Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

240 reviews

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

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

I really loved this! The tone was both goofy and pretty dark at the same time, which can be challenging to balance but was done well in this instance. I listened to this via audio and I think the narrator (at 2.25x speed) perfectly captured Margaret’s voice, like foolishly stubborn, very compassionate, and yearning for a place to call her own. Margaret’s characterization was just very strong, she was so well rounded and made me wish this book kept going to spend more time with her (bleeding walls notwithstanding).

The allegory here for domestic violence and the cycles of abuse that feels impossible to disrupt was perhaps a bit on the nose, but mostly I thought it was wonderfully layered. A haunted house story is never just about the haunted house (at least in a good one) and that shone through here.

I was about to be very upset about the “twist,” I really dislike horror that ends up just being psychosis or a dream, but trusted that Orlando knew what she was doing. The fake-out twist actually makes a lot of sense given the allegory here, like of course she would be gaslit and then we’d get the pleasure of the house murdering a bunch of cops who didn’t believe her. acab

I think this will be my top recommendation for books to read for Halloween (and just generally), it was scary, thematically rich, and just very well crafted. I had such a good time reading this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

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

_verenice's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Murder

gem114's review

dark mysterious reflective fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

I’m not usually a horror fan, but I couldn’t put this down.

I loved how the author explored the parallels of staying in an abuse relationship to staying in the haunted house. Of course Hal couldn’t adapt. As the abuser, he wasn’t nearly as practiced as Margaret at “making a heaven out of a hell.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

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

rubberrosebooks's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

tuckertl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Blood, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse

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