Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

74 reviews

aubreyhi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• 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

5.0

House of Leaves remains one of my favorite novels. The playfulness with which the author looks at cinema, academia, Hollywood, masculinity, photography ... literature. It's a gorgeous piece of art, doesn't seem like it would be as much fun without the physicality of the book. Like a film, the author uses font and typsetting to engage the reader in time and space. You sit with the novel, it sits with you.

I won't tell you what it's about ... plenty of other reviews do that. Instead, I will say if you are interested in language or film or space or placemaking or grief or mental illness or explorations within this is the book for you.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

antares's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

after exactly a month, i’ve finished my journey/experience/fever-dream of House of Leaves. 

and holy shit, did i love it. i have way too many thoughts and notes to even summarize my adoration and analysis  here but it was right up my alley.

of course, this is not a book for everyone—This is not for you. but if you’re a fan of ergodic literature, academic criticism, and long-winded hedonistic stream-of-consciousnesses, and if you know what you’re in for, then i would recommend it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Ableism, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death of parent, Sexism, and War

5am's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Car accident

Moderate: Rape

Minor: War, Cancer, and Cannibalism

pourrir's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I really loved this book, and for a couple of reasons.
First, Danielewski really pokes fun at dense, useless academic writing by presenting the neverending footnotes, side-subjects, and haughty language as the ramblings of Zampano. It made reading the text fun, to gleefully skip past lists of fake names, books, magazine articles, and interviews that have never existed and are used only to frame the story.
Also, the formatting was used to further the suspense or the theme of each chapter perfectly, making it an engaging read. I could understand why some may not like this book, as it was challenging to follow at times (jumping back and forth through the text) but was so worth it. 
Without getting into what actually happens, I really enjoyed that there was a satisfying ending (imo) to both the Navidson story and Johnny's story. At any moment I honestly expected Zampano's transcript to just end, leaving the ending even more ambiguous than it already is. 

Also, filling out the content warning section of this review made me realize how messed up this book is.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Rape, and Vomit

Minor: Cancer, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and War

valentinaambrosius's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Rape, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

Minor: Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Panic attacks/disorders

dogfishpoem's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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

The unique structure of the book was fun, but why do men have to write like that :/ This was so misogynistic it read like satire at points. 

---

Content Warnings

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

turtleneck's review

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

4.5

Exhaustively ambitious and a mammoth task to read. Sometimes I would be irate as I read because of how many times it changes layout and style. But I wouldn't be a member of the 'Finished House of Leaves' Club if it didn't claw my interest. And I wouldn't be thinking non-stop about it if the story wasn't gripping or effective (and affective [1]).

---
1. The reader of House of Leaves fails to mention that it is the The Whalestoe Letters, included in the second edition of the book caused her to inconsolably weep.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape, Medical trauma, and Infidelity

jonsnowsmanbun's review

challenging dark tense slow-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

5.0

„ ...and there you have it, another body on the floor surrounded by things that don't mean much to anyone except to the one who can't take any of them along.“

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Murder, and Sexual content

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Cursing, and Death of parent

alylentz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this book, but I do know I really respect what it does and can see why so many people love it. Personally, I think you're going to get the most out of it if you really commit with a lot of effort, including multiple rereads and reading theories online, and I'm just not really in a place to do that right now (and to be frank, it grab me enough to do so). I still enjoyed it and found it worthwhile, but it is definitely not a book I would recommend to everyone just on the simple fact that it is intentionally frustrating and intimidating. Additionally, I think there are some classic misogynistic early 2000s horror elements to this that make it lose a little bit of its shine when reading it today. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Sexism, and Misogyny