Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

10 reviews

thesuperawesomesarah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

rozex's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

This book is a mind fuck and a half. It's a feeling of discovering it with one of the characters, while being there while it's edited. It's questioning what has or hasn't been influenced by what characters. It's the feeling of *everything* (including you, somehow) influencing the book. 
It's a bit of a slow start, and can feel like you're reading an essay instead of a book. Yet every time it gets tedious (or even exciting), Johnny Truant interjects with his (quite frankly disturbing) tales, leaving you questioning what is real or fake or both. The story that Zampano is fascinating and thought provoking, sometimes leaving you praying for the characters or what they represent. 
If you are interested in a challenging read, then prepare to be challenged. 
It has a bit of triggering content at times, so be warned. 
Not suitable for people under 18, I think. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Rape, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

hedsek's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

So many thoughts, so little energy. Maybe I'll return here at some point.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Car accident

quixie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

izzydelaya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

hazelbynature's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Terminal illness, Excrement, and Vomit

danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

I liked it! Sometimes I struggled with its rather intentional meandering structure but I appreciated the maze it was laying out and what it was meant to evoke from the reader. I also appreciated the ways in which the book itself felt like a metaphor for the psyche of its dual book within a book authors. I will say, the book is pretty damn misogynistic, so I struggled with that a bit. But overall, it was a fun ride.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

akiram's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

It's hard to put into words the rollercoaster of emotions this book made me go through. I loved and I despised at the same time, it was gut wrenching in a lot parts and heartwarming in others. Altought the text is at times difficult to read because of its structure, I think that it's worth the struggle. Would not recommend to everyone because it can be triggering at times and it's a massive book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

booitsnathalie's review

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

I can't stop thinking about what a nightmare this book must have been to design and print. I'm not sure any book will ever give me the sort of awe and revulsion I felt seeing a sentence span across the spine over two pages. It's obscene.

I didn't know much about House of Leaves beyond it's infamous typography, so it was surprising to learn it's functionally a book equivalent to found footage horror. It trades documentary "authenticity" for dense citations and pervert French, but conceptually I find a lot of similarities (both are primarily interested in the mechanics of their medium and how our trust in those forms can be exploited). How successful HoL is depends mostly on your willingness to indulge its most excessive elements, following footnotes to smaller footnotes and spinning the book around like it's the world thickest centerfold.

HoL slots into a weird segment of media that I conceptually appreciate but dread existing because it inevitably gets attached to the worst sort of gross art bro. It is a playful, surprisingly warm, darkly funny book, but also one that revels in masculine violence and the deification of male ambition. It is proud of its swamp, fascinated by the algae and mutated fish, but if you want to study the tadpoles you're forced to wade past crocodiles and a CW list longer than the terms you didn't read.

My metaphors are mixing and my mind is wandering, but this is all to say HoL is a challenging recommendation in 2022. A rewarding one if you can stomach the grime, but I wouldn't shame anyone for keeping it on the shelf a while longer.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent

Minor: Bullying and Child death

jerusha's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Medical trauma

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Death of parent