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A review by motherlatesha
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
I absolutely loved this book when I wasn’t expecting to.
Usually I wouldn’t pick up a horror novel written by a man especially when the main characters are girls, but I was really interested in the premise and it came recommended from a reliable source. And I’m so glad I did!
I finished this book in two days, I couldn’t put it down, and the pacing of it kept me constantly engaged, none of the scenes felt dragged out or unnecessary.
At first I wasn’t loving the style of adding in blog posts every few chapters, but seeing the story from the perspective of an outside source added so much and helped achieve what the author had set out to do.
I see reviews complaining about the way Catholicism is portrayed in this story, but I’ve never seen it shown in such an accurate and relatable way as someone who wasn’t raised in a religious household only for their parents to suddenly embrace when they’ve gotten to a point in their lives when they have no other answers.
The characters in this story are frustratingly human where we only see them at surface level the same way a viewer of the show they’re in or their naive daughter/younger sister would see them. They’re irrational but trying their best, they’re emotional but trying to hide it and it shows how making tough decisions can backfire on you even when you’ve thought them through.
I overall love the fact that we see the story from the youngest daughter’s perspective because a story through a child’s eyes are the only way to get it straight up the way it is, the was no making excuses or rationalizing or understanding, just things being the way they were.
I also loved the sisters dynamics, too many times do you see mentally ill characters being portrayed as completely abnormal but the two of them have a completely normal sibling relationship and they act their age.
I’m also in love with the slow build of the story. The author managed to grab your attention and show that something creepy is going on here and things slowly get creepier and creepier until we’re right in the middle of all the action. This story creeped me out in the best way without purposely trying to make a sick person scary. It was creepy in the way that everyday things in life can be creepy which I absolutely love.
There were moments in the story where I thought ‘this is just like that scene in (a movie)’ and then the author would mention said movie so I think he did a great job of paying homage to those classic scary movie elements that any horror movie fan could pick out.
I could talk about every sentence in this book endlessly. I recommend this book to any horror movie fan who wants to get into reading, and any horror literature fans to check out his other stories!
Usually I wouldn’t pick up a horror novel written by a man especially when the main characters are girls, but I was really interested in the premise and it came recommended from a reliable source. And I’m so glad I did!
I finished this book in two days, I couldn’t put it down, and the pacing of it kept me constantly engaged, none of the scenes felt dragged out or unnecessary.
At first I wasn’t loving the style of adding in blog posts every few chapters, but seeing the story from the perspective of an outside source added so much and helped achieve what the author had set out to do.
I see reviews complaining about the way Catholicism is portrayed in this story, but I’ve never seen it shown in such an accurate and relatable way as someone who wasn’t raised in a religious household only for their parents to suddenly embrace when they’ve gotten to a point in their lives when they have no other answers.
The characters in this story are frustratingly human where we only see them at surface level the same way a viewer of the show they’re in or their naive daughter/younger sister would see them. They’re irrational but trying their best, they’re emotional but trying to hide it and it shows how making tough decisions can backfire on you even when you’ve thought them through.
I overall love the fact that we see the story from the youngest daughter’s perspective because a story through a child’s eyes are the only way to get it straight up the way it is, the was no making excuses or rationalizing or understanding, just things being the way they were.
I also loved the sisters dynamics, too many times do you see mentally ill characters being portrayed as completely abnormal but the two of them have a completely normal sibling relationship and they act their age.
I’m also in love with the slow build of the story. The author managed to grab your attention and show that something creepy is going on here and things slowly get creepier and creepier until we’re right in the middle of all the action. This story creeped me out in the best way without purposely trying to make a sick person scary. It was creepy in the way that everyday things in life can be creepy which I absolutely love.
There were moments in the story where I thought ‘this is just like that scene in (a movie)’ and then the author would mention said movie so I think he did a great job of paying homage to those classic scary movie elements that any horror movie fan could pick out.
I could talk about every sentence in this book endlessly. I recommend this book to any horror movie fan who wants to get into reading, and any horror literature fans to check out his other stories!