Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

16 reviews

daniellecherny's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Excrement, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Self harm, Gaslighting, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Suicide, Torture, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, and Bullying

Ending is left open/ambiguous. If you need a clear ending that explains exactly what happened, don't read this book.

atthediscotech's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

Ending was good until “The twist”. The twist made it less interesting. 3.5 bc the twist was a let down. I would have given it 5 without it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Mental illness

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Horrifyingly tragic, A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay is filled to the brim with terrible scenes, all told from the point of view of the youngest character to witness everything. I just felt so bad the entire time reading this for not just Marjorie and Merry, who were just kids, but also characters like Sarah and Ken; who while aren't blameless entirely, are forced to witness a lot of this horror with seemingly no agency to fight against it. 

I also felt really bad that the one who I felt more creeped out by was not Marjorie, with her gruesome stories and actions, but Merry, who seemed to take glee from her and her sister's trauma. Merry should be a somewhat reliable narrator as a kid, aside from her shoddy memory. There isn't a reason to suspect her of leaving things out. However, I felt wary all the same as Merry became known for being an exaggerator and a storyteller. There's a few reveals later on in the book that highlight this fact and it just made me very suspicious of someone who is just a very traumatized child/person. 

Tremblay has done a fantastic job here with this book. A reader questioning a narrator's true feelings makes for good conversation and deeper reading. I am so torn with Merry as a character. My initial feelings were as stated above: Merry is creepy for the way she expresses her thoughts on the situation and her sister. However, after I finished the book, I couldn't help but think that maybe Merry was just trying to find her own way of understanding what all happened in her childhood, everything that led up to the greatest tragedy of her life. Afterward, all I could see was a girl-now-adult, still struggling to figure out why her sister acted the way she did, what her sister could've been thinking throughout it all.

When I started this book, the summary had not prepared me for the gruesome descriptions Tremblay employed, nor how sad a story this really was. I just felt so bad for Marjorie, more than anything. She didn't deserve anything that happened to her, and needed to be taken out of the home and cameras that were definitely making things worse. I am curious to know of other's opinions of the portrayal of schizophrenia in this book. I did not touch on it as I am not an expert on the condition, nor do I have the condition. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Vomit, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Blood, Violence, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Self harm, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Cursing, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Drug use, Alcohol, and Child abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse and Confinement

simp4sneks's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Misogyny

Minor: Ableism, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Child death, Death of parent, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

devynvictoria's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

Wow! I have had this book recommended to me for years, but I kept putting it off. I found it at the library while I was looking for something else and decided to give it a go— I am so glad I did! This is easily my favorite book of the year so far. There was such a sense of tension and dread the entire book, I loved it. I couldn’t put it down, I needed to know what was going to happen and the ending completely blew me away. This was my first Paul Tremblay novel, but it definitely won’t be my last.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Child death, Cursing, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization

onemamareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

3.0

Read my full review here:  https://onemamassummer.weebly.com/book-reviews/a-head-full-of-ghosts 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Child abuse, Body horror, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Death, Murder, Blood, Vomit, Violence, Suicide, Mental illness, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Torture, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Confinement, and Child death

jenniferlynnkrohn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Medical trauma, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Violence, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Vomit

dromedaryreader's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I really loved this book. My favorite of the year so far. The dialogue is great and the story flows very well. Wasn't a fan of the blog post style writing in a few chapters or else it would be 5 stars. Overall so good and I love that the ending is so open to interpretation that most people disagree about who is really the one at fault. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Murder, and Physical abuse

petrolfox's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Excrement, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, and Confinement

Moderate: Confinement, Bullying, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, and Homophobia

rachaelallyn's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Confinement