Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

9 reviews

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.

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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

mobymaize's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book is very important. Reading it, at times, is very much a challenge. I had fun with it, despite taking me nearly 5 months to read. Take into advice the first line of House of Leaves: This is not for you, but the novel is also very interesting, so you might want to read it. Be prepared to flip your book upside down, and to be interrupted in the middle of a description of abyssal hallways leading on for infinity with a (NSFW)

very explicit scene where a main character gets a finger up his butt and cums from it

. Great & wild book, will never read again /pos.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Lesbophobia

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

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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

magicant's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

definitelynotreading's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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? Yes

 Fair warning, I'm not giving this one a star rating. It's so unique that I don't know how it falls into a typical rating system.
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If you've never heard of this book, the concept is that this old man dies and his neighbor's friend finds this old trunk full of a manuscript for a book that's typed, scribbled on scraps, disorganized and all over the place. So this guy, Johnny, decides to organize the manuscript and adds his own footnotes to it. The manuscript is an analysis of a Blair Witch style movie about a house that's bigger on the inside. The catch is- this movie doesn't actually exist. In the process of putting this book together, Johnny goes crazy and you get a front row seat. It's a story with so many layers, insane formatting and it's a wild ride.
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My friend and I read this together and started the read terrified that it was going to be the scariest thing we've ever read. What actually happened is there were a few spooky chapters (don't get me wrong, reading the end late at night in a basement was not a good plan) but all the built up tension would get lost in long philosophical passages or a footnote describing Johnny's latest depraved escapades at his local club. Don't even get me started on the formatting of chapter 9 😨.
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I'm ultimately glad that my friend introduced me to this book. Someday I may go back and re-read only the Navidson Record (the part about the house) because those were the relatable characters and the best story. For me, I'm glad I pushed through the insanity, but this is definitely not a book for everyone and were it not for buddy reading, I'm not sure I would've made it through.
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If you do plan to pick it up, there are definitely some content warnings you should look into, especially towards the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

funmilayo's review against another edition

When I first started reading this book I was really excited because I never read anything quite like it. The storyline seemed very complex, mysterious and overall intriguing. The main reason as to why I was so excited to read this book however, was that I had read an abundance of reviews that described this book as one of the scariest stories ever. It wasn't. There were a few parts where the author tried to build up tension and did so quite interestingly (by influencing the reading speed through word placement and the format of certain passages). However, in the end all of these attempts fell completely flat and left you wanting more so that the book would eventually live up to its hype...which it really didn't. In regards to the scariness of the story: the only truly scary part of this book was the absolutely disgusting misogyny.  Mark Z. Danielewski absolutely cannot write complex female characters (Imagine Haruki Murakami but make it ten times as misogynistic!). The only "personality trait" these women had was trauma and their entire personality seemingly revolved around the male characters (Johnny in particular). There's this really horrible passage that is litteraly just page after page of Johnny detailing the traumatic experiences of every woman he's ever met in extreme detail. Lots of male authors are into using trauma/abuse of women as a plot device (because a womans pain is apparently the only substantial thing about her) but Danielewski doesn't even use the trauma for the plot...it has absoulutely nothing to do with anything which makes it all the more disturbing. There were a few passages that were somewhat interesting but not enough to redeem the overall theme and style of the story. Johnny is a literal incel and it makes me sick to read about his thoughts and actions and the lack of reflection and discussion of the extremely misogynistic content of this book is incredibly alarming. Obviously I wasn't expecting a feminist manifesto from this book but I also wasn't expecting an incel manifesto so... .
In conclusion: the idea for the story and the interesting concept and layout seemed really promising but fell through completely. I cannot and will not reccomend this book to anybody. There's much better (psychological) horror books and stories out there that are scary without being completely dehumanizing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexual harassment

veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

0 ⭐
This book just wasn't for me (to quote the beginning)
I wanted to be scared and I was looking forward to all the riddles. But the more I read the less I cared. I just wanted it to be over. It wasn't even the academic style of writing or Johnny (although I sometimes felt that Johnny was only written for a shock factor and to be "edgy", which made me lose interest a bit)
The author is undoubtedly very talented and a lot of work went into this. The weird thing is, that I actually enjoyed some of the discussions about the book on Reddit. Maybe I'll pick this book back up in a year or so.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism and Panic attacks/disorders

orcgrotto's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I have a lot of difficulty recommending this book -- as it is, a piece of ergodic literature, it is arguably the most unique book I have ever read. At its time, no doubt one of the most groundbreaking books ever written.

In general, if you are looking for a piece of media that will break the fourth wall, or just be wacky/meta/self-referential, there's a lot out there that you can consume in less time than the reading of these 723 pages. As it stands, there are so many movies and videogames that do just the same in a more interactive way. But I will reiterate that this book is unlike anything else I have ever read. It filled me with a genuine fear and anxiety unlike one I have ever felt. I think I went through all five stages of grief in the process of reading it. 

If you want to give it a shot, know that no part of it is an 'easy' read. The author expects a lot of you, and the content warnings are no joke. Take your time, and take heed of what heavy topics exist within its pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, and Suicide

dogfishpoem's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

2.5

The unique structure of the book was fun, but why do men have to write like that :/ This was so misogynistic it read like satire at points. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Eating disorder, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape