Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

33 reviews

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

Big thanks to my newest literary heroine Shirley Jackson for yassifying the ghost story. You truly were ahead of your time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

twistykris's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Suicide

Moderate: Blood and Death of parent

Minor: Bullying and Grief

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

anemosise's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

loved this, loved the characters and she's so me fr
only reason it's not 5 stars is I didn't really get as spooked as I feel like I could have in some of the more tense sequences. other than that it was honestly phenomenal 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Grief, and Car accident

priscillarobock's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

hannahpings's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

filipa_maia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

So... I was expecting a little bit more from this book. Being my favorite genre and so acclaimed (this book was the inspiration for the Netflix series) I was expecting pure, dark horror.

Don't get me wrong, the book is good: a haunted house and a bunch of people living in it is the perfect plot to a great book. We get all the classics: knocks on the doors, footsteps when nobody is around, people acting in a very weird way. But that was not enough. The dialogs are long, superficial and, sometimes, very confusing - almost as if it was written to be a script and not a actual book. The characters are annoying and you never, truly, understand if that's how they really are or if that's part of the house's influence. Maybe that's the intention, after all. But we will never find out.

For me, there is a lot of talking and not enough action. I hear very nice thing about the series so I'm going to give it a try. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Alcohol

loveisabird's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

this book kicks mike flanagan’s ass

journeys end in lovers meeting!!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Suicide and Toxic friendship

hocuscrocus's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Car accident

Moderate: Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

lilifane's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

To be honest, I didn't expect to like this so much. I knew it was different from the Netflix show and classics are always a hit or miss for me, but I really enjoyed this one a lot. The writing is great, the atmosphere fantastic, I liked the characters and their dynamics. I didn't like the ending that much, though. But the more I think about it, the more I understand and appreciate it. There is just something that bothers me about it. Maybe it was too abrupt, maybe I needed a little more time at the end? Maybe I was identifying with Eleanor too much? 

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis