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bearwhocanreadbecauseofmagic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I wasn’t particularly charmed by any of the protagonists, and the most interesting characters were completely unlikeable. The character work felt a bit flat to me.
I think if you can push through the general character flatness and the stark lack of clues into the seemingly disjointed supernatural events of this story for a large bulk of your time reading, the way it’s all tied together in the end still makes Ghost Story a worthwhile read. It’s rare that a horror gets more horrifying the more you begin to understand.
On a more fully positive note, there were a few truly unsettling horror scenes that were described with all the chilling nuance a horror fan craves that are another selling point for the book.
Moderate: Racism and Suicide
Minor: Violence and Rape
dogearedbooks's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, Violence, Suicide, Sexual content, and Infidelity
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Grief, Incest, and Pedophilia
Minor: Car accident, Drug use, Rape, Pedophilia, Stalking, and Sexual assault
slipp99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
I did DNF it with two chapters left though, after trying my hardest to push through
Read for my office’s book club
Graphic: Death, Child death, Kidnapping, and Blood
Moderate: Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Incest
j_m_alexander's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A somewhat confounding and disorienting book full of illusions, misdirection, loops, repetitions, and plot points to nowhere. Straub provides stories within stories, overlaying narratives and time periods in ways that makes the book seem unruly. We start with an intriguing storyline that is mysterious, tense, and seemingly coy, but the plot eventually strikes out into more gory, vulgar, and even trippy territory. I am not quite sure what to do with this book, it suggests that the most terrifying things live within our own minds, but then again... maybe not, perhaps we birth the terrors out into reality.
The characters are largely entertaining though somewhat cartoonish at times. This book also has a definite dated quality to it, using terms and descriptions that today seems cringe-y. The writing is quite good overall, surprises the reader often, and even has some humor to it, but it's not perfect. There is a lot going on within this book, like so much loose viscera, it's not all that easy to hold onto, but it does make a certain impression on those that happen upon it.
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, and Cursing
nouveau's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Suicide, Child death, and Murder