Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

68 reviews

meganmoisant's review against another edition

dark tense

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War

shubka's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

3.75

This book definitely makes me never want to be around puppets or dolls ever again! Full of twists & turns I never could have guessed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Torture, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

therewillbelight's review against another edition

dark funny tense 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

4.25

The creepy puppet book made me cry. How. 

I’m not a huge thriller book fan, but this is one of the best I’ve read. It was creepy but the smaller elements of humor and the depth in the exploration of grief and who we leave behind and the relationships we have in our families really got me. It actually made me cry towards the end

(“that’s how you know you’re real”)

and I’m a sucker for horror/thriller that uses the genre to reflect back on human experience. It’s dark and creepy and sinister but somehow without losing its grounding in what it means to be a human.

Such an interesting read, this wasn’t what I expected at all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Violence, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

vonaegir's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-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

4.5

weird horror in the best way. a tightly plotted, excellent executed story about grief, the remnants of childhood, and what it's like to grow up in a family that just doesn't talk about things. the less i say, the better.

i love you, pupkin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

this one def isn't for you if you don't like puppets/dolls!

viks0_0's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

In the usual Grady Handrix fashion this was both a but spooky and unsettling in parts but also funny in others. Dealing with family issues while dealing with strange dolls it quite interesting combination 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death

liahopkins's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

5.0

Grady Hendrix you are a fucking genius. It's my third book of his that I have read, and it was so good, just a smidge behind my best friends excorcism. At first, I was a bit put off by the puppets, because they kept creating this image of a low budget horror movie in my head, with mediocre acting, shaky cameras and excessively dramatic music. But that's just the charm of Grady Hendrix's writing: it's bizarre and wild and full of blood and gore, and you're jaw keeps dropping because you can't believe the crazy shit that's happening, and then he hits you with the most heartbreaking, raw family conflicts and feelings, that feel so honest and human. The way the characters process their grief in this book is so well-done and real, and the last chapter just pulls at your heartstrings in the most perfect way. Finishing this book definitely was my last straw on my route to becoming a full-blown Grady Hendrix fangirl.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, and Car accident

Minor: Vomit and Gaslighting

hellavaral's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Self harm, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

aseel_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.75

This author is a hit or miss for me, and this was a miss. For starters if the house is

filled with puppets and dolls

OBVIOUSLY ITS GOING TO BE HAUNTED. Being a cliche was the lesser of the crimes this book commited. The next was the weird historical add on of

9/11??? Like why did the brother join anti war puppet organisation and then like lose his identity within the puppet and kill (?) his friends

. The last thing that had me gagged, as the kids say,

POPPY MAKING HER OWN PUPPET?? that was straight up messed up, as well as cutting off her own brother's arm??? And some pretend/real spider pet?? Damn this book went off the rails

Lolol as I'm writing the review, I brought down the rating 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abandonment and War

fkshg8465's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I remember the TV ads for Chucky when I was in high school and being so freaked out by just the commercials and posters. This book is full of the same heebie jeebies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War

alicroz34's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

3.0

This was the closest I came to a DNF in many years. The first third was a bit of a slog for me, but I'm glad I stuck with it overall. The last third almost made up for the infuriating start. 

Little to no applicable advice or information about to sell haunted houses, wth

 I'm all for character flaws, but going from physically fighting your idiotic brother to LETTING HIM PLAN YOUR PARENTS' FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS ENTIRELY BY HIMSELF IN THE SAME DAY BECAUSE HE SAID HE LIKED YOUR MOM'S FRIED CHICKEN IS FUCKING INSANE. Parts of it felt campy on purpose & parts of it felt cringey by accident. 
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Vomit, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism