Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

90 reviews

carriepond's review against another edition

dark funny 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? It's complicated

3.75

Shortly after How to Sell a Haunted House opens, Louise finds out that her parents have died and she has to leave her daughter Poppy with her ex to fly across the country to attend her parents' funeral and get their affairs in order. Unfortunately for Louise, this means forced proximity to her brother, Mark, with whom she has a strained relationship (which we get much more detail on as the novel progresses) and Pupkin, one of her mother's many creepy puppets occupying her childhood home as the embittered brother-sister duo attempt to clean it out to get it ready to sell. Well, as it turns out, the puppets and dolls are more than creepy and the house is haunted, so buckle up, Mark and Louise-- not only do you have to deal with years of family baggage, but you also need to watch your backs (really, watch all your body parts!) because Pupkin is about to play, play, play! Kakawewe!

I love haunted house books, and this one has many of the things I love-- the tension building, the creepy occurrences that characters shrug off while the reader gets increasingly freaked, and the deeper meaning. Here, Hendrix used the haunted house vehicle to explore inherited trauma, family dysfunction, and grief. The horror parts reminded me of an adult version of R.L. Stine's Night of the Living Dummy, which I was totally into as a kid. And it made me laugh so many times at the absurdity. The pacing was a bit off for me and there were a few things about the how of the haunting that didn't come together for me completely, but I really identified as I watched Mark and Louise's dynamic play out and the frustration of the characters as they dealt with family secrets and family members unwilling to face the past head-on.

I had fun reading How to Sell a Haunted House, bottom line.  It was stupid, but in a funny way that made me laugh fairly often. It was also a tense and sometimes gory haunted house story that explored themes that resonated with me.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Self harm

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, and Self harm

Minor: Car accident

mx_harpstar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Pregnancy, Self harm, and Alcohol

major CW for creepy puppets/dolls

kayrenee521's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

3.75

When Louise has to go home to Charleston after the unexpected death of her parents, she learns disturbing truths about her family’s history. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death, Body horror, Death, and Self harm

devowynn's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Self harm

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit

glutenfreemaggie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book FR terrified me I almost didn’t keep reading but I’m glad I did it was fascinating 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Medical trauma, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Vomit, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Confinement, Abandonment, Violence, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, Torture, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

raulle's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gore

ladysmoke's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

On the surface this book seems like a typical haunted house story but it turns into more than that. This is the story of two siblings handling their grief I the wake of their parents death and the weight of generations of family secrets. There is true horror in this book, but also so much more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Self harm, Death of parent, and Grief

ggreen1379's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Grief, and Gore

Minor: Alcoholism and Fire/Fire injury

megancrayne's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Animal death, Car accident, Blood, Self harm, Body horror, Torture, and Violence

Minor: War