Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

168 reviews

egillekang's review

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Excrement, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

magenmac's review

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book and the twists. Content warning for DV. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Cannibalism

Minor: Mental illness, Vomit, and Cannibalism

mark5327's review

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

4.0

Margaret is alone in a house filled with "pranksters," ghosts who only present their greatest challenges to the home's only living occupant in September.

The September House gave me a story which I've read before, but in a super readable manner. It wasn't until the big showdown at the end where I lost any momentum at all and that's just because I don't love action sequences. If you love ghost stories with likeable protagonists and an unsettling sense of atmosphere based on the accumulation of regular haunting events, you could do far worse than The September House. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

noarene's review

emotional tense medium-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

3.0

This was a good, easy to read thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Fatphobia, Rape, and Sexual violence

bdarmstrong25's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Contains some spoilers - I've seen a lot of mixed reviews on this book in the horror lit subreddit, but overall I was impressed. I thought it was a unique take on the haunted house story and really loved the way the author described the ghosts in the house. This book would actually make a really good movie or show because of how scary but also interesting and sometimes lovable the ghosts are. Kind of a spoiler so stop reading if you want to go in blind because I thought this was pretty effective, but I also really loved how the author slowly spun in the story of the MCs abuse by her husband within the context of what was going on in the haunted house, and how that impacted her ability to live with the ghosts and essentially their abuse of her. Which also in a way is sad that she did not want to escape that abusive situation, but also recognized that because she has dealt with abuse from her hu band that she can survive just about anything. Anyway, it's definitely a unique take on a somewhat overdone premise and I definitely recommend this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

anxiousshorebird's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Cannibalism

gypsybibliophile's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

sweetrae's review

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

"Needs must when the devil drives."
Psychological suspense wrapped in dark humor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Body horror and Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcoholism and Cannibalism

savethegibbons's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is an incredible. If you have any interest in horror, you owe it to yourself to read this book. One of the best books I've read in a long time. I don't even wanna cover anything, I'd just recommend to stop reading about it and start reading it, you won't regret it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Self harm, and Gaslighting

magikorbert's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

ultimately, i'm satisfied with this story. howver, the tropes and cliches it relies on up until a certain point really grind my fricken gears. its so frustrating, it makes you want to put that shit down and not pick it up again. also, maybe this is harsh, but catherine is so severely unlikeable. obviously she has many issues but she says fucking terrible things to her mom that, for a 30 year old woman, are so damn out of line. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Suicide and Forced institutionalization