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bambooboy's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-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
It can be hard to write an allegory for domestic violence without coming off insensitive or ham-fisted. In The September House, Orlando manages to gracefully use the metaphor of a haunted house beautifully. This book was darkly funny, with engaging characters that keep you wanting more of them after you put the book down. I was concerned that she was going to go the coward's route and have the protagonist institutionalized after being characterized as crazy, but luckily she does not! There is real growth among the characters and you find yourself rooting for them, even those that you might be surprised by. The descriptions are artistically disgusting, and the detached nature of the protagonist's voice is startlingly realistic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Cannibalism, and Gaslighting
Minor: Self harm, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Detailed description of content warnings below--Father is emotionally and physically abusive to mother; attempts to be abusive to daughter so mother removes her from home
--Multiple child murders, graphic descriptions of torture and murder
--Gaslighting protagonist as to existence of ghosts
--Many graphic descriptions of bodies being twisted and deformed, tortured
--Protagonist is abused emotionally and physically for many years and the ways she copes are covered
--Multiple people commit suicide in the house, deaths described
--Multiple descriptions of vomit, especially vomiting flies
--One character is murdered in a fireplace, attempts made to burn entire house down
--Daughter attempts to institutionalize mother