Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

16 reviews

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

this was pretty good but a little too silly to really scare me. i’ve never thought dolls were scary so this didn’t get to me that much, i also thought the ending was kind of out of nowhere?? idk. i do love Hendrix’s writing though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Murder, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Cursing, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Violence

apoppyinthewind's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

The basic premise is that main character Louise gets the call no one wants to get and learns both of her parents have died in a car accident. She has to go back home to deal with the funeral, the estate, and the messed up family she's kept at a distance since moving away decades ago. Her younger and only sibling is the most difficult part as they continually bicker over the estate and past hurts/trauma but it gets a whole lot worse their mother's doll & puppet collection seem to be moving on their own.

So yeah, if horror series like Puppet Master and Chucky freaked you out you'll certainly find this story creepy. Be forewarned there is some eye stuff and body mutilation. And a fuck ton of grief and trauma over losing a parent/parents.

If you've ever had to go through an estate process you may relate hard to Louise's exhaustion and sorrow. At least I did and I think the author accurately captured the experience. My only complaints are: One, I felt like it dragged a bit near the end when Louise's daughter Poppy became a larger part of the story and two, while Mark's background reveal was interesting (and makes me want to know more about radical puppets) it felt disconnected from the story especially with the big reveal at the end. Like, what happened to Louise & Poppy makes sense with the reveal but Mark's made less sense once you know the real reason all these things happened.

Still, I'd recommend it especially if you already like Hendrix's other books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Child death, Death, and Medical content

Minor: Gun violence

aryelee's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Absolutely in love with this book. Grady Hendrix is incredible. I was hooked from the first chapter and finished reading this in one day, I just couldn't put it down. 

The complex, troubled relationship between the siblings, the family's need to bury their darkest secrets and never speak of it again, the consequences of both these things! And how they have to band together to survive the haunting and go great lengths to help each other... I'm obsessed. I love stories centered on complicated families and this hit! This really hit!

I loved the use of puppets and puppetry, how the puppet is its own living thing possessing the puppeteer when in use. I loved the dolls and how their childhoods were so relevant even decades later. I loved every interaction between the siblings and how it gradually changed into something better so that they could both get out alive.

I would give this five stars, but the plot was predictable. Though enjoyable to read, it wasn't as mysterious as I would have wanted it, but it's still very good. Though I called the plot twist in the first section of the book, even knowing what it is didn't stop my enjoyment of the rest of the novel, but it did dampen the scene when that information is revealed. 

The themes of family, siblings, and mothers and daughters are so good. History constantly repeating itself, the need to pry into the secrets held by the family (and by themselves) and the struggle to be honest and vulnerable... Truly an incredible novel. I do love horror with themes like these.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent and Child death

Minor: Alcoholism and Gaslighting

kier__'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Death, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Violence, Drug use, and Child death

ggreen1379'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Grief, and Gore

Minor: Alcoholism and Fire/Fire injury

karmapen's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Gore, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Grief, Body horror, and Alcoholism

rowancdewit's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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? Yes

4.0

I’ll be real! I’m not a big horror novel girl, I haven’t read many other horror books, so I don’t really know what to judge it off of… but I read this in a DAY. I couldn’t put it down. I kept saying “okay, after this chapter, I’ll be done for the day.” And that didn’t happen until the end of the book.

Warning, there are a few bits of the book that were a liiittle too much for me. (Violence, weird descriptive spooky things) But everytime those scenes happened, I’d get a tight “oof” in my gut, thinking to myself “Okay, I gotta skim this.” And then the next scene would be something absolutely so dramatic that would just make me laugh and say, “is Hendrix even serious right now?”

It’s so dramatic, but it’s a story that feels like it KNOWS it’s dramatic and far fetched and presses into that. Truly, feels like an adult version (bcuz the characters are in their 40s) of a Goosebumps book.

I 100% could see this being made into a film. And the 4 stars is 100% for Hendrix’s writing, which is just fun and silly and comedic and truly good enough that I could FEEL every ounce of discomfort that Hendrix wanted me to feel in the tense moments. The pacing was amazing, the delivery of everything was so great, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

If anyone asked about reading this, I definitely would say “don’t take it seriously, just buckle in for the ride.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Gun violence, Death of parent, Gore, and Child death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, Cursing, and Grief

faduma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug use, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Alcohol, Gore, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Torture, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, and Forced institutionalization

jessthanthree's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Medical content, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Child death, Animal death, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Excrement, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

time_dabbler's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Death, Body horror, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Alcohol, Death of parent, Cursing, Alcoholism, and Blood