Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

15 reviews

abicaro17's review

challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

As four characters come together to investigate the psychological effects of a haunted house, Eleanor narrates the effect on both her and the others. As the lively aspects of the house become increasingly creepier, Eleanor and the house mates begin to devolve. The set up of this book is incredibly interesting and I actually really enjoyed the slow burn. I think my issues stem from two parts. Part 1: no one in the house ever really addresses any haunted occurrences unless it's during or immediately after. Part 2: The last third of the book was incredibly confusing. I think if I was actually reading it and not listening to the audiobook, it might be different. Overall it was an interesting book and i'm intrigued to see how the show modernized it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Child death, Grief, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Violence, Car accident, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.5

If I based everything purely on vibes, this book would have rated higher but it kind of got to the point where I was having trouble picturing what was going on and so I got confused about what was actually happening..

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Physical abuse, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Rape, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

mattyvreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I’m obsessed with this book. Shirley Jackson’s writing is impeccable. I love that the book feels so modern, despite being written in the late 50s. It is an impressive and utterly horrifying piece of literature.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Confinement, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Moderate: Violence, Gaslighting, Murder, and Suicide

sunn_bleach's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

Rereading "The Haunting of Hill House" after my initial foray in 2018 showed how important rereads can be. Six years is a long time, and I've grown as person and artist (dichotomy intended). I love Shirley Jackson, but I thought this book was hella boring. Nothing's scary and nothing happens! Whats-her-face just drives into a tree! How is this the "scariest horror novel" or whatever?

... but this time, I've realized a mastery of Jackson's prose: your imagination is what makes it scary, just as the characters' imaginations bring forth the House. Jackson doesn't outright describe the pathway through the forest that Eleanor and Theo take, because she knows anything your mind uses to fill in the gaps makes it far creepier. You might read about the room in the center of the house that the characters' sing and dance and hang out in, and as we all know merriment dispels ghosts... but what if you expand outward and consider the whole house? What if you imagine this island of ostensible happiness as a silent, dark, house leans over them in what is its absolute focal point? Jackson's stark prose came off as beige in 2018, but that couldn't be further from the truth; what she did was provide me the outline, knowing what whatever I sketched in would be far more terrifying and bring me closer to Eleanor than anything else. And *that* is the horror of Hill House within the book... and without.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Blood and Violence

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

this is such a good book!!! definitely deserves all of the hype and the classic title, shirley jackson is a phenomenal writer

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, and Death

louiepotterbook's review

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

1.0

Eleanor deserved better and the fact that Theo lived and she didn’t is absolute bullshit

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Sexism, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Violence

tita_loves_literature's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Child death and Violence

starlit_pathways's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Car accident, Suicide, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Grief

toffishay's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.75

I read this book in a two days and I really enjoyed it. I am not normally a horror person, but I love Shirley Jackson and her tense, more psychological thrillers. The only drawback for this book I would say is that it does lag at some points, which is strange for such a short book. But when it is on, it's very tense and suspenseful and you really get into Eleanor's head. I think that if you liked this book, you would like O, Caledonia by Elspeth Barker. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Car accident, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Sexism, and Misogyny

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I think perhaps it was intentional, but this book was so disjointed that I had a hard time enjoying it. There were bits and pieces that I found enjoyable but overall it was confusing and strange. I think the possession of one of the characters affected their interactions with the others but I can’t be sure because it’s never clearly stated. If I hadn’t seen the show first, I think my expectations would’ve been different or less and I may have enjoyed this more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Grief, Toxic friendship, Classism, Gaslighting, Violence, Abandonment, Child death, Car accident, and Confinement