A review by readerette
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

dark emotional tense fast-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

4.25

I found the siblings both infuriating and sympathetic (so pretty realistic), and the story itself took an interesting journey to the eventual destination. The story is well-paced and the writing flows smoothly. I could tell the general direction of the plot but not how we'd get to the end, which added to the tension.

I don't think the level of violence eventually attained in various scenes added anything to the story, and seemed so unbelievable that I was taken fully out of what was happening.

I also think the overall message got a little lost in all the scene-setting (if you have a fear of puppets, dolls, animated inanimate objects, spiders, or possibly clowns, there is a lot in this book to give you chills).
SpoilerWhat I mean about the message getting lost is all the little details that just don't really track together about this unresolved family history that started with Freddie. Louise's mom did not kill Freddie; she was a child herself who walked away from watching him without understanding the possible consequences. So why that had anything to do with Freddie possessing Pupkin and then terrorizing the people in Louise's mom's life is beyond me. And why would Louise tell Freddie to thank her mom when he found her? For what? For caring more about her puppets than her kids? For teaching Louise how to be manipulative? For leaving the house to Mark when she knew how irresponsible he was and how much he hated his sister (and maybe even why, which was not his sister's fault)? For not doing more to find out what happened to her little brother since she had suspicions the lockjaw story was a lie?
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