Reviews tagging 'Murder'

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

59 reviews

blackeyedraptor's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.5

This book was... Weird, and not in a Tim Burton, Neil Gaiman kind of way. Tbh, I'm kind of disappointed. 
The writing style was fantastic, I would definitely read the authors other works, but I find myself being disappointed in it. 
It went from properly creepy to wannabe slasher fic in about a single chapter, and I hate slashers! They're needlessly gory and when a story has to depend on bloody shock factors, the writing is bad, which is sad because the author has style! I nearly dnf'd at least 3 times, but kept plugging on. 
*Spoilers* 
So turns out, it's not the house that's haunted, even though it initially comes off that way, it's her mom's creepy childhood puppet, who's haunted by her dead uncle who died young. Again, the whole thing felt like it was depending on the shock Factor too much, and was just weird. I love a good spooky ghost story, but I argue that this belongs in that category. If it were a movie, it'd be a slasher, but at least it would get marks for being unpredictable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Emotional abuse, and Self harm

margolovie89's review

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

skersnick's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

bageltop's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Murder

skyestorme's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

justaddwater's review

emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

The first 100 or so pages felt extremely slow, a lot of annoyingness I find common in Grady Hendrix novels. However, after that it ramped up and just kept getting better. As an avid horror lover, it’s been a while since a book kept me up at night, but I couldn’t get the image of

Pupkins pointed hat sticking up over the end of the bed

out of my head. Also felt like the theme of accepting death and teaching children about death was handled very well, with obvious emphasis and mirrors without being heavy handed. 
 If you can make it through the beginning, it definitely worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

annieisawesome's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Very good. Parts of it were predictable, but there were enough surprises that it was still interesting. 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Drug use, Torture, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

hml_33's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Murder

n0vel_ideas's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol

amelia_horseman's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail