Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

83 reviews

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

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

queenkath32's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

raineyrainbows's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Alcohol

saintdiva's review

dark funny lighthearted mysterious sad medium-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

Perfect haunted house story! I have no notes other than it will be a reread every September now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Abandonment

selendrea's review

dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.25

I went into this book with barely any knowledge of the plot, and I'm so glad I did. I thought I could predict what would happen, but this was far from the truth. The September House is more than a simplistic haunted house tale - the far scarier monsters are not the incorporeal, mutilated forms of the deceased, but the monsters that are alive. The heart of this story isn't the ghosts, the gore, the nightmares. It's family - albeit an imperfect family, but one that you end up rooting for. As a fiery daughter similar to Katherine in some ways, I loved how well fleshed out the mother-daughter relationship was.

Orlando does a brilliant job bringing the main character, Margaret, to life. She is motivated, funny, tired, and so incredibly loving. She simultaneously feels like a realistic person, but also one who is difficult to fully understand, which is purposeful. As we fall deeper and deeper into Margaret's story, her characterization and reasons behind her behavior become illuminated, and the pacing of these reveals felt perfectly spaced out.

I also want to commend Orlando on balancing horrifying elements with such refreshing use of dark humor. There were several moments in this book that made me chuckle out loud and receive a glance from my husband on the couch. I genuinely had a dream inspired by a scene in this book, that's how strongly the imagery impacted me. 

The only thing that detracted from this novel for me was a lack of subtlety. I believe Orlando could have folded in the allegory between

Margaret standing up to Master Vale versus Margaret never standing up to her abusive husband

in a less obvious way. It was as if the author didn't trust the reader to catch on to the parallels, which became a bit frustrating. I absolutely adore how the book explored

the psychological profile of a woman in an abusive marriage (if I just follow the rules, I can survive),

but I truly think with a bit more subtlety and room to breathe, I would have felt more satisfied at the end when all the puzzle pieces came together.

Nonetheless, I think The September House is an incredibly fun and successful novel. If you enjoy traditional haunted house stories with a psychological twist, you won't regret giving this one a chance!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

korikam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

yagirltasha's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Alcohol

keanusmom's review

challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

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. 

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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