Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

15 reviews

joxinabox's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.25

A mystery book with a strong premise, a rich and complex cast of characters, and incredible plot twists-- Just what I've been looking for! "How to Sell A Haunted House" is a masterclass in re-contextualization, presenting a reality to you only to completely shatter it later down the line. Each character feels alive and you can really bite into why they are the way they are. Not to mention the twist-- without giving anything away, a good twist is when you can guess a piece of the puzzle but NOT the full picture. The how, but not the why. The when, but not the who. The where, but not the what. Hendrix cleverly sets up your expectations and pays them off all while gesturing your attention away from the bigger truth underneath the truth you've already discovered. Nothing short of genius.

The only reason this gets a 4.25 and not a perfect 5 is because there's a moment near the end where the pacing REALLY starts to drag. It picks up after awhile, but there's a good handful of chapters in the final act where you'll be going "Oh my god, seriously? I thought this was over with already." It does ultimately end in a much more satisfying conclusion to this story with all of the arcs wrapped up in a nice bow, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't take some getting there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Fatphobia

Tagging as fatphobia as there's a reoccurring bit where someone refers to a character as "Fatboy." Given this character is both an antagonist and a very young child, I assume we're not meant to find this humorous. It doesn't happen very often, but still I figured I'd point it out just in case. There is also extremely graphic eye trauma, Hendrix does not hold back when describing the injury. I can handle a lot but it made me have to take my headphones out while this was being read.

witchofthemountains's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Fatphobia, Genocide, and War

sarah984's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.5

I enjoyed parts of this, but I always want to like Grady Hendrix's books more than I end up doing. This was way too long and felt like it spent a lot of time spinning its wheels, the characters felt like they were mostly acting however it was needed to keep the plot moving, and a few plot points strained credulity even keeping in mind it's a horror novel.

The anarchist puppet collective putting on a show critical of the Bush admin in the immediate post 9/11 era to third graders and then a group of people dressed as clowns with a puppet trash one of the teachers’ houses and no one ever reacts to this or talks about it?? This would have been bigger than the killer clown craze in 2016.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Fatphobia, Gore, Violence, Medical content, and Car accident

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

cookiehuggles's review against another edition

4.0

pumpkin was actually pretty scary, I didn't expect all the puppets and dolls to be that creepy but damn

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Violence

Moderate: Fatphobia and Death of parent

jackieyvette's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow. I can say that a million times over about this book and never get tired of repeating it. Wow.
I've read a book by Grady Hendrix before and loved it (The Final Girl Support Group), and thought might as well pick up the next one to see if it was a one off or if Grady Hendrix. I can say with my whole chest, Grady Hendrix is the real deal. This book is exciting, dark, cryptic, loving, etc. The list goes on.
Louise and Mark are a perfect pair. They are what siblings are. They're loud and antagonistic, but also soft and caring and most of all forgiving. I didn't expect the book to open on fighting siblings and not end with a sweet reunion, but the way this was done left a warmth in my heart that might never leave. The family love doesn't stop there though. This family is filled with strong and amazing women who rally to any occasion that comes their way. At the heart of this book is a true look at a family dynamic that I think every one can relate to. Every family has their secrets; it's just a matter of time before they come to head.

Now let's talk a little about Pupkin. He was the perfect antagonist. Creepy and ghoulish and vindictive and I rooted against him again and again until I didn't. He gave his all. The things he did were dreadful (Louise at the Calvins', Mark at BU, Poppy) but when you find out where this all roots from you feel his little puppet pain. His little voice saying 'Not fair' will stick with me and linger on for a while. I hope Pupkin feels at peace in Tickytoo Woods.

This is a book I can see myself reading over again in a couple of months, but always wishing I could read again for the first time.


Crying score: Yeah. Horror can be sad, don't I know it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Fatphobia

sarahyjackson's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.75

Grady Hendrix’s tinkering with horror tropes continues to be so good.  I loved the horrorfication of generational trauma and the line “to mother is to manipulate” was a punch to the gut. 

The final act was a little bit drawn out for me, but the last line was perfect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Fatphobia

vercopaanir's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Not what I expected based on the reviews I’ve seen!  Some of the dialogue tags were repetitive and annoying to me as I listened to the audiobook version, but the story was compelling and captivating even when it didn’t totally make sense to me.  

How did Pupkin bring Spider to life!?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Fatphobia, Blood, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

katiereadsbooks23's review

emotional funny 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Fatphobia

valmai's review

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fatphobia and Grief

hallowreads's review

emotional funny reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Hendrix writes another badly stereotyped female protagonist. Louise is the “uptight, successful man hater”. While some parts of the middle were funny and engaging, I think overall this book should be much shorter. Hendrix needs to challenge himself to write male characters, as the most engaging part of this book was the short section from the main character’s younger brother’s perspective. Mark is the only character in the book that is fully fleshed out with interesting motivations and choices. Overall I don’t recommend readers *not* read this book, but there are more engaging, less problematic books out there by authors creating diverse horrorscapes with fully realized characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Fatphobia, and Gun violence

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death