Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

142 reviews

cryosphinx's review

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

mattyb2851'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If you are a fan of existential, cosmic horror, stories about love (and can it prevail?), textbooks, unreliable narration, and exploring the strengths of printed media, the do I have a book for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Addiction, Suicide, and Chronic illness

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

alsira98's review

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

jacobalenciaga's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative mysterious tense 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

fucking fantastic. not perfect, but fantastic. way deeper than just something to read. i don't think i will read any sci-fi/horror book in the future without thinking of this. ending was a bit weak and there are a few moments where it reads like its up its own ass, but i loved it overall

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Confinement

Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Cursing, Mental illness, Death, Blood, and Violence

Minor: Child death, Cancer, and Rape

lordcafeine's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.5

Was it an easy read? Totally not
Was it good? I don't know
Will it stick with me forever? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Sexual content, Animal death, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Rape, and Drug abuse

ivana's review

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

entityj's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Alcohol, Suicide, and Child abuse

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Rape, and Injury/Injury detail

yaslanna's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction and Suicide

Minor: Infidelity and Panic attacks/disorders

eemi42's review

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