Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

9 reviews

imstephtacular's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Abandonment

daniellecherny's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

Ending is left open/ambiguous. If you need a clear ending that explains exactly what happened, don't read this book.

simp4sneks's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

vicklepickle's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? No

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Physical abuse and Murder

foiblesandfiction's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

0.25

 i finish this book feeling both heartbroken and enraged.

another supposed horror story that leans its entire weight on villainizing mental illness and, in this case, that of a child, a girl.

fuck you, paul tremblay. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

chloseencounter's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

This story was so much more than I ever could’ve expected. I loved the constant back and fourth of “is it mental illness or is it a demon?”, and ultimately it is kind of whatever you want and/or both, which I find to be a very fresh take on the haunting/possession genre. At the end of the day this was a family that was, in the very least, haunted by the ghosts of ideas, religious fear, money problems, a failing marriage, misogyny, mental illness, etc. The Berrets were manipulated, pushed, and agitated to the absolute breaking point. 

There was so much here, I honestly don’t even know how to talk about it all. First and foremost I think having the majority of this story being told in the eyes of an eight year old was great, there was so much tension even in Majorie’s most mild episodes because truthfully Merry had no idea what Marjorie might say or do, or if she (or anyone else) would protect her from someone she wasn’t even completely sure she was afraid of. I enjoyed all the nods to classic horror media but also the way common tropes were twisted and turned on their head, we’re asked “is anyone ever really possessed or has the church always been taking advantage of the vulnerability of the mentally ill and fueling the psychosis of the sick?” There were so many parallels and metaphors in the book I reveled in picking apart and analyzing, I think this novel had so much to say very eloquently hidden beneath what the story seemed to be at face value.

My one critique looks to be the common one…the blog sections were cringy at best and annoying at worst, but despite the kind of “hello fellow kids” attempt at writing a blog post that was supposed to sound as if it was written by a hip and up on the trends women in her early 20s, I still enjoyed the detached POV of what this family’s suffering looked like to the world and how the show succeeded to make good television but failed Majorie and Merry. (Every adult did to be completely honest) I also appreciated the  insight we got by hearing Merry’s thoughts coming from her child self, her adult self, and (vague spoiler) an alter ego of sorts. I thought it was sweet that in all three contexts you could still see Merry and how some bits of her personality never change.

Without spoiling I did actually quite like the twist ending because even that, may or may not be true. I think Merry has grown to be a fairly well rounded individual especially for what she’s been through, but even still, much like Majorie I think her head is full of ghosts too and maybe some things she said were simply manifestations of guilt but also maybe they weren’t…and I don’t think are meant to know for sure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Excrement, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

dromedaryreader's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

I really loved this book. My favorite of the year so far. The dialogue is great and the story flows very well. Wasn't a fan of the blog post style writing in a few chapters or else it would be 5 stars. Overall so good and I love that the ending is so open to interpretation that most people disagree about who is really the one at fault. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

kris386's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Self harm, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Excrement

vmpyr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Physical abuse, and Suicide

I don't remember very well so I marked them all as Graphic