Reviews with content warning for Ableism - A Head Full of Ghosts

Mmmm so you know how Game of Thrones was once criticized as glorifying the violence it claimed to condemn?

I really do feel like coming out of this with that same feeling of watching Game of Thrones. It held my attention. I focused on it. I'm not upset I saw it. But I have criticisms in how one can discuss the misogyny and voyeurism of exorcist fiction and then seemingly revel in it as a plot point.

I am on the fence as to whether the portrayal is ableist. I am not sure about my feelings on it overall. Writing this, I bumped it from 3 stars to 2.

A nice writing style, though, and the story definitely holds the attention. I'm just left with the same sort of mixed feelings I had about the Red Wedding on film.

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rachaelallyn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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_fallinglight_'s review

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dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow that ending hit me like an iron ball straight in my gut. I kinda knew where this story was going but I didn't expect that turn, and how involved little Merry would be in the final debacle. This isn't a spooky possession story. The real horror is the criminal and traumatizing neglect, the ineptitude of parenthood, the warped ideas of tradition and masculinity, how we as a community and society fail the most vulnerable, how local and global greed by capitalists, by (fanatical) church leaders preys on those vulnerable mentally, financially, and emotionally to advance their selfish goals and then leave them on their twisted, irredeemably own. The horror is how no matter how accessible help is, if you don't know how to use and navigate those tools and/or if you don't have anyone to guide you, you will fail yourself and fail those around, sometimes with fatal consequences. There's also the commentary on how can we even enjoy reality tv shows and forget these are real people, real families exposing their lives, their traumas pushed most of the time for the promise of a stable income, but in doing so, they sell their humanity to the will of greedy, heartless producers sometimes, if not most of the time. This book exposes and makes us think, how fair is the tv show/participant dynamic (and it isn't much fair most of the time I believe) and why are we so used to and even comfortable to dismiss everything that happens in these reality tv shows as “just fiction” when most of the time, the script and situations are embellished to an extent but the participants are regular people, not actors bc we choose our entertainment and morbid curiosity and fulfilling one hour judgment pastimes over what's really going on.

This book really hooked me and never let me go. I really enjoyed and ached with Merry as our mc. It gave this book, and the story it wanted to tell, a clear nuanced and realistic tone, and made all the uncomfortable scenarios feel skin deep. The writing was fluid and hard to take your eyes off, I sped through it and couldn't stop bc I needed to know more. I hurt for Marjorie, a really likeable character who totally deserved better. Better parents. Better community. Better. I really loved the sisters relationship, it was so wholesome and full of love that makes everything that happens a deeper, soul crushing tragedy. A truly memorable, hard to put down book.

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vmpyr's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense

4.5

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