Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

78 reviews

skimkaye's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

The fact that I want 10 copies of this to cut up and tack to my walls with various colors if twine is a testament to how well it's written and how effective it as at doing what it set out to do. I couldnt stop and I still dont want to stop but I didnt havefun either. I think I'm in a death cult now. Dont read this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Death, Alcohol, and Suicide

Minor: Infidelity, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Gore

Most of the trigger warnings are about things that are not detailed, but are things that move the story along or are background themes.

cryosphinx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

I didn't get too much of the 'horror' aspect that some people experienced. There is some upsetting moments but nothing that kept me from sleeping at night. It's convoluted, a maze of a book but SHUT UP JOHNNY it delivered on what I think it set out to do. No other book as a subreddit of people constantly having to check with others "Hey, is this a misprint? Does anyone else have this in their edition?" and that's kind of special. But I can also totally see how it's not for everyone (This is not for you). But it's like playing a puzzle game in book form and finding that the journey is better than the destination. But what puzzles are actually puzzles or just things to drive you nuts? That's sort of the point. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Sexual content, Drug use, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, and Animal death

Minor: Death of parent

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

singerscientist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Animal death, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Child death

alsira98's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and Gun violence

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

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

smittinkittin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Someone on YT described this book as you get what you put into it. It was truly a unique experience and any flaws found are justifiably part of the experience and deserve to exist. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Rape, and Murder

honestly the only part I personally found to be even remotely triggering for the average person were the mom's letters found in the appendices. You can easily skip these without it affecting the plot or story. I thought it was a good layer that helped explain a character's backstory.

blueshirt's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Interesting premise and structure, but I found most of the characters unlikable and kind of boring. 

- Johnny Truant's sections are so self-indulgent/-congratulatory. I have no patience for some misogynistic twerp's #sodeep musings.

- I'm never actually convinced that Navidson is a good guy. He just makes one stupid, selfish choice after another. I'm glad Karen cheated on him and I think she should do it again.

- Karen's character is defined solely by her beauty (or lack thereof, at the end) and how much she Needs A Man. Gross.

- The children are not real characters, they are given no depth or development. 

- Reston has no purpose beyond talking about how cool Navidson is.

- Tom is great, no notes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Child abuse, Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicide, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Pedophilia

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.

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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