Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

22 reviews

guccishoestrings's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

I have read this book twice over the course of 16 months as my creative writing (later horror film and literature) professor recommended and later required to read this book.

This book seems like a book about a teen getting an exorcism but that is not at all what this book is about. This book is more about a family that is damaged beyond repair, financially crushed, and seeking for any kind of hope they can find. There are really only two main characters in this book in Marjorie (the teen who is "possessed") and Merry (who is the narrator) with their mother and father being important but secondary main characters. The father of the family lost his job and has since pretty much become a cult like member at the church, the mother has been dealing with severe depression and with everything going on she has gotten much worse, and Marjorie is apparently possessed. Eventually a show is made to show the exorcism of Marjorie and the book goes from there.

I suggest reading this book once then after reflection and thought read it again in a week. There are so many little things that you miss through your first read through. I also suggest reading with a group of 4 or more people as after reading for a class, almost everybody has different thoughts on what the story and characters are conveying. Just do not go in expecting an exorcism horror book, because this is a different type of horror, just wait till the end of this book as it is truly heartbreaking.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, and Vomit

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.

holy_moly_colee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Murder, and Death

thee_eclectic_eccentric's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gaslighting, Bullying, and Alcohol

jaedia's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Sexual content, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, and Alcoholism

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I don’t know how I feel about this book. It was interesting and the way it was told was intriguing, but it kind of just made me sad. Also I’m pretty sure this is classified as horror, but there was maybe like one creepy part(that I skipped over because I do not need to read graphic details about a 14 year old masturbating). Honestly it was just depressing to read about these girls and the mental illness and honestly the annoying father(which is kind of the point, but I just didn’t really expect that). I also did not like the ending like it was just so anticlimactic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Vomit, Alcohol, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Grief, Body horror, Cursing, Death of parent, and Murder

erica_reads_things's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

An edge-of-your-seat-cant-put-this-down read diving into the horror tropes of possession and exorcism and highlighting the problematic history of exorcism within the Church. I loved the characters and trajectory of this book. The inserts of the horror blog examining the eventual reality show in the story was so clever. I could not put this book down and I think I'll be thinking of this one for a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Blood, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Child death, Body horror, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Gore, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Domestic abuse

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

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

august_18's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Gore, Sexual content, and Misogyny

Minor: Gaslighting and Bullying