Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The September House by Carissa Orlando

74 reviews

teetasse's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide

yarisbooksandbevs's review

dark emotional funny mysterious 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

5.0

I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It definitely hooked me in. Idk if it was intentional but there were lots of funny bits sprinkled throughout with Margaret’s sarcasm and exhaustion at everything happening. I also wasn’t expecting all of the deeper emotional moments with

Hal’s abuse

. I thought I saw where this was going but it wasn’t what i expected! One thing I loved is the POV

Margaret is an unreliable narrator. We are constantly told that she lies so it makes me question all of the events especially at the end. Did any of that happen? I’m still thinking about it lol

I want to reread it and see if I pick up any symbolism and hints

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Minor: Dementia

tegan_revelsinreads's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book was a tough read for me but probably not in the way you'd think. I loved the spooks, the writing was excellent, the characters were great (flawed and realistic), the mystery was engaging, the red herrings were good... but the detailed descriptions of

abuse

was super triggering for me. They were essential to the plot and the characters so I understand their place in the book despite me not liking them. 

I ended up switching from the audiobook to the ebook to finish the story because the verbal descriptions were getting to me. The narrator is too good! She was perfect for the tone of this book and really got the emphasis needed in certain situations. The kind of grudging acceptance of the situation dotted by moments of clarity before being pulled back down to

self gaslighted

reality... Those moments really hit me hard because I have been there and my sister is currently there. The silver lining to switching formats is that I read the rest of the book in the characters 'voices' that the narrator gave them. I knew the cadence the MC spoke and thought with which was essential in some areas (as sometimes one word in a sentence gave more weight to the situation). I would have missed that if I read it via ebook from the beginning.  

If I wasn't reading this for a book club I may not have finished it but I'm really glad I did. I got a lot of positive vicarious feelings from the sequence towards the end of the book and that alone made the first half of the book worth it. The amount of satisfaction I got from reading that part surprised me and I think it was the perfect way to end the book given the sub-text.

If you're going to read it and need CWs for a few topics - look them up but don't look any further than that. I'll tell you now that you don't need to worry about SA appearing.

The only reason I'm not giving this five stars is due to the mental health spirals (plural) it caused me to have. Having that happen highlighted some things for me that I need to address so thank you to the author for that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Vomit, and Alcohol

Big CWs for

abuse (physical and emotional for both child and domestic), undiagnosed mental illness, and alcoholism

dymonlikestoread's review

funny mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

✨Book Review✨

The September House 

Author: Carissa Orlando

Rating: 2.5 /5 ⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: Margaret and Hal have always dreamed of having their own home. When the opportunity arises Margaret jumps at the chance for them to finally have a place to call home. Everything seems to be falling into place a real fresh start for Hal and Margaret to work on their failing marriage. Until September comes when blood oozes from the walls, ear-piercing screaming at night, and the undead roam freely throughout the house.

I had high expectations for this book and sadly it was disappointing. I think the premise of the book was good but ultimately it got lost. Many parts of the book were repetitive and drawn out. There was no surprise or unexpected twist. In the end, I found myself speed-reading just so it could be over with. I think it reminded me of a low-budget horror film entertaining but predictable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Vomit, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lizandlibrary's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

ilaxaria's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, and Vomit

caseyhaunter's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Emotional abuse, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, and Fire/Fire injury

littlemountainchicken's review

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Vomit

outofthepinksky's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Vomit, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

jeannelynne24's review

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-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

4.0

While I loved this book (it kept me guessing with the wild swings!), it DEFINITELY needs trigger warnings!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Dementia, Cannibalism, Abandonment, and Alcohol