Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

56 reviews

tabookish's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Dementia

anissawren's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Body horror, Suicide, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, and Cannibalism

karalynaa's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jourdanicus's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

4.5

This book is great allegory for

domestic abuse

and the kind of family relationships that follow the pattern of suppressing/repressing emotions with a satisfying, gory horror ending. I did feel the language could have been cleaned up a bit - I'm not offended by  swearing but I think there was more than necessary to get the point across. There were also some details that felt a bit more repetitive than necessary to get the point across.

Otherwise, this was almost a perfect 5 star read for me. I love horror that mixes psychological thrill with physical horror, and an unreliable narrator is one of my favorite tropes. In fact, this book made clever use of a few recognizable horror tropes without them being too obvious or heavy handed. I heard elements of The Shining, and several horror movies of which I can't think of the names.

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys psychological horror, mother/daughter relationship themes, stories with unreliable narrators, fans of classic horror, and Stephen King fans. Don't read while eating if you're sensitive or have a vivid visual imagination... Lol.

Mind the triggers, but everyone including the children get

justice and a happy ending

!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Suicide and Vomit

archaicrobin's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

The September House was absolutely gruesome in so many ways, I absolutely loved it. I am always on the search for the next great haunted house read and September House is now one of my top ten.  Margaret is living in a haunted house that acts up every September but she’s learned to live with it. According to Margaret everything is survivable, as long as you follow the rules….

Filled with real and supernatural terrors, this book was addictive and hard to out down. Highly recommend especially if you love haunted house horror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

linora's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book made me laugh out loud and made me cry. It was written beautifully and I have a feeling that I will be thinking about it for a long time. 

I'm debated between giving it 4.75 and 5 stars, and decided to upgrade it to 5 stars because of a few scenes that were written with such care and understanding while still maintaining their humor. I do think the metaphor weakened towards the end as the plot transitioned into more traditional horror, but I loved it anyway

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

shantuck13's review

dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

mondovertigo's review

dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Mental illness and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Dementia

blueowl2ivy's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

heartofhorrors's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail