Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

74 reviews

nerdkitten's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Drug use, Child abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Animal death, Blood, Gun violence, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Addiction, Excrement, Sexual assault, Body horror, Child death, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Rape, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Misogyny, Ableism, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Abortion, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Incest, Racism, Suicide attempt, War, and Vomit

ivana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious

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

4.25

The reading experience of this was like nothing I've ever read and probably will ever read again. I loved how it mirrored what was happening in the story. I actually enjoyed Johnny's footnotes and the rambling nonsensical tone a lot more than most seem to have and I had a harder time with the pretentious fake analytical tangents from The Navidson Record

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Violence, Vomit, Drug use, Addiction, Child death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Colonisation, Ableism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Cancer, Rape, and Infidelity

eemi42's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I'm not going to be at around the bush, this book was work to get through. The formatting is not the only difficulty. It was also like reading a dissertation of sorts, which doesn't make for the easiest reading experience. So then the question is, is it worth it?

In my opinion, no.
This is the book equivalent of a found-footage film, except the film in question doesn't exist. What we read is the old man Zampanò's essay analyzing this nonexistent film, and Johnny Truant's attempts to piece together the old man's writings. I was drawn to this book because of the horror aspect, though this is more psychological horror than monster or ghost story.

The essay feels pretentious at times, adding to the frustration while reading. Sometimes the book felt gimmicky. And I didn't like Johnny Truant at all (likeable characters are a big deal to me). There were many times where he would meet up with women to discuss the book, only to launch into—ahem—other activities without much preamble. It got repetitive and annoying.

I can respect the obvious amount of work that went into this book. I enjoyed the unconventional formatting and puzzles. It even made me stop and think several times and question my own sanity. But ultimately, if like me you're looking for an enjoyable read with likeable characters, probably just skip it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Blood, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

5.0

It’s just a normal book. 🙂

It’s just a normal book. 

It’s just a normal book. 

It’s JUST a normal book.

      It’s just a NORMAL book.

It’s just a normal BOOK. 

It’s just a normal

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                                       .

               

It’s just a normal book. 🙃

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Child abuse, Sexual content, Confinement, Death, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Mental illness, Suicide, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Gun violence, Cancer, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, Excrement, Murder, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, and Grief

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

kidlightnings's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

5.0

The house is a character and she is a bitch 😘

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Mental illness, Addiction, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Cursing

madyou's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

4.25

This was a difficult book for me to rate. Just like Johnny I found myself losing hours just to find out what happens next. But there were times where I couldn’t get thru some of the ramblings, or the overly analytical chapters. I was mostly interested in ‘film’ itself and the house that was bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. I still have so many questions, so many whys or hows even though I know the answers are never given. There are only theories of what it might mean or could be. 

Overall this book was tense, freaky, and definitely questionable at times. I loved it and wish there was more. It might take me weeks for me to fully process everything I just read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Addiction, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Drug abuse, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

bottleofink's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Animal death, Infidelity, Child abuse, Gore, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Animal cruelty

lietotheangels's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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: Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Cursing, Grief, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

vigilo's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Addiction, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicide and Self harm

honest_soupe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

Absolutely amazing read. Wish they had let me think my thoughts on characters were original though! Please stop saying exactly what I was thinking about people. It makes it harder for me to feel smart about it lol.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Child abuse, Cursing, Violence, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Addiction, Grief, Sexual content, Blood, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Gaslighting, Cultural appropriation, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

will be writing an essay on this. will be also have the greatest bit where I will point at any house with leaves nearby for any reason and say "OMG it's just like that thing!!!"