Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

34 reviews

aparker89's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Alcohol, Body horror, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death, Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

zeroshi's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

I feel like this book hits different for victims of ab*se. This isn’t simply a haunted house book and while that part is done amazingly this is a commentary on breaking cyclical toxic patterns. Also the fact this is a debut novel??? Amazingly well done by the voice actor as well. Absolutely fell in love with the main character and her troop of pranksters. The daughter was a LITTLE IRRITATING at forst but once you realize what the book is REALLY saying you see the struggle she has with seeing her father in herself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Addiction, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Dementia, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

tew_11's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

holeeeyyyshite. best final act of a book i've read in a while. truly horrifying in some aspects. really enjoyed this 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Body horror, Vomit, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Blood, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

arkwen452's review

challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

The September House will pull readers into a mysterious, quirky narrative that's strongly driven by dark humor, in my opinion, based on the situation with Margaret in her house. 

It's told in first person and Margaret's nonchalant approach and perspective for her time in this odd, creepy and clearly haunted house filled with "pranksters" as she likes to call them is clearly not of a person who scares easily. Readers get to know Margret and learn about a lot of the hard times she's endured. But we also learn about the previous souls who lived there. And as described through her eyes, the "pranksters" actually really aren't all that bad. 

And the manor of which the author humanizes them led me to believe the intention of the book was meant to be on the dark humor more than horror. 

I think that the pacing of the book is done very well, and each chapter ties into Margaret, and Hal's marriage and their relationship with the new house really came together well. Made it an enjoyable read. 

A lot of the time in each chapter I  I found myself questioning Margaret's sanity and her control over reality. She said that Hal also noticed things in the house BUT since the POV is in first person I can't fully trust her interpretation of everything; there were also moments when it felt like the events of the house with the pranksters of the house that, as Margret calls them, made everything seem like it was actually happening. 

Like the actions/events were concrete. Therefore the author will keep the readers questioning until the very end of the book whether it is real or the September house is just a figment of Margaret's imagination. 

I don't think the horror element really kicks in until the last fourth of the book and I think that , there are more creepy elements that happen in the book overall. Especially with the use of the phrases "he's down there" in reference to Master Vale and how Margaret saw notions of that outside of the house.

Again, with it being in first person, readers cannot trust if what Margret's seeing is actually reality or just figment of her imagination. Without giving spoilers, I will say that I was very pleased with the way the ending is tied up because , it got to a point in the narrative where the word "crazy" was being tossed around and signs were pointing to Margret being commItted. I didn't like the angle of it being a psychosis issue rather than something factual. Not only because this is a red flag trope for me and it is never really done well when it comes to individual having some sort of psychosis leading to them having erratic behavior. 

But

also due to the fact that we learn a lot of what Margaret went through with her relationship with Hal and The abuse, and his alcoholism. In the beginning, I got the interpretation that how and Catherine did not have a connection because he didn't like the fact that she was a lesbian but as we continue through the book more and more details of the past is revealed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Blood, Murder, Alcoholism, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Torture, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Animal death, Cursing, Cannibalism, Gore, Gaslighting, Death, Child death, and Child abuse

archaicrobin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

The September House was absolutely gruesome in so many ways, I absolutely loved it. I am always on the search for the next great haunted house read and September House is now one of my top ten.  Margaret is living in a haunted house that acts up every September but she’s learned to live with it. According to Margaret everything is survivable, as long as you follow the rules….

Filled with real and supernatural terrors, this book was addictive and hard to out down. Highly recommend especially if you love haunted house horror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Animal death, Child abuse, Gore, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Child death, Blood, Dementia, Torture, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

linora's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book made me laugh out loud and made me cry. It was written beautifully and I have a feeling that I will be thinking about it for a long time. 

I'm debated between giving it 4.75 and 5 stars, and decided to upgrade it to 5 stars because of a few scenes that were written with such care and understanding while still maintaining their humor. I do think the metaphor weakened towards the end as the plot transitioned into more traditional horror, but I loved it anyway

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Self harm, Death of parent, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Stalking, Torture, Vomit, Chronic illness, Confinement, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

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

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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

hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

They almost had me with that fake out at the end but I’m so glad it ended how it did. I can’t fathom how the justice system will handle the latest events of the house but that ain’t my business, I suppose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Death, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Violence, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Domestic abuse

purstiltski's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Death of parent, Self harm, Cursing, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcoholism

Minor: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, and Mental illness

izypup's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

I love when women 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Blood, Gore, Murder, Child death, Body horror, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Addiction, Confinement, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Animal death, Torture, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis