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brokenspine's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Suicide
locdbooktician's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Yeah! Amazing! Love the mix of character and plot development. Love how Tanarive sets up things to be a red herring only to find out later that the entire book is little clues.
This is a story about a family with conjured magic. This is what happens when a family matriarch bends magic to its breaking point and Papa Legba requests a price. Only for unfortunate event after unfortunate event happens to this family who are owners of the good house. This is a story of how ancestors and live descendants must work together to restore a family. This story urges you that you don’t have to believe in the unexplained in order for the unexplained to believe and HUNT YOU!
This is also a story of how important it is to share family history. No matter how difficult it may be because it may cost someone’s life. It’s important to believe your family members and trust your gut. If you believe someone with malice is coming into your life. Belief that and cleanse yourself and people you love as well.
This is a story about a family with conjured magic. This is what happens when a family matriarch bends magic to its breaking point and Papa Legba requests a price. Only for unfortunate event after unfortunate event happens to this family who are owners of the good house. This is a story of how ancestors and live descendants must work together to restore a family. This story urges you that you don’t have to believe in the unexplained in order for the unexplained to believe and HUNT YOU!
This is also a story of how important it is to share family history. No matter how difficult it may be because it may cost someone’s life. It’s important to believe your family members and trust your gut. If you believe someone with malice is coming into your life. Belief that and cleanse yourself and people you love as well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Child death
deirdrelk's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It was just the right mix of supernatural thriller and family saga. I love and appreciate that it was about a Black family; diversity is frustratingly limited in this genre. Some of the descriptive writing was drawn out and oddly sexual at times when it didn’t seem warranted, but overall the writing was good. The story was much darker than I expected. If you have trouble reading about violence against children, I would be careful with this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, Child death, Murder, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
lame7747's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Self harm, Murder, Death of parent, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Slavery, Gaslighting, Excrement, Toxic relationship, and Rape
biblioghoul's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, and Child death
Minor: Car accident and Infidelity
oinkoink'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, Death, Sexual harassment, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Car accident
sarash92's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Suicide
kengiedamali's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Murder
Minor: Pedophilia and Racial slurs
evavroslin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
If you haven't read "The Good House" by Tananarive Due, though it was released originally in 2004, I urge readers to pick up a copy STAT. It is Black horror from one of the most brilliant voices in the field, as well as a professor who teaches Black horror at UCLA in a course, The Sunken Place. It is so much more than a haunted house story. There are ancestors who reach out to descendants to warn them about family curses and danger, love lost and regained, as well as the tragedy of losing a son in a violent manner. The protagonist, Angela, is dealing with so much overwhelming emotion, trying to get to the root of the circumstances of her son's brutal death, for which she will have to return to the house where it happened, a house she has avoided for the past two years because of extreme trauma. What she finds when she arrives is so much worse than anything she could have imagined.
Everything about this book is stellar--the incorporation of Haitian vodou in Angela's Toussaint family background, their origins in New Orleans, the signs that pointed her grandmother, Marie, to go to a specific house on the other coast of the country, the family curse, and so much more. The plot kept me turning the pages, feverishly trying to find out what would happen next. There were moments I shouted "No!" when I was reading, and praying for the safety of the main characters. The characterization was excellent, particularly the chapters of Angela's son, Corey, and showing the reader what he was going through mentally when he discovered parts of his family history unknown to him before, what he did with it, the consequences, and so much more. Due also nailed the teenager's dialogue. Angela is a strong woman but she is also fraying at the edges and has been for a long time. Her family's past was hidden from her purposely, as she was kept in the dark, something that comes back to haunt her in a huge way. As she races to discover what she must do to set things right, the plot goes into a frenzy of some of the best horror out there.
I hope that this work will be adapted as a film or television series, because it is absolutely one of Due's masterpieces in her voluminous body of work. Along with her short story collection, The Good House is my favourite of her amazing works.
Everything about this book is stellar--the incorporation of Haitian vodou in Angela's Toussaint family background, their origins in New Orleans, the signs that pointed her grandmother, Marie, to go to a specific house on the other coast of the country, the family curse, and so much more. The plot kept me turning the pages, feverishly trying to find out what would happen next. There were moments I shouted "No!" when I was reading, and praying for the safety of the main characters. The characterization was excellent, particularly the chapters of Angela's son, Corey, and showing the reader what he was going through mentally when he discovered parts of his family history unknown to him before, what he did with it, the consequences, and so much more. Due also nailed the teenager's dialogue. Angela is a strong woman but she is also fraying at the edges and has been for a long time. Her family's past was hidden from her purposely, as she was kept in the dark, something that comes back to haunt her in a huge way. As she races to discover what she must do to set things right, the plot goes into a frenzy of some of the best horror out there.
I hope that this work will be adapted as a film or television series, because it is absolutely one of Due's masterpieces in her voluminous body of work. Along with her short story collection, The Good House is my favourite of her amazing works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Infidelity, Gun violence, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death, Child death, and Blood
carli_likes_books's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Child death
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Drug use