Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

30 reviews

tvanert7's review against another edition

Too much of a power struggle between sister and brother… made me uncomfortable. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Abandonment

vixenreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.25

An exciting, and yet heartfelt, horror novel of how failing to address the grievances of the past will come back to haunt generations to come. Plus if you are afraid of dolls and puppets, this book is nightmare-fuel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Gun violence, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Racism, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and War

Be aware that this book features estrangement within families, unstable sibling relationships, unresolved generational trauma, children drowning, cult-like behaviour, 9/11 and the Iraq War, bad exes, mother-daughter relationships, sewing needles as weapons, eyeball trauma, and killer dolls/puppets/imaginary dogs.

_danrobin's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death and Emotional abuse

Minor: Car accident

shubka's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

This book definitely makes me never want to be around puppets or dolls ever again! Full of twists & turns I never could have guessed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Torture, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

leastrawberryfields's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

fkshg8465's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

I remember the TV ads for Chucky when I was in high school and being so freaked out by just the commercials and posters. This book is full of the same heebie jeebies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War

blackeyedraptor's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.5

This book was... Weird, and not in a Tim Burton, Neil Gaiman kind of way. Tbh, I'm kind of disappointed. 
The writing style was fantastic, I would definitely read the authors other works, but I find myself being disappointed in it. 
It went from properly creepy to wannabe slasher fic in about a single chapter, and I hate slashers! They're needlessly gory and when a story has to depend on bloody shock factors, the writing is bad, which is sad because the author has style! I nearly dnf'd at least 3 times, but kept plugging on. 
*Spoilers* 
So turns out, it's not the house that's haunted, even though it initially comes off that way, it's her mom's creepy childhood puppet, who's haunted by her dead uncle who died young. Again, the whole thing felt like it was depending on the shock Factor too much, and was just weird. I love a good spooky ghost story, but I argue that this belongs in that category. If it were a movie, it'd be a slasher, but at least it would get marks for being unpredictable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Emotional abuse, and Self harm

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

skersnick's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

justaddwater's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

The first 100 or so pages felt extremely slow, a lot of annoyingness I find common in Grady Hendrix novels. However, after that it ramped up and just kept getting better. As an avid horror lover, it’s been a while since a book kept me up at night, but I couldn’t get the image of

Pupkins pointed hat sticking up over the end of the bed

out of my head. Also felt like the theme of accepting death and teaching children about death was handled very well, with obvious emphasis and mirrors without being heavy handed. 
 If you can make it through the beginning, it definitely worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail