A review by ambscray
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

5.0

"I like to imagine her as being possessed by the vast, awesome and awful monster that is popular culture. Possessed by the collective of ideas!"

This is the first book I've read in 2016 that had me texting and calling people about it right after I read it. I'm going to try not to hype it up too much and I'm also going to try and review it without giving much away because I would hate for someone to start it and already know certain things about it. That'll probably make this a very short review but that's okay! (I'll blog a spoilery one later.)

Rating: 5/5

I struggled with giving this rating because I tend to be stingy with my stars but I had to. I just really thoroughly enjoyed reading it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What I Didn't Like:

One of the first things I found to complain about were the possession cliches. I love scary movies, books, video games, etc. and there were a few things that happened in earlier chapters that had me rolling my eyes. However this can't count as a complaint now that I've finished because I understand now why they were there. Just read it. Do it.

I always have a weird thing about child narrators. Sometimes I just can't picture them saying some of the things they're written as saying, but I also don't have kids nor do I spend a lot of time around them so... What do I know?

That's it. Those are my only two complaints. This looks promising.

What I Liked:

I wish I could list in detail the things that I really enjoyed about this book but I refuse to spoil it for anyone. I'll try to be vague and say that I loved how smart it was. I'll definitely be checking out other titles from this author.

I really enjoyed the three different perspectives the story gets told from. You have blogger Karen Brissette who breaks down the television show (The Possession) for you. You have an 8-year old Meredith "Merry" Barrett who's sort of your "flashback" POV. Then you have the adult Merry Barrett who's recounting her story to an author (Rachel) who's writing a book about her/the things her family went through during their ordeal.

The thing I loved most about this book is that the scariest things in the book weren't what you might expect them to be going in. It's very much a psychological thriller as much as it is a horror story. I had to be careful not to read it too soon before I headed to bed.

Would I Recommend It?

Absolutely. I recommend it to any and all fans of horror, suspense, and psychological thrillers. This is not for young readers! I would suggest 17 or 18 and up.