Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

52 reviews

readingwithgoose's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Murder, and Sexual content

Moderate: Self harm and Vomit

james1star's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This is the third book by Tremblay I’ve read and I will not be reading any more because once again this was just very meh. The story is told through the POV of Merry who is now twenty three as she’s talking with a reporter about the anniversary of a TV show airing that focused on her family. As she’s talking we’re transported back to Merry at age eleven and how her fourteen year old sister Marjorie starts to deal with a mental health illness (schizophrenia?) that is later thought to be the result of her being possessed. Their father consults the ‘expertise’ of a Father Wanderley who pushes for an exorcism. Media coverage of the family begins and so does a TV show leading up to Marjorie’s exorcism. The family deal with financial issues and there’s a possibility Marjorie is faking it but we don’t really know. 

The more horror-ish elements of the book were alright I’d say, it’s more psychological and a lot of Marjorie’s actions were typical of the ‘possessed’ person which were rather gross and unpleasant to read. It did feel a little like a rip-off of the film ‘The Exorcist’ at times and just generally wasn’t the most intriguing read. Much of the story rests on the idea of what is and isn’t the truth and whilst I was interested at the start, I didn’t really care as the book developed and the characters were all very meh that I just lost interest. I think the book can appeal to more people then the others I read by Tremblay (Cabin and Pallbearers) but once again it just fell flat proving to be an unenjoyable reading experience on the whole. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Mental illness

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, Blood, Gore, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Body horror, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Death, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Murder

erica_reads_things's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

An edge-of-your-seat-cant-put-this-down read diving into the horror tropes of possession and exorcism and highlighting the problematic history of exorcism within the Church. I loved the characters and trajectory of this book. The inserts of the horror blog examining the eventual reality show in the story was so clever. I could not put this book down and I think I'll be thinking of this one for a while. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Blood, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Child death, Body horror, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Gore, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Domestic abuse

ilaxaria's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Murder, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Self harm

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Homophobia, and Excrement

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Violence, and Pedophilia

via_email's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Mental illness

simp4sneks's review

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Misogyny

Minor: Ableism, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Child death, Death of parent, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

defeating_my_demons's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Self harm

thereadingdude's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, Vomit, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Murder, Alcoholism, Gore, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Child abuse

Minor: Excrement and Homophobia

savvylit's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A Head Full of Ghosts is a well-crafted possession story made even more horrible and thrilling due to the youth of its primary narrator, seven-year-old Merry. Like many younger siblings, Merry worships teenage Marjorie and longs for her attention. Merry's voice is so genuine in this story - I was really impressed by Tremblay's skill at evoking the specific terror that comes from being a child who is kept out of the loop. Despite her naivete, Merry is still so deeply and traumatically affected by the events of Marjorie's possession.

This story is also delightfully meta! There are a series of blog posts by a horror fanatic included throughout the novel. Reading the blog's dissection of the events of this story with comparisons to tropes and classic cinema made for a very fun read.

If you like thrillers that have fresh takes on classic themes, you will definitely enjoy A Head Full of Ghosts.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Child abuse, and Death

bookishchaos's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The plot was very well constructed and quite unique. All the twists held my attention and the writing was good. The ending was extremely sad and unexpected but well executed. I wouldn't say it was "scary" but definitely unsettling. Would recommend.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse