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julianh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Death of parent
hookerkitty's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
And don’t know if it’s my ADHD or what, but so many of the sentences were sooo long (one even had two semicolons!) that I had no idea what was happening by the time I got to the end of it. I had to keep re-reading sections bc I kept zoning out of boredom.
I also wish that Eleanor and Theodora had more dissimilar names, bc I could not keep track of who was who for way too long. Mrs. Dudley felt like an NPC who’d only been programmed with a few set lines and very rarely deviated from them.
I was left with WAY more questions than answers. Many say this is done on purpose to be creepier - there are times where that works, but it just feels like lazy (or unskilled) writing to me. I don’t care how many awards it’s received. I love a good psychological horror/thriller/mystery, and while there were a couple times I actually got really into it, it’s disappointing that they were such short sections of the book. No good payoff in the end. While this isn’t even that old, it further cements my previous belief that older books are not for me.
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, and Fire/Fire injury
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.5
Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
weldmadderwoad's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
There’s a persistent undercurrent of the horror of being a woman in the mid 20th century, which is to be expected. I tagged some mental illnesses which could be triggered by scenes in the book, butherelieshenry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It’s always interesting to see the literary DNA of a genre through its classics. In particular, I think it’s fascinating to look at the characters as early iterations of different horror archetypes in this book; for example, Mr. Dudley stuck out to me as a prototype of the “Crazy Ralph” character.
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, and Car accident
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Unrealitykate_arts's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, and Car accident
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
mlewis's review
- 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
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Suicide, and Blood
jmeyers888's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
lilifane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I kind of wish I had read the book before I watched the show. It is a different story, but it still influenced my reading of the book, my expectations, and the way I saw the characters. Can't say I was surprised by most of the things that happened here. I'm curious how I would have felt the other way around.
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
dannilmp's review
- 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
3.0
For being written quite a while ago, I found the language easy to read and understand, there were a couple of times I had to get the dictornary out but aside from that it was easy to immerse myself in the story. The focus on the atmosphere and the slow and gradual build up of the horror aspects kept me on my toes throughout the whole novel. While it was a relatively short novel, the suspence felt like a lifetime. I was not expecting the ending and I still can't quite figure some aspects of the story out. Who really was haunting Hill House if there even was anyone there?
The only letdown for me was my lack of understanding of certain plot points and character behaviour. There was the odd occasion where I wasn't certain which character was speaking and I would have to go back and re-read some sections. This didn't detract too much from the pace of the story.
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Car accident, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Blood
Minor: Alcohol