Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

146 reviews

christinedodgen's review

dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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

4.0

I listened to the audio version of this book.  The narrator was perfect for the main character & good for the secondary characters. The story was well written. I was impressed by the fortitude of the main character, Margaret.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

jennxreviews's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

I didn't know if this was supposed to be horrific or hilarious, it turned out to be a roller coaster. When you think you know what's going on something will happen that will knock you down. 
Triggers for domestic abuse, alcoholism, child abuse. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

synclaire's review

challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Gaslighting

meagan123's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm, Suicide, Dementia, and Gaslighting

maregred's review

challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Mental illness, Suicide, Vomit, and Cannibalism

youngloveleroy's review

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Blood

carrie562's review

dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This book had a fantastic premise, but the execution was somewhat disappointing. Still, I enjoyed it and wanted to keep reading and find out what was going to happen. A lot of gore and violence but not enough chills or moments of real terror. The tone took me by surprise, too - it’s not one of those mounting-dread, what’s-going-on-here haunted house stories. It’s a little bit sillier, but the reason for that literary choice does become clear as the story progresses.

The story is told in first person, both as the harrowing events of the present unfold and in flashbacks to explain the history of the main characters and their family dynamic. The MC and her husband have purchased a gorgeous old house that turns out to be haunted by a bunch of murder victims, mostly children, mostly (but not entirely) harmless but extremely upsetting. The narrator’s elaborate system for coping with the various ghostly presences is presented as an allegory for living with an abusive spouse. The author, unfortunately, does not trust you for a hot second to notice this symbolism on your own and points out the parallels over and over again. Her constant “see? see what I did there?” gets tiresome pretty quickly and dulls what could have been a sharp piece of social commentary.

As for the horror plot, it’s pretty standard issue: bad things happened in the house, and the restless spirits are trapped there until they get satisfaction. Revenge? Justice? Whatever, the details aren't important. The first person perspective allows for some clever ambiguity - is this a reliable narrator? what’s really going on here? - but more could have been done with that to build suspense throughout the book. Still, it was a quick and entertaining Halloween read, if not an enduring classic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

andy5185's review

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? It's complicated

2.0

I wanted to like this so much based on all the buzz, but in the end I found it too cliche for my taste. That said, the ghosts were all really well rendered and it definitely had some truly horrifying chiller moments.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

misscassylee's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, and Vomit

mlthomas234's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol