Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A Guest in the House by E.M. Carroll

27 reviews

discocaptain's review

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dark sad tense slow-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

4.75

literally the ONLY follow up to shirley jackson's haunting of hill house i will stand for (aside from maybe the mabel podcast). e.m. carroll understands EXACTLY what makes a gothic story interesting, and does not shy away from the psychosexual lesbianism that comes with it. i photocopied the kiss spread yeah you know the one you KNOW at the library because it made me so crazy i need to look at it every day. i don't even want to talk about this book too much just go read it happy pride month
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gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

A thoroughly haunting and captivating story, that delivered peak eery atmosphere through the entity of the tale. I was genuinely frightened multiple times and had to stop reading, especially at night time.

The story was much more complex than I expected, but for the most part I think it carrier through it's themes and general plot exploration really well. Where it falls down for me was the ending; the plot twist was shocking and left me with so many questions, but then the ending just confused me. I didn't really understand what had happened. I feel like this is how I felt back in the day when I had read Carroll's Through the woods short story collection, but generally speaking, A guest in the house had a more satisfying layout.

Abby was a very non-assuming protagonist but her inner world was rich and whimsical. I loved the scenes of her imaginary knight and how she wanted to be in spirit, but it was interwoven with this dark and sinister entity and environment that I began to wonder if that was coming from Abby herself.

Carroll really had me second guessing characters and although I'm left perplexed by those last few pages, I enjoyed the beauty of the details of the art and the story overall.


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xabbeylongx's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Spoilers Ahead: 
Once again, Carroll has blown me away with her book. The illustrations, perfect, and the storyline, even more perfect! 
We follow Abby as she is with her new husband, a dentist, left widowed from his previous marriage, and his child from that marriage, Crystal. They all live together, and Sheila, the ex-wife, had supposedly died from cancer. However, when she starts being haunted by ‘Sheila’, and is told that she was actually murdered by him, she starts to feel a little weird, like everything is not as it seems. 
And when she lets someone into the house to look after Crystal, after an accident with her husband that leaves him dead, when she finds out that someone is not who they say they are, everything kicks off. 
Honestly, my explanation does not do the story justice at all. It’s one of the best, most intriguing and most chilling books I’ve ever read. 
The ending was so ambiguous. There were so many theories, and it’s one of the only books, thus far, that I’ve had to look up because I have no idea how it ends. One part of me thinks that it’s a bit of copout, the ending not being clear, but the other, more correct part of me loves the ambiguity. The reader is free to make up their own theories as to how the story ends. Personally, I don’t know what to think, and I like there not being a typically ‘correct’ ending to it, it makes it a very unique book, even though I know a lot of people didn’t like how it ended. I, having personally thought about it a bit more since I last read the book, think it’s insanely impressive to write and illustrate a novel like that. And it’s queer, which makes it all the better!
The only thing is I didn't bond with the characters too much, and I thought Abby was quite bland, but I think that also helps with the story, so I'm not too mad about it. And the less said about Abby's husband the better, because he is an awful man, and I think he deserved what happened to him. 
 
One of my favourite reviews ever: “Girls be like ‘I’m fighting demons’ and the demons be homosexuality”. 
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lindsayflor_95's review

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

4.0

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foxclcves's review

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dark mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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iamblueraspberry's review

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

5.0

This book was beautifully chilling. It drew me in and left me changed. Stunningly well done. 
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catspajamas15's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Emily Carroll can do no wrong. Her art is unparalleled and hauntingly beautiful. Her story may not make sense to some, but you can still get lost in the illustrations and come to your own conclusions. I will always support this author. 
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maryellen's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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katizwitchy's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 The art was beautiful and haunting, though I have to say I think I'll have to read it a few more times to really understand the plot. I want to say that the ending was disappointing, but I think I just haven't really digested it yet. Such a compelling ride up until that abrupt stop and wow! I will be thinking about her for a long time. 
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emblazedwords's review

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challenging dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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