Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

La casa de hojas by Mark Z. Danielewski

56 reviews

astareads's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Not bad, not great. I probably didn't understand half of it, whereas the other half was either thrilling or boring. 

I went through every footnote and reference that was actually inside the book, and that too was a mixed bag. Sometimes it was interesting, sometimes it just kept referring back to itself which got frustrating.

I think I would've enjoyed the story of The Navidson Record on its own, as Johnny Truant's bits were just incomprehensible most of the time and not really much of interest until towards the end when

he finally let go of the drugs and sex.

On the good side I was reminded of Susanne Clarke's Piranesi, which is one of my favourites and has a similar labyrinthine feel to it, although a lot more literally than this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

gondorgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Car accident

greevianguy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Rape, and Suicide

Minor: Ableism

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

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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

mo0nsugar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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? Yes

5.0

This book will stick with you long after you've climbed from its cavernous depths.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

This book can be rough for people in a dark headspace.

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

mybookishdelights's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was a T R I P! It was hard to get through and I kept wondering "will it ever end??" but the experience is something I will never forget. I will likely even reread it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Cursing, Death, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism and Addiction

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

nerdkitten's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, Genocide, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Vomit, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

jacobalenciaga's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative mysterious tense 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

5.0

fucking fantastic. not perfect, but fantastic. way deeper than just something to read. i don't think i will read any sci-fi/horror book in the future without thinking of this. ending was a bit weak and there are a few moments where it reads like its up its own ass, but i loved it overall

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Child death, and Rape