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ghulsona's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
WOW THAT ENDING FUCKED ME UP . . . really cool meta explorations and discussions of haunted house tropes, fantastic character dynamics, funny and smart dialogue, good handling of twists and turns . . . this was just a fantastic scary thriller read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Drug use and Sexual content
mackenzi's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, and Blood
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence
The two main characters stay in a haunted house that has many, possibly dozens of different stories in its history. Many of the stories are referenced through the book, all involving death in some way. As one of the characters says in the book, it ranges from "murder, murder-suicide, suicide-suicide, and murder-murder." Several of these stories are discussed in detail, most are mentioned briefly and not brought up again. The main plot involving the two protagonists involvesnakias_hideaway's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
4 out of 5 stars!
I had to sit with this one before I could write a review. Not because it was extra scary or creepy but more so because of some of the issues with this book (I'll get into them later).
To start, I enjoyed the writing style of J.W. Ocker. The humor he infused into this story just worked for me. It may not be for everyone however because there is a lot of conversation throughout the novel. Don't go into this expecting a lot of things to happen right away. It takes a minute. And usually I get bored with this type of narrative but I was really into the dynamic between Felix and Thomas. I even found myself rushing back to read this book.
Some others have said that they were annoyed with the constant horror movie references but I enjoyed them. I loved their Film Fight game!
I also enjoyed the fact that Felix was a skeptic while Thomas was a believer, so I feel that readers could find a way to identify with one of them.
There are also ghosts, unlike in another popular book that I read. Who knew this would be a big deal in a haunted house book? But yes you will get ghosts and blood and guts and gore and I was here for all of it. Was it scary to me? No. Was it creepy at parts? Definitely.
And the mystery of Twelve Nights at Rotter House... I was pleasantly surprised by. I know others said that the twist was predictable but this was definitely not the case for me. I may even reread it later down the line to look for the clues that I missed. With the twist, this story is creepiest because it's about the flaws in humanity. This also brings in a psychological element which I thoroughly enjoyed.
What keeps this from getting 5 stars? Well...
There were many times in this book where I felt J.W. Ocker went too far with the sexual content to the point where I found quite a few things to be perverse and disgusting. When I have to question the author and why there was a need to include something(s) in their story then there is a problem. (view spoiler)
Then there is the issue of race which others have mentioned. (view spoiler) Was this my experience while reading it? No. Can I understand why others had an issue with this? Yes.
So for these reasons this could not be a 5 star book for me.
And I would just like to read an adult horror novel that is not problematic. Is that too much to ask for?!
Regardless, even with my minor grievance I was still able to enjoy this story and it's still one of the best horror novels I've read lately.
Trigger Warning: Graphic sexual content
I had to sit with this one before I could write a review. Not because it was extra scary or creepy but more so because of some of the issues with this book (I'll get into them later).
To start, I enjoyed the writing style of J.W. Ocker. The humor he infused into this story just worked for me. It may not be for everyone however because there is a lot of conversation throughout the novel. Don't go into this expecting a lot of things to happen right away. It takes a minute. And usually I get bored with this type of narrative but I was really into the dynamic between Felix and Thomas. I even found myself rushing back to read this book.
Some others have said that they were annoyed with the constant horror movie references but I enjoyed them. I loved their Film Fight game!
I also enjoyed the fact that Felix was a skeptic while Thomas was a believer, so I feel that readers could find a way to identify with one of them.
There are also ghosts, unlike in another popular book that I read. Who knew this would be a big deal in a haunted house book? But yes you will get ghosts and blood and guts and gore and I was here for all of it. Was it scary to me? No. Was it creepy at parts? Definitely.
And the mystery of Twelve Nights at Rotter House... I was pleasantly surprised by. I know others said that the twist was predictable but this was definitely not the case for me. I may even reread it later down the line to look for the clues that I missed. With the twist, this story is creepiest because it's about the flaws in humanity. This also brings in a psychological element which I thoroughly enjoyed.
What keeps this from getting 5 stars? Well...
There were many times in this book where I felt J.W. Ocker went too far with the sexual content to the point where I found quite a few things to be perverse and disgusting. When I have to question the author and why there was a need to include something(s) in their story then there is a problem. (view spoiler)
Then there is the issue of race which others have mentioned. (view spoiler) Was this my experience while reading it? No. Can I understand why others had an issue with this? Yes.
So for these reasons this could not be a 5 star book for me.
And I would just like to read an adult horror novel that is not problematic. Is that too much to ask for?!
Regardless, even with my minor grievance I was still able to enjoy this story and it's still one of the best horror novels I've read lately.
Trigger Warning: Graphic sexual content
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
glains's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Gore
Minor: Drug use and Sexual content
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