Reviews tagging 'Death'

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

250 reviews

ajsbookss's review

dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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

4.5

Hendrix's masterful use of the uncanny, tempered by his wit, create a wonderfully balanced book that gives appropriate attention to the heavy topics the novel covers without suffocating you with them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

bookishnerdgirl's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death and Grief

lampbee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

5.0

Very good book :) Really enjoyed it , a lot of books like these can tend to have a very information / backstory heavy first half which this did not. The siblings , Louise and Mark , are both very complex and unlikeable in their own ways and between them and the extended family there’s a lot of wanting to hate one side or the other and being unable to which I enjoyed. I don’t normally reach for haunted stories but this one was fantastic and made sense all the way through , nothing felt like an aside or written in without intention so everything was a clue which was very satisfying. A very satisfying ending too, one that didn’t feel overly dramatic or out of line with the rest of the haunting. Probably my favourite haunted book :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

pastlifetragedy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

emp93's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Death of parent

hyohyunny's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The author did a masterful job of fleshing out what could have been a very ridiculous, silly story and making the main characters dimensional. Part horror, part literary fiction, I came to care for the characters and found myself invested in what their next moves and even how their relationships played out.

I had so much fun reading what you thought you knew about these characters and then revelations having your head spinning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

glkilbert's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Be prepared to read the word “puppet” several hundred times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

sarahbiegelsen's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cursing, Gore, Torture, Blood, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Gun violence, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

livnmoore's review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

At its best, it’s a solid 4 star “thriller-lite” story for passing time, with really compelling characters that evoke a lot of emotion. My only problem is the pacing felt inconsistent. It would feel quite slow at times and then jolt along, and then slow up and then jolt ahead, before settling on a good steady pace. Maybe that works toward the thriller feel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Self harm, Torture, Blood, Medical content, and Car accident

Minor: Cursing and Alcohol

maryellen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death