Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

45 reviews

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

---

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

beholderess's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Dementia, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit

Minor: Suicide

lucylou's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

3.75

Interesting addition on a haunted house genre. Definitely check the content warnings before reading (domestic violence, child death, and gore being very graphic).
Minor gripe about this book: the author almost only describes characters’ eyes as “wide,” so often that it was actually distracting. 

I read 3/4ths and listened to the last 1/4th, and I would recommend listening to the audiobook- Kimberly Farr does a fantastic job.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Child abuse

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Animal death

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Cannibalism, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

tabookish's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Dementia

hanj12's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Alcoholism, Violence, Addiction, and Child abuse

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, Death of parent, and Mental illness

anissawren's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Blood, Child death, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Suicide, Murder, and Police brutality

Minor: Dementia, Self harm, Cannibalism, and Forced institutionalization

mrsbliss's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Body horror, Child death, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide

wlreed312's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

4.5

I really enjoyed this. There is a lot of humor at the beginning, but as the story went on and things became more serious, the tension ramped up and I was worried for everyone in the end. I think Orlando did a great job considering the characters aren't really likable, but as the book unfolds you start to understand why they are the way they are. I wish we had a short epilogue, maybe a few months after the final events, or maybe some more backstory on a couple of minor characters. But those are pretty minor nitpicks, overall I thought this was fantastic.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, Physical abuse, Body horror, Death, Alcoholism, Gore, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicide and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jourdanicus's review against another edition

dark reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

This book is great allegory for

domestic abuse

and the kind of family relationships that follow the pattern of suppressing/repressing emotions with a satisfying, gory horror ending. I did feel the language could have been cleaned up a bit - I'm not offended by  swearing but I think there was more than necessary to get the point across. There were also some details that felt a bit more repetitive than necessary to get the point across.

Otherwise, this was almost a perfect 5 star read for me. I love horror that mixes psychological thrill with physical horror, and an unreliable narrator is one of my favorite tropes. In fact, this book made clever use of a few recognizable horror tropes without them being too obvious or heavy handed. I heard elements of The Shining, and several horror movies of which I can't think of the names.

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys psychological horror, mother/daughter relationship themes, stories with unreliable narrators, fans of classic horror, and Stephen King fans. Don't read while eating if you're sensitive or have a vivid visual imagination... Lol.

Mind the triggers, but everyone including the children get

justice and a happy ending

!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Dementia, Murder, Animal death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Torture

Minor: Vomit and Suicide

shantuck13's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Body horror, Alcoholism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Dementia, Confinement, Suicide, and Gaslighting