Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

171 reviews

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

turrean's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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? No

4.25

This was fantastic! Such a complex, layered ghost story. The audio was great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

sofipitch's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

I read this one for a book club and had never heard of it but I'm really glad I did! I did enjoy a lot of what this book was doing theme-wise, it reminded me a lot of the Babadook, where the monster is both a metaphor yet also real. I'll talk about the reveal behind spoilers (at least kinda, we have an unreliable narrator on our hands boys). It also had this fake out for a reveal which again I won't say what but looking at the page count I was pretty sure wasn't right but it really almost had me convinced.

I was really glad too, it fakes you out on the 'it was all in her head and psychosis' which it a) often boring and tropey but mostly is just not as scary. Being in a mental institution is not as bad as a haunted house trying to kill you and no one believes you. This fit well too with the themes of abuse, where the abuser gaslights you about the abuse and ppl might believe the abuser 's lies. A haunted house as an abuser was excellent as well, easily the best part of the book

The biggest downsides to this is that the plot "twists" (different from the ones discussed above) that weren't as linked to the themes were more predictable and wouldn't have made a good book on their own. I put twists in "" bc you can see them coming from a mile away. The book is also slow going and repetitive in the beginning, I wouldn't be that enthused to keep reading, but I read the last 1/3rd all in one sitting once things got going. There is also an absence of any mention of race, of any of the characters (default white syndrome) but also given a house from the 1800s USA with an owner called "Master", kind of chickenshit to avoid even a cursory handwave

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Cannibalism

bek67's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.5

The audiobook was really good. It was a good spooky haunted house book and was just what I wanted. My only problem with this book was the language. Now, I am not a prude and can drop the F bomb at will. But what I do not care for was the constant use of JC and GD. You can say any cuss word you'd like, but I cannot stand it when someone says JC or GD. And it's constant in this book. So that was a downfall for me. 

There are descriptions of domestic abuse, alcoholism and mental illness. All things that really added to the story, but topics that were a surprise to me as none of this is mentioned in the synopsis

Margaret was likable but her daughter Kathryn, was a challenge to like. Kathryn is an adult with severe anger issues and really came across as a bully. I also really like Fredricka the housekeeper ghost. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcoholism and Mental illness

moonwitch's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Murder

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

mrsmishler's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Body horror and Mental illness

michellefre's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ceruleanseas's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.75

While I found the plot extremely predictable, I enjoyed the book quite a bit. It's well-written and although the twists are mostly the common horror tropes, it wasn't boring. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Police brutality

meganm1587's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, and Vomit