Scan barcode
whatthegayle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“I’ll come right out and say it,” Mercy told them. “Strange noises, bad vibes, your mom and dad recently passed— Your house is haunted and I’m not selling it until you deal with that.”
Wow, I think this is my favorite out of all the books I’ve read by Grady Hendrix.
The only reason I went with a four and a half is because the slow bit near the middle.
Puppets have always sorta creeped me out since sloppy from the goosebumps series and this book only solidifies it.
I wasn’t expecting to tear up as much as I did at the end.
And Mark! I absolutely hated him at the beginning but started to like him a lot as we neared the ending.
Grady is so amazing at writing characters that feel like real people and this book is no exception.
Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Body horror, and Child death
Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Grief
annieisawesome's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Cursing, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol, Torture, Abandonment, Body shaming, Car accident, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Drug use, and Murder
teafrog's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Violence, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death and Pregnancy
haileyhardcover'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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Torture, Body horror, Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Violence
Moderate: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Cursing, Murder, and Physical abuse
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Self harm
honeybeewitched87'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Pregnancy, Grief, Medical content, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Alcohol, Death of parent, Violence, and Car accident
maggieoc_x's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, Blood, Car accident, Gore, and Death of parent
Moderate: Murder, Gaslighting, Medical content, Cursing, Stalking, and Self harm
Minor: Pregnancy and Alcohol
mx_harpstar'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
4.25
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/dollsglutenfreemaggie's review against another edition
- 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
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
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"How to Sell a Haunted House" follows Louise, a single mom to a beautiful, young daughter. Louise left her life in Charleston behind for a new life on the west coast, and she hardly looks back. Especially because she has a very strained relationship with her younger brother, Mark. Louise feels like her parents favored Mark and always made his life easier, and Louise is resentful. One night, completely out of the blue, Mark calls Louise to inform her that both of their parents were killed in a car accident. Now, Louise and Mark have to decide together what to do with their parents' home, filled to the brim with puppets that haunted their childhoods.
Prior to reading this novel, I was quite ambivalent towards puppets, but now, I am kind of weary. These puppets are so unsettling, and especially the fact that there are so many in one home. Learning how much their mom loved one particular puppet, Pumpkin, makes the story all the more unsettling.
One of my favorite aspects of this book was the brother sister dynamic between Louise and Mark. Their relationship is very strained, and it is not too far off to say that they really hate each other at the beginning. I even really empathized with Louise in the beginning because Mark seemed like such a wreck of a human being. But the more I learned about the story and the more I learned what Louise did not know, made me really grow to enjoy Mark as a character, and feel badly for him. I ended up really rooting for them to work together and mend their relationship.
As with all of Grady Hendrix's books, this story is unsettling and has some very graphic scenes. There is one particular scene involving a needle that I cannot erase from my brain, no matter how much I try. I really enjoyed this story, and I will forever pick up Grady Hendrix's titles in the future.
Graphic: Death, Car accident, Gore, Violence, Child death, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Gun violence
Minor: Pregnancy
creepycrawlybookworm's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Grief, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Car accident, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Alcohol, Child death, Pregnancy, Confinement, Death of parent, and Cursing