Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The House in the Pines

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes

37 reviews

hnnhhrsvsk's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The House in the Pines is a masterpiece in the thriller-mystery genre. The author creates such an eerie atmosphere that draws you in deeply, quickens your pulse, and makes you want to read just one more chapter. The main character tries desperately to unravel the mystery of the death of her best friend seven years prior, but is shrouded by self-doubt, pill her withdrawal and alcohol, and disbelief from every person she reaches out to for help, to the point where you pain for her, but also question her reliability. The narrative switches back and forth between past and present as the main character slowly starts to remember what she was forced to forget. Certified page turner.

Only theee small critiques I have:

The title is The House in the Pines, but the author almost exclusively refers to said location as the cabin in the woods. I wished she used the title a bit more!
I would have loved to learn more about what happened to Ruby!
Some mention of whether a chapter was set in the past or present would have been helpful, especially for the chapters where she is revisiting a location.

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javafenn's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I’m not entirely sure what to think of this book. The premise was good and ultimately the plot twist was good but there wasn’t much of a resolution and it just kind of… ended. I gave it 3.5 stars because it did keep me engaged but the ending was so abrupt and uneventful that I had to rewind it several times because I thought o was missing something. There was a lot I wish there was more of, I guess.

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lnezzy16's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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amberacks12's review against another edition

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dark mysterious

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

2.75

Not gonna lie, this book was anti climatic. There was a lot of build up and then just, poof, it’s done. I’m kind of left feeling underwhelmed and like the story is unresolved. I do feel like Ana Reyes has a lot of potential as a writer, but I don’t think this one really hit as hard as I was promised it would.
And maybe I feel unresolved because of my own skepticism when it comes to certain aspects of the resolution that I will not mention. But I don’t think enough attention was given to how everything is resolved, and more just ends up feeling hand wavy.
Plus, as a thriller, I didn’t ever feel that Maya was really in much danger, except from herself.
That being said, I really enjoyed the tone and writing style, I liked Maya as a character and as a narrator, and I felt like the character aspects of this story were well developed. Each character felt distinct, and I could sense Maya’s imperfections and possible unreliabilities. I also liked the dreamlike quality of the writing, with flashbacks happening interspersed between the present day narration. It added to the sense of unease I’m sure Maya felt.
So, overall, it was fine.

Enjoyment: 3
Educational Value: 3
Emotional Impact: 2

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dbonadio's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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tamara_joy's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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crowbiz's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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ariana3's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I kinda liked this! A murder-mystery thriller that seemed kinda stupid but I was determined to finish it.

A girl's best friend was supposedly murdered right in front of her when they were teens, by her maybe boyfriend. It was always a mystery and she was plagued by it, with family and professionals calling her crazy. Turns out the maybe-boyfriend had used hypnosis to trick/manipulate her and found a way to use it to kill her friend and others. She obviously forgets the tactics (because he hypnotizes her to), but she eventually remembers. The "house in the pines" was never a real place like he said, just him putting the image (along with smells, feels, and tastes) into her brain to lull her into his hypnosis trap. She's justified in the end, so she can move on, though it doesn't have much closure in the way it deals with him (just that an arrest should be coming soon...)

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bethehart's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

It started off strong with the beginning chapter, and then weighed down a lot. Towards the end though, when she started remembering things it picked back up again. At first I couldn't tell if I loked the ending or not, but I think I did. To me it felt like the ending was not fro US, but for Maya. This story was about her dealing with trauma that she couldn't fully remember, and dealing with the memories that resurfaced. I appreciated it for what it was as a whole. Though I will admit it would have been nice

if we could have seen Frank recieve direct consequences for what he did

. But again this felt like it was about Maya's healing, so I appreciated the wrap ups that we did get.

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hatchtag's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Solid ⭐⭐⭐ it was just fine. I finished it. I looked forward to listening to it. It wasn't groundbreaking and I haven't thought about it since. It did keep me guessing, not in a stressful suspenseful way, but in a "what is going on here" and "how magical are they actually going to make this" way. I was actually hoping they'd lean even more into magical realism given it's cultural relevance to the character...I think the author missed an opportunity to tie a so-so narrative into a good genre piece that could have pushed it closer to four stars. I did enjoy the writing and the descriptions of the characters was clear, I'd read something else by this author for sure.

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