Reviews with content warning for Excrement - A Head Full of Ghosts

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A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

43 reviews

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

Horrifyingly tragic, A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay is filled to the brim with terrible scenes, all told from the point of view of the youngest character to witness everything. I just felt so bad the entire time reading this for not just Marjorie and Merry, who were just kids, but also characters like Sarah and Ken; who while aren't blameless entirely, are forced to witness a lot of this horror with seemingly no agency to fight against it.

I also felt really bad that the one who I felt more creeped out by was not Marjorie, with her gruesome stories and actions, but Merry, who seemed to take glee from her and her sister's trauma. Merry should be a somewhat reliable narrator as a kid, aside from her shoddy memory. There isn't a reason to suspect her of leaving things out. However, I felt wary all the same as Merry became known for being an exaggerator and a storyteller. There's a few reveals later on in the book that highlight this fact and it just made me very suspicious of someone who is just a very traumatized child/person.

Tremblay has done a fantastic job here with this book. A reader questioning a narrator's true feelings makes for good conversation and deeper reading. I am so torn with Merry as a character. My initial feelings were as stated above: Merry is creepy for the way she expresses her thoughts on the situation and her sister. However, after I finished the book, I couldn't help but think that maybe Merry was just trying to find her own way of understanding what all happened in her childhood, everything that led up to the greatest tragedy of her life. Afterward, all I could see was a girl-now-adult, still struggling to figure out why her sister acted the way she did, what her sister could've been thinking throughout it all.

When I started this book, the summary had not prepared me for the gruesome descriptions Tremblay employed, nor how sad a story this really was. I just felt so bad for Marjorie, more than anything. She didn't deserve anything that happened to her, and needed to be taken out of the home and cameras that were definitely making things worse. I am curious to know of other's opinions of the portrayal of schizophrenia in this book. I did not touch on it as I am not an expert on the condition, nor do I have the condition.

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simp4sneks's review against another edition

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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

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thereadingdude's review against another edition

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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

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g_xandra's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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jesscoast's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Wow. Ive ventured into a few horror novellas before but this was truly haunting. Ideal for a horror movie buff who gets the references to the iconic pop culture moments and classics scattered throughout the book. But even as someone like myself who hasn't seen many scary films, this was worth the read. From a mystery and thriller standpoint, it caught me off guard how well crafted it was. Tremblay takes is down a dark, depressing, uncomfortable rabbit hole of a struggling family dealing with religion, a child's behavioral issue, financial stress, marital tension. A silver bullet arrives in the form of a reality TV show to offer financial relief in return for giving up their privacy and facing the wrath of protest. Just when you think that's about as heavy as it can get, Tremblay turns the whole narrative on its head.

The meta stories within stories framed around the family, the reality tv show, and online analysis of the show was brilliant. It kept my eyes glued to the page and I couldn't get enough.

If you think a story about a teenaged girl acting out can't be chilling, think again.

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