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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
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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, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Body horror, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Animal death, Blood, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide
Minor: Self harm, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault
tristemono's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Sexual content, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Self harm
Minor: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death of parent, Infidelity, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Blood
huntersrl's review
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Self harm
woweewhoa's review against another edition
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Body horror, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Ableism, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Suicide, Vomit, Physical abuse, Rape, Car accident, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Homophobia and Cancer
veganecurrywurst's review against another edition
This book just wasn't for me (to quote the beginning)
I wanted to be scared and I was looking forward to all the riddles. But the more I read the less I cared. I just wanted it to be over. It wasn't even the academic style of writing or Johnny (although I sometimes felt that Johnny was only written for a shock factor and to be "edgy", which made me lose interest a bit)
The author is undoubtedly very talented and a lot of work went into this. The weird thing is, that I actually enjoyed some of the discussions about the book on Reddit. Maybe I'll pick this book back up in a year or so.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Cursing, Death, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Alcoholism
dogfishpoem'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
2.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual content
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Eating disorder
Minor: Rape
mcdoot's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Rape
juliezantopoulos's review against another edition
5.0
It was a ride. It was an immersive reading experience (if you let it be) and you have to be willing to go on the journey or I don't think you'll get out of it what you should. You have to commit to the puzzles and the decoding to the anxiety and the uncertainty when reading it. You have to let your sink just a little bit into the madness of it all if you want to take from this book all that you can.
That being said, I'm sure there are nuances of this book that I missed, parts of it that were over my head scientifically or spiritually and that's okay. I enjoyed the hell out of this book and was deeply impacted by it in several ways. The writing methods used were brilliant. They unsettled the reader, made them keep pace and focus on things, caused anxiety and panic where needed. I was in awe of it even when it frustrated the hell out of me.
The House is a living character in this book. The "characters" are real and flawed and broken and beautiful (though I strongly believe the kids should be locked away cause they ain't right!). I became invested in all of them, in their past, present, and futures. I was sufficiently creeped out, shaken, and terrified at parts of this story and frustrated and confused at others.
I understand how Z and Johnny come into play in this book, how they're needed to help tell the story but quite honestly, whatever message was meant to be sent with Johnny's storyline was lost on me. For his part in this book, I knocked off a star. His descent into paranoia and madness definitely added to my own feelings of the same but I ended up skim reading so much of his inner dialogue due to disinterest or frustration over three page long run on sentences. I didn't ignore or totally not read, I feel I still understood his story, but I definitely didn't pay as close attention to him as I did Navy and the House.
This was a ride, guys, a seriously insane ride and I think everyone should go on it! If you do, definitely tweet @according2jewls and let me know!
TW for violence, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, suicide, and high-stress anxiety (I legit think if you already have anxiety this could set you off if you go deep into this story like I think you should). That said, I have anxiety and I was ok during the reading but breaks were needed.
Additional thoughts after re-read in 2021
I am changing the rating to 5 stars. As a reader, I could see what Mark did with Johnny's POV after a little reflection. As a writer, I am constantly blown away by the detail and attention that went into this novel. The theories, sites, redit threads all dedicated to the book and the mindset of the readers is so impressive. It is an absolute masterpiece.
I noticed so much the second read through that I didn't recognize in the first reading. Things that I may have highlighted but not fully understood the importance of. I'm walking away with such a different understanding of this book than I had the first time. I can't believe that I thought Johnny's POV was the weakest part of the story before, when at the heart of this book beats Johnny and his mother's relationship. I have never been so crushed by a novel as I was in the last large footnote by Johnny. I have no words if what I believe happened at the end of this book actually happened. None.
This book is by far and away the most annotated and tabbed book on my shelves.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, and Suicide