Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

90 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

sarahfeher's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent

amelia_horseman's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

jdhauk's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Violence and Excrement

clevelandpoet's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Mental illness

Minor: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, and Death of parent

wreckmore's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death of parent

Moderate: Mental illness and Violence

tideray's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

1.0

The author has written a story that criticises the ghost possession genre of horror stories highlighting the dramatisation and pervasive sensationalism of the characters evident psychosis symptoms, using the interesting mixed perspective of a child and their grown-up recollection and reflection on the events.

Unfortunately

the book is written in a way that tried heavily to imply that the potential for the character to be haunted is an genuine potential, creating a gross dialectical of the author having his cake (criticising possession stories) and eating it too (the character being haunted)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

septi's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying and Injury/Injury detail

kg18's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content

kamrynkoble's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

This was so weird and disturbing and scary and I’m not sure how I feel about it. But I’m excited to learn there’s a movie adaption coming out, and it’s starring Margaret Qualley—I might have to go to the theatre for that one. 

I haven’t quite gotten off the rollercoaster yet. I like how open-ended everything was, where that seems to be a major con for other readers. It doesn’t always work for me, but in this case, it makes sense that we don’t have more answers and I find myself more disturbed because I still don’t know what actually caused all of these terrible problems for this family. 

This definitely leans more horrors than thriller. I didn’t read the description before I went in and there’s lots of demonic/exorcism content even if it hardly feels supernatural. Most of my Christian friends probably won’t like this one, but it was interesting and I wish I could discuss it with someone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Blood and Death of parent

Minor: Excrement