Reviews with content warning for Self harm - The Whispering House

Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Whispering House by Elizabeth Brooks

8 reviews

lazyowl's review

dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a bit slow to start, as it took a while to peak my interest. The story was compelling enough for me to want to read, but I found no real surprises when the mystery was solved.

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knitterscasket's review

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dark mysterious slow-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

2.0

There are no ghosts in this book. Just some jerks.

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cgreenstein's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

Creepy, creepy, creepy. This is a good look at how unprocessed grief and unaddressed trauma have long-term effects, as well as how abusive relationships develop slowly and then become hard to leave because it's hard to self-identify as someone who's in an abusive relationship. Other reviews take issue with the heroine, as she makes seemingly incomprehensible decisions that put or keep her in danger, and while I see where they're coming from, for me her decisions were poor, yes, but they struck me as being entirely rational for her character, as well. Freya wanted to finally have something of her own, something where she was special and adored and the center of attention, and --as someone who lives in a family of artists but who is not engaged in an artistic line of work-- she wanted to be involved in the world of art, enveloped by creativity and passion, living the sort of compelling life that she thought her sister had (and, I think, the life that Freya thinks might have been possible for her if her mother's death hadn't cast Freya into the role of household peacemaker and steadying force). Does Freya make absolutely terrible choices? Yes. But it's all in line with the gothic novel trope (the book blurb likened this to Wuthering Heights, and I think that fits), and it all makes sense if you view Freya as someone who needs to find / do / become something that justifies her existence to herself. After over a decade of being "the good one," the one who causes no trouble and therefore receives no attention or notice, she's allowed herself this one rash choice (and it's a doozy)-- and now she feels compelled to make it "worth it" somehow, which has her digging a deeper and deeper hole into increasingly poor choices.

Anyway, I found this very suspenseful, and the prose is lovely.

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belovedsnail's review

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mysterious fast-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

2.75

I honestly feel a bit bad about giving the book a low rating. There is nothing wrong with it, there's just nothing really that stands out. If you want to read a modern updated gothic mystery with the feel of the kind of book Hitchcock would have filmed, and don't want anything too challenging, then this is your book. It is competently written and moves very quickly. It was overwritten in places, but that goes well to the main point of the book. My main issue is that the "mystery" was obvious to me 1/3 of the way in the book and it somehow lacked the dramatic sizzle which would make up for my lack of surprise. It is definitely going to be someone's ideal airplane book. Just not mine.

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breeoxd's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I felt like the author showed Cory as being unable to handle seeing the truth about himself. His art was a way to defy his father, as a way of showing his manhood by providing for his family and sustaining the estate- a ticket to a brighter future without depending on what he was taught by his dad (who was focused on more masculine skills like sports and business). His mentally ill mother had taken a frail child and made his talents? the most special thing about him, out of a way to keep her connected with her happier pre-husband past; a connection to art and the world outside the smothering Whispering House. Diana made art a weapon against his father’s ghost. When that mental liferaft was taken away, it ended him.

This is to say nothing of two women, who looked very similar to his mother, with who he had a dependent, and quasi incestuous “marriage” vibe with, betraying him in his own eyes. There are a lot of confusing sexual undertones in those relationships. I saw it as Mom, the wife, Stella, the whore, Freya, the saint. I saw the way he painted their souless eyes as part of him not being able to see much difference between the three. </spoiler.

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