Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Good House by Tananarive Due

6 reviews

cass_lit's review against another edition

4.25

Buckle up, because this is a long review (for a long book). 

Overall, I really liked this. It was chilly and atmospheric, the perfect amount of haunted house creepy in my opinion. As much as I wanted to keep reading, I’d have to put it away at night because I didn’t want to risk nightmares. It’s a long book — 600 pages/22 hours — but I never felt like it was dragging. There were a few points where I’d wonder how we had so much left when it felt like we were so close to figuring it out, but then another twist would appear and I’d forget I’d questioned anything. I loved the twists too; they never felt forced or too unbelievable and they kept me on my toes the whole time. I loved the haunted house, I loved the underlying voodoo aspects, and I loved rooting for Angie and her family. I was shocked from the start with what happens to Corey and the shocks kept coming as we pieced everything together. I also personally loved the ending, because I’m a sucker for that. 

However, I do have some complaints that kept this from being *my* perfect horror and that I think are worth alerting others on. First, Myles was SO close to perfect. I was rooting for him. But you do not have sex with people who are asleep. I don’t care if you had consensual sex the night before. I hated that scene and how it was presented as him still loving her and it completely turned me off of him. My second issue has to do with the numerous trigger warnings. I get that most of these are expected in a horror book, but I hate that. I’d love a mystery/thriller/horror that *doesn’t* rely on homophobia to be scary if written by a straight person. Just like I don’t want one relying on racism to be written by a white person, because those are real horrors and if you’re not the targeted community, I don’t think you should be sensationalizing them. There’s homophobic language and plot lines that aren’t necessary, as well as use of the r-word. I will clarify that this book was originally published in the early 2000s though and while it does not excuse the language, it may no longer reflect the way Tananarive Due writes. Tariq and Corey’s inner monologues almost justifying domestic abuse also just made me feel icky. 

Other trigger warnings include suicide, death of a child, animal cruelty, blood/gore, sexual assault and rape (including of a 13 year old girl), homophobia, racism, ableism, domestic abuse. 

There’s also some discussion into the indigenous history of the setting, although I can’t speak to the accuracy of the representation. 

Overall, I will absolutely be reading more Tananarive Due and I’m especially excited to dive into more of her more recent work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Rape, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Racism, Homophobia, and Racial slurs

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, and Death of parent

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Murder, Child death, Racism, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Animal death, Misogyny, Car accident, Dementia, Death of parent, Rape, Domestic abuse, Gore, Drug use, Hate crime, Medical content, and Sexism

Minor: Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Excrement, Ableism, Alcohol, Incest, Miscarriage, Slavery, and Vomit

Passing use of F and R slurs.

danimacuk'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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Child death, Death, Grief, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Rape, Bullying, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Racism

Minor: Hate crime, Dementia, Drug use, Physical abuse, Vomit, and Alcohol

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, Child death, Murder, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

officialmcnugget's review against another edition

dark inspiring 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

4.5

Would have been 5 stars without the threat of sexual violence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Suicide, Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Racial slurs, Murder, Racism, Domestic abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Excrement and Injury/Injury detail

rorikae's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

'The Good House' by Tananarive Due is a haunting family saga that follows the Toussaint family's home and all of the mysterious and horrific events tied to it. 
The Good House is well known in its town. Angela Toussaint's grandmother owned the house and it received its nickname under her care. But when a tragedy that upends Angela's life takes place in the house, things begin to change. There are strange happenings around the town and not everyone is acting normally. 
Due has created a haunting tale that pairs family saga with the horrors of a haunting that crosses generations. After an initial spot of violence, the story takes on a subtly haunting tone as ominous events unravel and we come to learn more about the Good House and the Toussaint family. Each of the characters is so fully fleshed out that they jump off the page. They are all incredibly flawed but their humanness also makes them easy to care for. The added element of the story winding through different family members perspectives over different years, stiches the story together in a really satisfying way. 
So much happens across this book and there is practically every content warning that you can imagine. I've been excited to read this book for a while and it lived up to and exceeded my expectations. I can't wait to read more of Due's work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence