Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

132 reviews

cagigglez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

I read this book bc someone chose it in my book club.  Some parts were creepy and eerie but a lot of the plot line was under developed and confusing.  There was a lot of research and scientific information that really was boring and overwhelming to read and didn’t add much to the story; personally not my favorite but it was interesting and I’m glad I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Rape, and Murder

raidingkvatch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

keiraonyxraven's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

mooonyaa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

sunn_bleach's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad slow-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

3.75

No surprises why this became as big as it is - "House of Leaves" captures the zeitgeist of late-90s existential dread and the earliest Internet "mysteries" pre-creepypasta. I read this in 2015 in Alaska and recall feeling like Danielewski didn't really know how to end it. I still stand by that: while I like the overall story of the tapes, Johnny's story feels so aimless as to belabor the point of its own aimlessness. The final chapter (added after the book's initial publishing) is unnecessary; the story works better when Johnny isn't ruminating and self-aware of his being overwhelmed by the book. Some of his terms of phrase are hilarious; the opening page's statement of Johnny being covered in blood "but it's not mine" is such transparent in-media-res spookums. I did find Pelafina's story much more heartrending this time around.

Glad to revisit, probably won't do so again. There's stuff I just prefer more, though "House of Leaves" certainly sparked a flame that burns for good reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

togglesmcbobbins's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

A decension into madness and a beautiful example of the experimental reading experience. This was really three stories in 1 book, though the core story of Navidson and the various explorations of the House was my favorite. It is truly a unique reading experience! I wish more books had fun publishing like this one!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse and Mental illness

singerscientist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Death of parent

lordcafeine's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

Was it an easy read? Totally not
Was it good? I don't know
Will it stick with me forever? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Rape, and Suicide

book__reader's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

5.0

I did find parts to be a bit iffy especially if it was from

Johnny’s perspective

But otherwise, this is like nothing I’ve read before. The writing was incredible, and the main story, I really couldn’t put the book down unless I had too!! This will be probably a book I come back to often.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

ivana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious

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

4.25

The reading experience of this was like nothing I've ever read and probably will ever read again. I loved how it mirrored what was happening in the story. I actually enjoyed Johnny's footnotes and the rambling nonsensical tone a lot more than most seem to have and I had a harder time with the pretentious fake analytical tangents from The Navidson Record

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Colonisation

Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, and Rape