Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

37 reviews

elle_e_d_light's review against another edition

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

3.75

Not really sure how I felt about this one. I really disliked the blop parts, but I think I was supposed to. 

I also came out of this book feeling like I just read a retelling/homage of We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which I still can't figure out if it was on purpose or if the author was more inspired by that book than he thought/planned. I know the author is a big fan of Shirley Jackson, but—unless I missed it—there was no description of this being an homage to that.

The story is vague and gets even more vague as it goes on. I didn't mind the vagueness, but I could see why others would.

Overall, I'm torn about how I feel about this book. There's things about it that I really liked, but just as many things that I didn't. 

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imstephtacular's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

I'm not sure I even understand what happened, but this was exactly the book I needed post-election. Propulsive and choppy writing, mixed media elements, and a confusing plot that kept me reading was a winning combo. My first Tremblay, but won't be my last!

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amelia_horseman's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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clevelandpoet's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny 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


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tideray's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

The author has written a story that criticises the ghost possession genre of horror stories highlighting the dramatisation and pervasive sensationalism of the characters evident psychosis symptoms, using the interesting mixed perspective of a child and their grown-up recollection and reflection on the events.

Unfortunately
the book is written in a way that tried heavily to imply that the potential for the character to be haunted is an genuine potential, creating a gross dialectical of the author having his cake (criticising possession stories) and eating it too (the character being haunted)

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septi's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense
  • 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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chelseapwalsh's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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50shadesofrae's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

I have complicated feelings about this one, 95% of which would require spoilers to explain. 
The last third-ish has some issues for me, but overall it was a really fascinating autopsy of the exorcist genre? And the deep voyeuristic horror of it? 

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guccishoestrings's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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

I have read this book twice over the course of 16 months as my creative writing (later horror film and literature) professor recommended and later required to read this book.

This book seems like a book about a teen getting an exorcism but that is not at all what this book is about. This book is more about a family that is damaged beyond repair, financially crushed, and seeking for any kind of hope they can find. There are really only two main characters in this book in Marjorie (the teen who is "possessed") and Merry (who is the narrator) with their mother and father being important but secondary main characters. The father of the family lost his job and has since pretty much become a cult like member at the church, the mother has been dealing with severe depression and with everything going on she has gotten much worse, and Marjorie is apparently possessed. Eventually a show is made to show the exorcism of Marjorie and the book goes from there.

I suggest reading this book once then after reflection and thought read it again in a week. There are so many little things that you miss through your first read through. I also suggest reading with a group of 4 or more people as after reading for a class, almost everybody has different thoughts on what the story and characters are conveying. Just do not go in expecting an exorcism horror book, because this is a different type of horror, just wait till the end of this book as it is truly heartbreaking.  

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daniellecherny's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad 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

4.0


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