Reviews tagging 'Grief'

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

253 reviews

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

dev921's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

iloponis's review against another edition

3.5

oh grady hendrix how i love your campy horror stories with profoundly emotional endings 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, and Death of parent

leastrawberryfields's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

robin_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

kaneebli's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

weird

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Abandonment

kermittuesday's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

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

3.0

It was well done but just not my thing. I rate books based on how much I personally liked them. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit

nakutski's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

funeraldancer's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

I did not expect this to get as dark as it did, but it was a thrilling read throughout and boy howdy that familial trauma

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Mental illness, and Self harm