Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons

7 reviews

xenomorph's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Animal death, Child death, Murder, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

Moderate: Antisemitism, Racism, Homophobia, and Classism

Minor: War

woweewhoa's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Ableism, Miscarriage, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Gun violence, Animal death, Alcohol, Racism, Child abuse, Child death, and Excrement

Minor: Abortion, Fatphobia, War, and Incest

blackthorne754's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Miscarriage, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Antisemitism, Racism, Ableism, and Homophobia

spang's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

Period-typical biases take away from what is otherwise an interesting take on a haunted house. Really enjoyed the ending but wish they had spent more time on the origins of what was going on. Very slow at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism

Moderate: Homophobia and Ableism

saltedsnail's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Animal cruelty, Murder, Animal death, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Antisemitism, Racism, Classism, Homophobia, Pregnancy, and Gore

Minor: Infidelity, War, and Abortion

savvylit's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The House Next Door is an excellent example of a Southern Gothic horror novel. Siddons expertly builds mounting dread around the House as multiple well-to-do families face ruin over inexplicable occurrences. Though the house is not what one would typically think of as "haunted" - being both new and stylistically modern - it is practically alive with malice.

Where the genius of this book really lies, is in the subtle and scathing satire of Southern suburbia. Colquitt, Walter, and all of their bourgeoisie neighbors are obsessed with social standing and etiquette. The evil House inherently understands that and preys on everyone involved by specifically and absolutely destroying their reputations. The house forces them into such suburban scandals as infidelity, general impropriety, mental illness, and grisly death. Siddons wrote this novel in the late 70s and it is clear from the first page that these characters live in a world where anyone will be blatantly shamed or shunned for anything even slightly out of the norm.

I absolutely loved the themes and the lush writing style of The House Next Door. This book has joined The Elementals and The Haunting of Hill House as one of my favorite horror stories of all time.

That being said, because of the era this book was written and set in - and because all the characters are super annoying upper middle-class Southerners - this book features a handful of racism, sexism, a hell of a lot of classism, homophobia, and antisemitism. In the context of satire and loving to hate all the characters, it fits. Because it really is horrifying! However, that doesn't make it any less jarring for me to read in 2022.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Classism, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Animal death, Miscarriage, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Suicide, Murder, Gun violence, and Excrement

methuselah's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

A bourgeois, late-70s, suburban horror. Really cool concept, but this book is unfortunately a product of its time. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia and Antisemitism

Minor: Racism