Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

46 reviews

rivercat0338's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

4.25

This was a roller coaster ride. Starts out funny but gets very dark very fast--while still maintaining Margaret's wry, matter-of-fact tone--and I honestly had no idea where it was going. The ending is bonkers. Content warnings for

alcoholism and domestic abuse

, but they were handled well; the author has a PhD in psychology so it rang true and added the element of doubt that made the story much more interesting and compelling. One of my favorite horror reads of the year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal death, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Mental illness, and Torture

thebookvisitor's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gore, and Toxic relationship

melanyjve's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Gaslighting

blewballoon's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I wasn't sure how to feel about this book during most of my reading. I found it pretty funny at times, the constant gag of the main character reacting nonchalantly to horrific and bizarre sights never got old for me. The book isn't exactly subtle about the comparison between surviving a haunted house being sort of like surviving an abusive relationship, and

if you follow along with that comparison to the end of the story, it seems to suggest that rather than telling people in these relationships to "leave" we should approach it more like "forcing the abuser to leave"

I had a hard time connecting with the living characters at times though, the tone of the book kept them at arms length, even if we did get little tidbits about their histories. I really enjoyed the ending and how

it didn't go the more cliche twist route that it toyed with

. The ending honestly brought my opinion of the book up in general.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Blood

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Body horror, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Child abuse

larissarose's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Cursing, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicide and Mental illness

cait_henry56's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.75

This could have been so good. I tore through this book in two days, and maybe that is my fault for how annoyed I am after ending. The haunted house and the extended metaphor for familiar relationships was realistic, terrifying, and heartbreaking. But my suspension of belief cannot handle the motivations of Margaret and Katherine, why they were both so hellbent on the former not explaining about the house, and the latter looking for Hal even after the shoe drops about him.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Animal death, Vomit, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Child abuse

tspice24's review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Death, Alcoholism, Child death, Murder, and Physical abuse

thegayestghost's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Child death, Blood, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Vomit, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Gaslighting, Gore, and Mental illness

lbsalas's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Vomit, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Suicide

killmoore_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Let me start by saying that I was SO excited to get my hands on this book. So many rave reviews, so much hype, I was READY for the spooky haunted house story of the year...

... and for me, this one fell a bit flat. 

Despite being full of gore, this read like a PG13 horror movie - perhaps its the narration style, but it was severly lacking in the fear and anxiety I always seek out in a good haunted house novel. That is what caused this to be a 4 star read for me.

I still very much enjoyed it. The story is fun, the characters are perfectly atrocious, and I truly loved both of the plot twists. It was well written, and the ending was a trip. I would LOVE to see a movie made out of this honestly, it would translate beautifully, and will definitely pick up more books by this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Alcoholism, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Alcohol, Child death, Blood, Bullying, Cannibalism, Cursing, Vomit, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, and Torture