Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

82 reviews

nicolesanerd's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I’m not sure that I’ve ever facepalmed from a book as much as this one made me. The characters were frustrating, to put it nicely. The plot was also completely predictable. The book contained multiple instances of hints that made it very apparent while not saying it outright. I finished in hopes that it wouldn’t be the case, but unfortunately it was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, Body horror, Torture, Cursing, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality

larajgriff1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

Sufficiently scary in the horror way while also being scary in the interpersonal way.  Though warning: if you don't like gore, don't come within 10 feet of this book.  Much like blood from the walls, it oozes from every page.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Domestic abuse, Torture, Blood, Violence, Child death, Toxic relationship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Suicide, Cannibalism, and Gaslighting

wordsareworlds's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this twist on a more classic haunted house story. It had me guessing until almost the end which way it would go, and ultimately I was very satisfied by how everything came together. I keep thinking about the fine line the author walked in revealing the MC's past and wanting the reader to ask just how unreliable the narrator is. Strong themes about the cycle of abuse and how survival can manifest in very different ways for different people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Dementia, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Alcohol and Addiction

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Suicide

lori007's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Gore

tkhenry99's review against another edition

3.5

Katherine being genuinely insufferable really impeded my enjoyment of this book. plus, it’s so ridiculously unbelievable that a woman who hates her father so much would care that he went missing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Murder, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Addiction, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Domestic abuse

redvelvetpenguins's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Murder, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

amirahazhar's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

5.0

For fans of American Horror Story: Murder House, but a lot less horny.

I loved Margaret's nonchalance about the hauntings (which I feel is tied to a psychological aspect - you'll find out more about her lore) and I loved all the ghosts. 

The first 80% was a bit slow and had a lot of flashbacks but I think the pay-off was worth it. 

Didn't think I'd give this a 5 but I just loved that ending so much and I'm a sucker for a good, old haunted house story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Body horror, Gore, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Domestic abuse

alicroz34's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

Attacking the haunted house genre from the perspective of an overly agreeable mom who just puts up with most of it is kind of hilarious. 

I devoured this in two days. 

I did notice 100% of adult men who died in the house did not get to come back as ghosts and did not get to have their injuries reversed at the end. I find that very interesting, but I did want an acknowledgement of that somewhere? Like we're literally watching all the children & adult women who died in the house heal & leave (if they want to) and then they just sit on the porch like... so Hal is dead. I'm down with it but I was like... is no one else seeing a pattern here hi hello.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, Violence, Death of parent, Death, Toxic relationship, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, and Vomit

Moderate: Dementia, Gaslighting, and Fire/Fire injury

judassilver's review against another edition

dark funny 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Violence, Vomit, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, Suicide, Dementia, Cannibalism, and Grief

Minor: Self harm, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

saltycoffee's review against another edition

dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Body horror, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Gore, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Mental illness, and Kidnapping