Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

La casa de hojas by Mark Z. Danielewski

94 reviews

gondorgirl's review against another edition

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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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raebeiss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

where do i even begin. a book that took me 6 months to read and is also amazing. please go read this one?

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greevianguy's review against another edition

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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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storm_37's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

House.

5/5

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thesuperawesomesarah's review against another edition

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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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rozex's review against another edition

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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. 

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hedsek's review against another edition

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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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greatdistractions's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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fl0ralaura's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? It's complicated

3.75

This book, in form alone, is wildly inventive and imaginative. When I heard it took the author 10 years to write, I believed it instantly because this is so much detail and so many hidden clues and puzzles between these pages. I love “weird books”, books that play with form, and books that riff off the familiar. I was shocked by how touching I would find aspects of the story especially Karen.

That being said, this book is disturbing and creepy. The first half in particular caused related nightmares of unheimlich architecture. The Minotaur story, especially as it relates to themes of fatherhood and shame were particularly moving. 

My one real critique is that in parts of the second half it drags a bit and I, at times, found Truant’s purple prose boring. 

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justawholeapple's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A labyrinthine trek through heartache, loss, and meaninglessness that defies defintion and rewards multiple close reads.

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