You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
nonfictionfeminist's review
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
aprilbethp's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
fast-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
I’m a huge Grady Hendrix fan but this was my least favorite of his books.
Listen, I enjoy camp but this was just over the top. I usually love how Hendrix is able to blend camp humor and horror together. The problem for me was that there wasn’t one moment I was scared for the characters. There were a lot of “well, that’s gross and horrific” moments of body gore but not many if any moments of “how are they gonna survive this” moments.
I appreciated the themes of generational trauma and family systems. I always love how Hendrix tackles bigger issues with compassion, humor, and spot on analysis. I also appreciated how unlikeable most characters are because sometimes when in a family you see too much of what makes our own family members, ourselves included, unlikeable. Yet, we still love them. Those dynamics rang true to me.
But the haunting of puppets…Pupkin was so ridiculous that everything he said and did, it just wasn’t scary. And while humor is key to all of Hendrix’s books, this humor pulled me out of the story. I like horror that feels realistic even if it contains implausible creatures. I would have perhaps been able to go with it more had Pupkin not been a hand puppet. Maybe a regular doll or regular ventriloquist dummy? I don’t know the Pupkin commedia masks made sense to me. Completely coverage of the puppeteers the swallowing of them whole. But a small hand puppet made for a child’s hand …
it was too silly for my brain to take seriously.
But I did enjoy the read even if no thrills were had. I laughed some. I did cringe at the body gore. I appreciated the themes. I give it a better than average score of 3.5. It achieved what it needed to if not in a fashion I would have hoped for.
Listen, I enjoy camp but this was just over the top. I usually love how Hendrix is able to blend camp humor and horror together. The problem for me was that there wasn’t one moment I was scared for the characters. There were a lot of “well, that’s gross and horrific” moments of body gore but not many if any moments of “how are they gonna survive this” moments.
I appreciated the themes of generational trauma and family systems. I always love how Hendrix tackles bigger issues with compassion, humor, and spot on analysis. I also appreciated how unlikeable most characters are because sometimes when in a family you see too much of what makes our own family members, ourselves included, unlikeable. Yet, we still love them. Those dynamics rang true to me.
But the haunting of puppets…
it was too silly for my brain to take seriously.
But I did enjoy the read even if no thrills were had. I laughed some. I did cringe at the body gore. I appreciated the themes. I give it a better than average score of 3.5. It achieved what it needed to if not in a fashion I would have hoped for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
house_of_hannah's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book is 100 pages too long. We went through what 100% felt like the climax of the book, had a chapter tying up loose ends, a chapter that would have been a perfect bad ending, and instead there were 100 pages left. I put the book down for two days after that, because I just didn't feel like reading the same scenario all over again.
This is also a book where you have to get 100 pages in before anything happens. I was honestly thinking to myself, "Is this really a Grady Hendrix book ?" due to how serious and slow the entire beginning is. I was really struggling to care, especially with how unlikable the brother character was. I actually thought he was making the MCs unlikable so thatwe'd be rooting for Pupkin in the end. I honestly thought we were going to get a "bad" ending here.
I'm one of the people who didn't know this was a doll/puppet book going into it. As a child I found porcelain dolls terrifying, and my mom had a clown painting I was afraid of. I should have been primed to be scared by this book, but I think it was too ridiculous to actually come off as scary. This author writes camp, so that's to be expected, but usually his books have some brutal scenes that catch you off guard and really lean into the horror. Unfortunately, there was only one scene that did that for me in this one.
Honestly, the puppet is my favorite character in this book. He is so fucking ridiculous and I love him. I read a sentence here and there to my husband as I was reading, and now we're quoting a freakin' puppet at each other.
Overall, I felt that this book was too long, repetitive, and I didn't care for the ~family~ aspect at all. The story is completely ridiculous, yet too serious at the same time. I think campy horror is a formula that's tough to get right, and for me this one was a bit of a miss.
This is also a book where you have to get 100 pages in before anything happens. I was honestly thinking to myself, "Is this really a Grady Hendrix book ?" due to how serious and slow the entire beginning is. I was really struggling to care, especially with how unlikable the brother character was. I actually thought he was making the MCs unlikable so that
I'm one of the people who didn't know this was a doll/puppet book going into it. As a child I found porcelain dolls terrifying, and my mom had a clown painting I was afraid of. I should have been primed to be scared by this book, but I think it was too ridiculous to actually come off as scary. This author writes camp, so that's to be expected, but usually his books have some brutal scenes that catch you off guard and really lean into the horror. Unfortunately, there was only one scene that did that for me in this one.
Honestly, the puppet is my favorite character in this book. He is so fucking ridiculous and I love him. I read a sentence here and there to my husband as I was reading, and now we're quoting a freakin' puppet at each other.
Overall, I felt that this book was too long, repetitive, and I didn't care for the ~family~ aspect at all. The story is completely ridiculous, yet too serious at the same time. I think campy horror is a formula that's tough to get right, and for me this one was a bit of a miss.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Self harm, and Pregnancy
soshereads_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I am not sure what I just read but I am HERE FOR IT. I really want to get into Henrix’s brain and see how his mind works because how one person could come up with this book is beyond me. I never get scared by books but this creeped me the f*ck out. I still stayed up late reading it through. I didn’t want it to end! One moment you think it has to be done but the next a whole other off the wall thing happens that’s even more outlandish than the last. I will never look at puppets or squirrels the same way!
I promise it’s better to go into reading this book without knowing a lot. It’s much better that way!
I promise it’s better to go into reading this book without knowing a lot. It’s much better that way!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Self harm, and Death of parent
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Fatphobia, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Toxic relationship
another_dahlia's review
- 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? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Grief
ripxreads's review
dark
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Toxic relationship and Car accident
bambooboy's review
dark
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
One of Hendrix's great strengths in writing is his ability to both horrify and entertain. While reading this book I was on the edge of my seat, afraid to turn the page; all the while chuckling here and there at his whip-smart talent for dialogue. The characters are thoughtfully written, and their development over the course of the novel is organic and raw. Family secrets have a way of eroding as they drip down. Can these two siblings put aside their differences and rebuild the trust that was lost, before it's too late?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Self harm, and Car accident
Minor: Vomit
MANY SPOILERS, any possibly triggering items I could remember under spoiler cut.--Dolls, taxidermy squirrels, and puppets come to life.
--A needle is poked into an eyeball.
--A character thinks they are hallucinating/losing their mind.
--A hand is amputated by a chainsaw.
--There is an attempt to exorcise an assumed demon from a child and puppet.
--A child is possessed.
--A severely dysfunctional family is portrayed in detail.
--There is a traumatic car accident.
--A child is made to self-harm during a possession; technically a puppet is doing it, but it's on her hand.
--An intentional house fire kills two people.
--Implied pet death and consumption; you only see a collar and bones.
--Injuries and death from a car accident are described, though not in complete detail, and after the fact.