Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Spuk in Hill House by Shirley Jackson

153 reviews

draven_deathcrush's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

It was cool, but it wasn't super special to me. The characters really ended up annoying me by the end of the book, and I've never really been into haunted house stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Suicide

Moderate: Car accident and Death of parent

Minor: Blood

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

Ever since the Netflix series was released in 2018, The Haunting of Hill House has been an annual re-watch for me. Hill House is warm and comfortable. Hill House is home. I knew that the series was only inspired by the book and the stories would be very different, but I still felt like I needed to read the book that started it all. I’ve put it off for years, though, because I’ve never been a fan of the classics. I’ve always found them terribly dull, terribly disinteresting… I will die on the hill that many “classics” truly are not good, there just wasn’t anything better at the time. I’m happy to report, though, that the Hill House portrayed on page is as familiar as that on screen. I knew this house, and, somehow, I even knew these characters. The origins of Hill House are as familiar as ever.

A surprise for me was the not at all subtle sapphic undertones. BOLD for 1959. Had Hill House been written today, I can only imagine how much more I might’ve enjoyed it lol 

On a more personal note - My birthday is the 21st of June. That date being mentioned twice - the only date specifically mentioned in the whole book - made me feel, in a small way, like Hill House calls to me too. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, and Grief

julianh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Death of parent

hookerkitty's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

Well this was incredibly disappointing. I think I fell asleep just about every time I tried reading this, regardless of how tired I felt beforehand.

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

frostyjflakes's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent

thesuperawesomesarah's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying and Suicide

Minor: Gun violence and Death of parent

tottles's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident and Death of parent

amelody's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

refrejarator's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Suicide, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.5

If I based everything purely on vibes, this book would have rated higher but it kind of got to the point where I was having trouble picturing what was going on and so I got confused about what was actually happening..

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Content Warnings

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