Reviews with content warning for Rape - House of Leaves

This was a difficult book for me to rate. Just like Johnny I found myself losing hours just to find out what happens next. But there were times where I couldn’t get thru some of the ramblings, or the overly analytical chapters. I was mostly interested in ‘film’ itself and the house that was bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. I still have so many questions, so many whys or hows even though I know the answers are never given. There are only theories of what it might mean or could be.

Overall this book was tense, freaky, and definitely questionable at times. I loved it and wish there was more. It might take me weeks for me to fully process everything I just read.

Content Warnings

siggney's review

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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yilishabai's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

Remarkably original and a lot of worthwhile work.

Content Warnings

bottleofink's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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scumlow's review

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dark mysterious tense

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

“This is not for you.”

well, i can’t say i wasn’t warned, this really kind of wasn’t for me! short version, this earned two stars for karen green and karen green only.

long version? this was an occasionally interesting but mostly frustrating read with a deeply unsatisfying end, most of the pages wasted on possibly the most unlikeable narrator i’ve ever read, johnny truant. the longer it went on the more i hated it, and since finishing twenty minutes ago i’ve only gotten angrier. it’s a difficult book to rate, because it’s sort of two books, maybe even three, compiled together into one big mess. the navidson record, where we spent time with karen, is essentially the literary version of a found footage horror film, and it was far and away the highlight and my favourite part. it’s all that kept me going through the long, misogynistic ramblings of the truant sections, which frankly i regret wasting any of my precious time on earth having read. if i were to ever recommend this book to anyone else it would be with the heavy suggestion that they skip the truant parts entirely. interestingly, the author even gave us permission to do, stating early on that we are welcome to skip any sections that seem to ramble or drag. well, i’m here to say that beyond the first hundred or so pages, the truant sections would be more useful as toilet paper. i honest to god don’t think you’d be missing anything.

the thing is, i really did try with these sections. i tried not to hate johnny, despite the fact that he is a truly disgusting little slug of a man. i tried to get into the puzzle of it all, and i’m not against a bit of a deep dive. i bookmarked areas of interest. i noticed the check mark on page 97 and how it’s referenced back towards the end in the letter from his mother. i noticed the slip from third to first person on page 320. i noticed the way johnny’s true last name is omitted. i considered and reconsidered the different approaches to who may really be writing this. i asked myself over and over, who are the editors? but at the end of the day, there does need to be a reward waiting at the end of all this effort. a solid answer, or at least the evidence required to make a very good case for one. i need to feel that the author knows what story he meant to tell, even if i don’t quite understand it yet. it’s one thing to leave certain aspects open to interpretation, but frankly i think this guy just threw as much shit at the wall as possible in order to see what might stick. it’s clear that people enjoyed themselves in the message boards, but ironically all this author has done is create a mystery as empty as the house itself. you’re all navidson, wasting your time chasing answers that aren’t there. it’s a vacuum. it’s meaningless.

speaking of things that weren’t rewarding, spending the time to decode the letter from johnny’s mother felt like the exact opposite of that. it’s a punishment. because yet again, yet a-fucking-gain, it was about rape. back to my earlier point about misogyny, there’s a lot more to it than just this, but what is the obsession? there are what, six or so named female characters in this book? and all but one or two of them are raped. more disturbingly, they are all raped under circumstances where this claim is questioned later, and the reader is asked whether or not to believe them, or worse, the reader is asked whether or not we forgive them. it’s clear very early on that this author has issues with women, but christ, it never ends.

i had high hopes for this one, so i’m pretty disappointed, but in an effort to end on a high note i’ll talk about the navidson record only. this section of the story is so completely unique and fascinating, as well as being impressively visual, to the point where i feel like i’ve seen this tape with my own eyes. karen is a fantastic character, as are billy reston and the navidson brothers. the horror never quite reaches its full potential, but the dynamics between these characters make for a surprisingly effective drama, and i’ll be thinking of them and their house on ash tree lane for a long time. if you simply want to enjoy a spooky little story about a very strange house, read the navidson record. as a standalone i couldn't recommend it enough. if you’re a masochist with plenty of time to waste, read the rest, but even then i wouldn’t suggest it. there’s better ways to suffer.

Content Warnings

vigilo's review

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

4.25

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honest_soupe's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

Absolutely amazing read. Wish they had let me think my thoughts on characters were original though! Please stop saying exactly what I was thinking about people. It makes it harder for me to feel smart about it lol.

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literallygriffin's review

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challenging dark emotional funny tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

just as good as people say it is. read house of leaves right now & go into it blind. trust me on this

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