Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

171 reviews

hufflepuffbiologybuff's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was interesting from the very first chapter. It was difficult to put down and a curiosity as to what is going to happen next. 
This was a great ghost story from beginning to end. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Vomit, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

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. 

---

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

carlieluca's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

cschend's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Mental illness

persephonefoxx's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

“The walls of the house were bleeding again.This sort of thing could be expected; it was, after all, September.”

This book asks the question, ‘what happens when the person living in a haunted house accepts the horrors around them’ in a spectacular balance of humour, horror, and heavy themes. The September House is at its core, a story about the lengths you take to survive which sees the titular setting serving as both literal and metaphorical. 

I adored this book. It feels like a unique and complex mix of genres ranging from dark comedy, horror, physiological thriller, and mystery - with multiple characters almost finding themselves experiencing the plot as if they were in a different genre to each other. 

And while I clued in to the twists early on, I was enthralled the whole way through. 

As with all horror, I highly recommend checking trigger warnings. While this story has an air of humour, it does cover some darker themes. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Mental illness, and Vomit

Minor: Self harm and Suicide

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

---

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

rajaraks's review

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, and Mental illness

witchymermaid's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book. I don't want to give much away, but this book had so many layers that slowly peeled away. I couldn't put it down.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, and Gaslighting

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. 

---

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.

---

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