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iridescentdreams's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Death
Minor: Suicide
chloecam's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
listened to the audio book on 2.6x speed, unfortunately not for me. appreciate the author's mental health struggles and glad she wrote a book. other than that the plot seemed to go in circles and was very repetitive, I found it very frustrating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Murder
k8clark's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Vomit, Animal cruelty, and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide
bcollent's review
mysterious
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Panic attacks/disorders
booklvrkat's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Sarah, is not who the world thinks she is. She’s in the middle of a failing marriage (this takes a huge backseat for most of the story), her work life is a disaster, and she doesn’t have any friends to speak of. What she does have is a murder house that she’s spent her life savings on in the hopes of selling it at a big profit. Black Wood House has its own reputation, and the rich neighbors aren’t happy she’s moved in.
Layer upon layer is revealed in this horror-slash-psychological thriller. Sarah makes a remarkable number of bad decisions that will make you wonder if she is truly unstable. Unreliable narrators have become the *chefs kiss* of storytelling and this tale by debut author, Lisa M. Matlin, excelled at this technique. There are disturbing moments, a cat named Reaper (foreshadowing?), and some uninvited visitors to which we aren’t introduced. Leaning more to the horror side, this story at once pushed me away and then gripped me so hard I didn’t want to stop. If you like to guess story endings this one is going to surprise you, and I’m interested to hear what you think.
Layer upon layer is revealed in this horror-slash-psychological thriller. Sarah makes a remarkable number of bad decisions that will make you wonder if she is truly unstable. Unreliable narrators have become the *chefs kiss* of storytelling and this tale by debut author, Lisa M. Matlin, excelled at this technique. There are disturbing moments, a cat named Reaper (foreshadowing?), and some uninvited visitors to which we aren’t introduced. Leaning more to the horror side, this story at once pushed me away and then gripped me so hard I didn’t want to stop. If you like to guess story endings this one is going to surprise you, and I’m interested to hear what you think.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting, Murder, and Mental illness
thesubtleartofreadingalot's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Suicide
ashleyj_reads's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Murder, Blood, Death, and Violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Mental illness
The writing is absolutely brilliant. Not once did I correctly suspect the final outcome of this story. A slow burn, but fast-paced read. I'm looking forward to reading more from Matlin!cyndi1966's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Infidelity, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, and Violence
kbeucler's review
2.5
This was my Book of the Month for September and I must say I was disappointed. I’m in general not much of a thriller reader but I thought I’d try it. It sounded spooky and fun for autumn. It was not really that spooky and not really fun. I also wouldn’t say I found myself ‘thrilled.’ Sarah Slade and her husband move into a spooky murder house with the intention of fixing it up and selling it. But Sarah’s Instagram perfect life isn’t perfect IRL. Her marriage is failing and it seems like the house doesn’t want to be fixed. The main character is really unlikable, and while I don’t think that’s a problem in and of itself (see June from Yellowface above), I didn’t find the main character compelling in any way. I didn’t care if she lived or died. I didn’t care if anyone in the story lived or died (except for the cat! I was concerned when the cat almost died). One more complaint which is a spoiler: I also didn’t feel like Matlin actually decided what the deal with the house was. Was the house actually alive and driving people crazy? Or was it just carbon monoxide poisoning? Instead of the ending feeling ambiguous and open for the reader, it just felt like Matlin didn’t make a decision.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Alcoholism, and Mental illness