Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

183 reviews

dilani's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

this one’s a different kind of horror. scary at some parts but there’s some dark humor through out that softens it. there are a lot of ghosts in this one, so much so i forgot certain ones existed as the book went on. i liked this book for the most part, but it could have been shortened. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism and Vomit

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

maimy_santiago99's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

This book was recommended to me as funny and scary. It definitely has its so-absurd-it's-funny moments.  Didn't scare me at all but books rarely do. I like that the "it turns out she's just crazy and all the haunting stuff was her the whole time" trope was inverted,  but the whol  thing of the haunting as a metaphor for an abusive relationship was extremely ham-handed and for the first half of so of the story, the main character really reads like a self involved sociopath. The few moments she does something to indicate actual emotion become suspect by how emotionless she is most of the time,  appear to be play acting. I probably wouldn't have continued reading long enough to get to the absurdities and the meat of the haunting if it were much longer a book, but it's so short I kinda just kept plowing on.  It reads more like a first draft than a finished novel but it wasn't bad, just needed a LOT more refining. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Gore

shesaidlividly's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

tkhenry99's review against another edition

3.5

Katherine being genuinely insufferable really impeded my enjoyment of this book. plus, it’s so ridiculously unbelievable that a woman who hates her father so much would care that he went missing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Murder, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Addiction, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Domestic abuse

books_hay's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

redvelvetpenguins's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Murder, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

alicroz34's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

Attacking the haunted house genre from the perspective of an overly agreeable mom who just puts up with most of it is kind of hilarious. 

I devoured this in two days. 

I did notice 100% of adult men who died in the house did not get to come back as ghosts and did not get to have their injuries reversed at the end. I find that very interesting, but I did want an acknowledgement of that somewhere? Like we're literally watching all the children & adult women who died in the house heal & leave (if they want to) and then they just sit on the porch like... so Hal is dead. I'm down with it but I was like... is no one else seeing a pattern here hi hello.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, Violence, Death of parent, Death, Toxic relationship, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, and Vomit

Moderate: Dementia, Gaslighting, and Fire/Fire injury

_rhea_'s review

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, and Gore

Moderate: Violence and Domestic abuse

Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Vomit

_j3ss1ca's review

challenging sad 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Mental illness

judassilver's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Violence, Vomit, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, Suicide, Dementia, Cannibalism, and Grief

Minor: Self harm, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury