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maraycher's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Body horror, Death of parent, Violence, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death
Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
gumbo's review
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, Death, and Grief
musings_marginalia_miscellanea's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Mental illness, Cancer, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Blood, Murder, Violence, Stalking, Kidnapping, Child death, Gore, and Death of parent
barefootbetsy's review
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Alcohol, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Abandonment
lilifane's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
I like it when the Horror is a little bit more subtle, when the focus is on a character study, when your imagination scares you more than what's actually on page, when you don't know if the explanation is supernatural or not. And I think this book does this beautifully for the most part.
So, 25 years ago, a man murdered his whole family and only the 18 months old daughter survived. She was raised by her aunt and in the present she is in a serious relationship and in search for a house to move into with her boyfriend. That's when she discovers her old family home is up for sale. So she moves in to reconnect to the part of her life, she can't really remember, but that's haunted her all her life. From then on, spooky things start to happen, while she also discovers that what she knew about the tragedy of the past, might not be the whole story.
I loved Dixie's narrative voice. She's not always the most likable character, in fact she makes some questionable decisions. But I still couldn't help but root for her. The humor is amazing. The choice of words, the word plays, I loved it. At the same time, the spooky scenes are actually spooky. I think the author does a great job of creating the mysterious and creepy atmosphere of a haunted murder house without making it too over the top. And the way Dixie describes her fears is SO relatable. I've never read from a point of view that described so well how I feel when I'm alone after watching/reading something spooky. Intrusive thoughts that one is not alone, while at the same time making fun of oneself for having these thoughts. I loved this!
There are some scenes that have a little too much violence, blood and gore for my usual taste, but somehow those worked really well for me here. I also like that there is a mystery aspect to the story, even if it's pretty obvious. I still think it's crafted well and you kind of start to question everything the more unhinged the protagonist gets, to be honest.
Towards the end there were a little too many things happening all at once, so you couldn't really appreciate most of them, especially some of the more emotional revelations that were just glossed over. And I didn't like the showdown, I think it was too long. I liked the ending, though.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Suicide, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship
powerpuffgoat's review against another edition
2.5
The premise of the book is captivating, and it doesn't pull any punches from the very beginning... or so I hoped. After the gripping first chapter, it slows right down and turns into mush.
The main character, Dixie, is an unreliable narrator, but in the worst way. There is no subtlety to it, it's all very ham-fisted, and it just doesn't work. Additionally, she is impulsive and does many things with no rhyme or reason. Her sense of self-preservation is basically absent in favour of processing the strange plot.
Other characters aren't much better. Dixie's partner, initially acting like any reasonable adult would in his situation, does a 180 and just enables her behaviour. The villain's motivation is such a stretch, I think I pulled a muscle just reading it. Also, I cannot stand "bad guy monologues". Truly, how does this trope still make an appearance?
Finally, the plot and pace of this book are all over the place. The twists either come completely out of nowhere, or you can see them from a mile away. Again, zero subtlety. Zero finnesse. The entire book is just clunky, and reading it was more hard work than I am willing to do for entertainment.
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gore, Mental illness, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Stalking and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence