Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
writer was clearly very influenced by stephen king's work
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really enjoyed the story as a whole. The religious/spiritual aspect was interesting, as I'm not familiar with west African/Vodou, so learning about that as I read kept me engaged.
Then the characters themselves were so well done. Even though I really didn't like some, the ones I did like I was rooting for.
Then the characters themselves were so well done. Even though I really didn't like some, the ones I did like I was rooting for.
still kind of settling on a final rating but idk man. this might be a 5 star. the ending was a little jarring and i initially felt like it was a cop out. the more i think about it, the more i like and respect it. black characters in horror deserve happy endings! i fucking love tananarive due
“You just give me one more good reason,” Angela said to the house from the road, “and when I am finished with you, I will burn you to the fucking ground. Don’t think I won’t.”
― Tananarive Due, The Good House
If you’re like me and cut your horror fiction teeth on Stephen King books, you might be drawn to character-driven horror. Do you easily get invested in the fictional lives of the characters to the point where you find yourself hoping nothing bad happens to them? Then add Tananarive Due to your auto-buy list and The Good House is a great place to start.
Angela Toussaint was raised by her grandmother in an estate called “Good House”. A few years after a horrible tragedy that took the life of her son, Angela returns to Washington and Good House to investigate some of the strange circumstances surrounding her son’s death. Ultimately she encounters an ancient evil entity possibly conjured up by both her voodoo-practicing grandmother in the 1920s and possibly again later by her son.
This book is heavy. It’s over 500 pages and it deals with heavy themes like teen suicide. Due’s wheelhouse is developing flesh & blood characters through authentic dialogue; the way people really talk. I love how she takes the time to place characters in the day-to-day, mundane settings like the family dinner table, a husband and wife getting ready for bed, and people driving or doing laundry. This solidifies their location in the timeline of events validating the story’s authenticity.
A real good vs. evil, light vs. dark tale introducing the reader to cultural folklore and magical rituals.
― Tananarive Due, The Good House
If you’re like me and cut your horror fiction teeth on Stephen King books, you might be drawn to character-driven horror. Do you easily get invested in the fictional lives of the characters to the point where you find yourself hoping nothing bad happens to them? Then add Tananarive Due to your auto-buy list and The Good House is a great place to start.
Angela Toussaint was raised by her grandmother in an estate called “Good House”. A few years after a horrible tragedy that took the life of her son, Angela returns to Washington and Good House to investigate some of the strange circumstances surrounding her son’s death. Ultimately she encounters an ancient evil entity possibly conjured up by both her voodoo-practicing grandmother in the 1920s and possibly again later by her son.
This book is heavy. It’s over 500 pages and it deals with heavy themes like teen suicide. Due’s wheelhouse is developing flesh & blood characters through authentic dialogue; the way people really talk. I love how she takes the time to place characters in the day-to-day, mundane settings like the family dinner table, a husband and wife getting ready for bed, and people driving or doing laundry. This solidifies their location in the timeline of events validating the story’s authenticity.
A real good vs. evil, light vs. dark tale introducing the reader to cultural folklore and magical rituals.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Omg. This book is VERY GOOD and VERY SCARY. Please read.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a new author to me and I immensely enjoyed this book - although the content can be rough at times death of multiple children, murder, violence against women, and more, all of these acts played a role and were not lingered on.
This multi-generational story begins when the matriarch fleas Louisiana after her husband is killed by racists. She and her daughter make their way to a fictional town in the Pacific Northwest where they are the only black family in town. Due is a black women residing in a small white community of the Pacific Northwest and her descriptions in the novel of this experience are profound. The evilness of racism persists as a subtle theme throughout the novel, but the focus of the story is the matriarch's great grandson's rediscovery of his family's reliance on intuition and their practice of voudou. What is interesting to me in the novel is the very realistic plurality of belief - for example practicing voudou and simultaneously having a strong commitment to God.
Anyways I found this book to be a gory page turner with a lot of ancillary ideas and themes to process. Looking forward to reading more by Due.
This multi-generational story begins when the matriarch fleas Louisiana after her husband is killed by racists. She and her daughter make their way to a fictional town in the Pacific Northwest where they are the only black family in town. Due is a black women residing in a small white community of the Pacific Northwest and her descriptions in the novel of this experience are profound. The evilness of racism persists as a subtle theme throughout the novel, but the focus of the story is the matriarch's great grandson's rediscovery of his family's reliance on intuition and their practice of voudou. What is interesting to me in the novel is the very realistic plurality of belief - for example practicing voudou and simultaneously having a strong commitment to God.
Anyways I found this book to be a gory page turner with a lot of ancillary ideas and themes to process. Looking forward to reading more by Due.