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counterfeitnickel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Sexual content, and Violence
ru_th's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Horror should have buried me.
It didn’t. […]
Come morning I found the day as I have found every other day — without relief or explanation.
Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism
booksaregodly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent
bealittlebrave's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol
Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
stefo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
̶T̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶
I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to write a review on such a detailed and maximalist work of literature but here I go. I won't go into spoiler territory and will mostly just express my fascination with this book and try and get YOU to read it too :)
For what it is, House of Leaves is a difficult book for a number of reasons, the almost ironic pseudo-academic passages, our incredibly unreliable narrator Johnny Truant and his at times incoherent ramblings, the dismembered structure of the story as a whole and the incredible experimentation with page layout, typography and general weirdness of it all. But, I strongly believe that once you ease yourself into the first couple of chapters, with enough free time most of the book will pass like a breeze, or as some people may call it "a page turner". Also, there are lots of dense pages where you have to slow down a bit but some of the chapters are totally rapid-fire.
Another interesting thing about this behemoth is that I can't really restrain it to being a single genre, the top genre here on Goodreads is "Horror" but in my opinion this is much, much more than just that and to be honest I wont even try to explain it with genres, maybe the closest would be "Experimental Meta-Horror" if such genre exists.
There are so many twist and turns in the story and so many different interpretations that the possibilities of the "mystery" seem almost endless. However, I think that the best part of the book IS the journey of reading it, sure the ending is great and manages to encapsulate the chaos pretty well but I think the act of reading this thing in general is the excitement of it all, probably the most fun I've had in literature in, well, ever.
The act of reading may be fun here, but this is In my honest opinion not a funny book, it cracks some good jokes from time to time and there is some more humorous characters but again, I can't really confine it to mere descriptors since it offers a lot. Some people have stated that they found it straight up scary, some cried, some found it mysterious and some, funny and I can confidently say the book can be all that to different readers. I personally found the story incredibly sad, not in a depressing way to be honest but in a strong emotional way, accompanied by Nine Inch Nail's "Ghosts" album series this book made me FEEL a lot. Still have that gaping feeling in my chest as I'm writing this and to be honest books that manage to make me FEEL are the best, I'm also sure this book is capable of making you feel something too.
If any of this sounds like an interesting time by all means give this book a chance! Few will regret it :) Be sure to stay out of spoiler territory and don't Google much, some things are better when you don't know a lot about them. (Also, this is in no way a book to be read in e-book format, I highly suggest you buy the "Remastered Full-Color Edition" since it gives the best experience, or if you know me personally hit me up and I'll happily lend it to you!)
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Child death, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
booitsnathalie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I didn't know much about House of Leaves beyond it's infamous typography, so it was surprising to learn it's functionally a book equivalent to found footage horror. It trades documentary "authenticity" for dense citations and pervert French, but conceptually I find a lot of similarities (both are primarily interested in the mechanics of their medium and how our trust in those forms can be exploited). How successful HoL is depends mostly on your willingness to indulge its most excessive elements, following footnotes to smaller footnotes and spinning the book around like it's the world thickest centerfold.
HoL slots into a weird segment of media that I conceptually appreciate but dread existing because it inevitably gets attached to the worst sort of gross art bro. It is a playful, surprisingly warm, darkly funny book, but also one that revels in masculine violence and the deification of male ambition. It is proud of its swamp, fascinated by the algae and mutated fish, but if you want to study the tadpoles you're forced to wade past crocodiles and a CW list longer than the terms you didn't read.
My metaphors are mixing and my mind is wandering, but this is all to say HoL is a challenging recommendation in 2022. A rewarding one if you can stomach the grime, but I wouldn't shame anyone for keeping it on the shelf a while longer.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent
Minor: Bullying and Child death
laneport's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Cancer, Medical content, and Car accident
ggcd1981's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape and Excrement
octopus_farmer's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault