is the second book in the last year that has some almost fourth-wall-breaking commentary from the author on their own work. In the last few pages of the book, we read his account of a true crime novel that is not routed in fact, that has no momentum, and leaves the reader feeling unsatisfied. So, I know he knows he made that. But I still feel that way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse

jessiejonesbentley's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

Not horror but not bad. Decent writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

farrahsoa's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Good theme, underwhelming execution. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Death

yrioona's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.75

Weighed down a bit by metanarrative, deliberate repetition, and high concept touches (really could've done without the barely-relevant medieval interlude in fake gothic font), and treading some overly familiar ground as far as JD's themes and settings, but still really compelling and complex. It has a skillfully done puzzle-box/labyrinth structure that leads you through without spelling things out too much, teasing a straightforward narrative about troubled teens resorting to violence, but then gradually zooming out to reveal  
a kind of class-conscious existential horror story about what happens when you apply compassion and imagination to the true crime genre. I picked this up because I'm a mountain goats fan and WIWV was pretty ok, but this is a huge step up from WIWV and it made me look forward to what's next. Pretty incredible what this guy can do! Wish he would write some more interesting women characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

defeating_my_demons's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, and Murder