Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

337 reviews

ohhayitsjess's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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

jessuh27's review

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse

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

dbmassey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

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

school_for_scandal's review

dark hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse

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

nataliepithers's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.75

A disturbing dark and unusual story, full of gore and horror but not without humour.

The pacing was off for me, with a good beginning hook, that slowed to a crawl before a white-water rafting escalation of suspense and terror for the final quarter!

I’m still not sure what to make of the ending. I think this book will keep me pondering and musing for some time. What really was “real”? What was metaphor?

The book was very original, the characters vivid. A good read, just wished the slower quarter to half had been edited down a little to pick up the pace.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, and Murder

camilleo's review

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

This book freaked me out SOOOOO badly. I mostly read it during the day bc otherwise i think I would’ve been too scared 😭

I really like how this wasn’t your typical horror book and the different themes it explored.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail