Reviews tagging 'Death'

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

122 reviews

marielcariker's review

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• 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? Yes

3.5

I’ve never read anything like this and maybe never will again. Fascinating and infuriating! Crazy to read something that only works as a physical book and would not translate on an e-reader. I loved the journey but don’t necessarily recommend reading unless you like a challenge. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Death, and Blood

halloween_writes's review

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Rape, Animal death, Death, and Drug use

Minor: Death of parent

minzzi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

  This is the first book I have ever read that really scared me. 
  I loved the Navidson Records, characters, the narrative and the way it was written and formatted. Truly genius. No complaints.
   However, the parts about Johnny kinda irritated me, specially in the middle section of the book. All Johnny's storys about his childhood, or the story about the dead dog were great, fitted the theme of the book perfectly, but just how convenient is it that every person who knows something about Zampanò is an attractive young woman who wants to have sex with him?
   I was having a great time learning about the terrifying maze in Navidson's house and Johnny would cut in with a random story about how he fucked a woman. It got boring quick.
   Taking that out, as I said before, everything else was amazing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

kyrsten042's review

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

Pseudo-academic but truly entertaining. Gripping after the first 50 pages!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Gun violence

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Drug abuse

bites_of_books's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

The amount of effort and work that went into House of Leaves is something that I can really appreciate. There were certain sections where the creepiness of the darkness inside the house was truly palpable but anytime that I was close to diving deep into that horror, the academic style of writing took me away from it. At times I was also really interested in the academic discussions regarding subjects ranging from physics to history and linguistics, but it was truly difficult to call it an enjoyable experience. 
There are many interpretations about this book, ranging from who is narrating, the true meaning of the house, and even the timeline of events. 
I don't think I can recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun book to read, but if you're into deep dives into linguistics, philosophy, poetry, physics, with two side stories that tell the stories of deeply troubled characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Blood, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual violence, Rape, Chronic illness, Confinement, and Death

chloebowie's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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? No

2.0

Well… it was good enough to keep turning the page but bad enough to where I couldn’t tell you what happened 😅 it was everything and nothing all at once. Nothing was ever really resolved. It’s just stopped. 

If this weren’t a buddy read I don’t think I would’ve finished it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Animal death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape

unfinishedduet's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Animal death, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Alcohol, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

Moderate: Medical content, Child abuse, Addiction, Infidelity, Rape, Vomit, Physical abuse, Car accident, and Gore

transdankovsky's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Drug use, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, and Misogyny

quixie's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Abandonment, Gun violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Bullying, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Suicide, Blood, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Death, Gore, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

monahed's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Drug abuse, Death, Mental illness, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Misogyny