Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

32 reviews

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

What a VERY weird and creepy AF book! It was bizarre, and puppets have always creeped me out! But I did like the twist with the puppet. I HATED the MCs for the book's first quarter, especially Mark, but he improved once the book got going. I would not recommend eating while reading this book as it gets gorey at parts and pretty violent as well. Pumpkin got extremely annoying at parts.  Overall, it was an okay book, that did keep me engaged. It was better than the other book of his I read which I DNF'd.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Car accident

Minor: Animal death, Child death, and Gaslighting

mpswans1's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jodierose14's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

julieyael's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

3.5 stars but rounded up

This is a book that I took time to really appreciate. 
The first half of it (that’s the first 200 pages!) were just ok. It’s a bit slow and I did not care too much for the characters. 
For a moment, I even thought about not finishing the book, because I felt that this was not what I expected from the story. 

But then it becomes more intriguing and you feel that there is more to it. 
When you enter the last third of the book, it becomes hard to leave it. 
I wished the slow part of the begining was not that long, because it’s all well written and you feel the creepy atmosphere building up. 

In the end, the book kept its promises, it’s a fun and creepy horror novel, with a good dose of paranormal, and a light touch of gory details (very light, but I guess it can be triggering for some people)

So I would recommend it, if you are ready to spend some time on the first part which is less exciting and a bit long to my taste. 
The second half of it really deserves a good 4 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Gore

Minor: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

darumachan's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

I enjoyed the dark humor and wild twists.  The sibling relationship went through just as many rollercoaster swoops as the plot, but was touching and rang true in how they connected. This was a total romp with plenty of good suspense, peril, and creepy thrills along the way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Grief, and Death of parent

Dissociation

hideouscharm's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent

kshertz's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

What a weird wild ride? I guess that’s Grady’s specialty. It gets really twisted with dolls, clowns, and puppets. I almost threw up once. I had to put the book down a few times. Im very happy my house had none of these things. Read it if you want to be grossed out and horrified by puppets and dolls and clowns. I liked it but also, probably something i’m going to need to bring up in therapy next week🙃

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

brandilovesbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.25

This haunted house is filled with dolls, puppets, and even a stuffed squirrel Manger scene.  One of the puppets is the cause of all the weird stuff that happens.  Don't put the puppet on your hand!  Louise and her brother Mark have to deal with years of built up sibling resentment before they can start to unravel the family secrets and lies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Death of parent

Do not read if you have a fear of clowns, puppets, or dolls.

itsalina's review

dark emotional tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Gun violence and Fire/Fire injury

nandemmler's review

dark emotional 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? N/A

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail