Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

426 reviews

kneezbooks's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Gore, and Blood

skersnick's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Death, Blood, Gore, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Car accident, Child death, Gun violence, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm

hyperashley's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death

whatthegayle's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

“I’ll come right out and say it,” Mercy told them. “Strange noises, bad vibes, your mom and dad recently passed— Your house is haunted and I’m not selling it until you deal with that.”

Wow, I think this is my favorite out of all the books I’ve read by Grady Hendrix. 

The only reason I went with a four and a half is because the slow bit near the middle.

Puppets have always sorta creeped me out since sloppy from the goosebumps series and this book only solidifies it.

I wasn’t expecting to tear up as much as I did at the end.

And Mark! I absolutely hated him at the beginning but started to like him a lot as we neared the ending.

Grady is so amazing at writing characters that feel like real people and this book is no exception.

Loved how the detail of the moms brother dying came back in the end. I had a feeling it would end up being connected one way or another

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Body horror, and Child death

Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Grief

sierrajhansen's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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? Yes

5.0

i did not expect this book to be amazing.

i tried to force myself to stop reading this book after dark (because i kept getting scared) but i was so drawn to reading this book at all hours of the day that i failed miserably.

i loved that this book was goofy while also scaring the shit out of me and making me cringe

(shout out reading about someone getting attacked with a hammer)

. i also loved (somehow) that this was centered on a creepy puppet. it really worked for some reason.

and oh my god the relationship between louise and mark! sibling redemption arc! i can now die happily.

this book was much better than the other grady hendrix book i read (the final girl support group) which i did not enjoy. i 100% see how this one almost beat stephen king to the 2023 goodreads choice award for horror. i felt like i was really in the house with mark and louise, and the interludes in other locations (ESPECIALLY WAFFLE HOUSE) were so well written and immersive. 

i highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

skyestorme's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Blood, Self harm, Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

narbine's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Abandonment, Death of parent, Medical content, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gore, Death, Blood, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Grief, Alcohol, and Cursing

Minor: Self harm

justaddwater's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

4.0

The first 100 or so pages felt extremely slow, a lot of annoyingness I find common in Grady Hendrix novels. However, after that it ramped up and just kept getting better. As an avid horror lover, it’s been a while since a book kept me up at night, but I couldn’t get the image of

Pupkins pointed hat sticking up over the end of the bed

out of my head. Also felt like the theme of accepting death and teaching children about death was handled very well, with obvious emphasis and mirrors without being heavy handed. 
 If you can make it through the beginning, it definitely worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Stalking, Self harm, Abandonment, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Gaslighting, and Gore

sparticle's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Blood, Child death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Car accident

alxisrae's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

I really enjoyed this book for it being my first “horro” genre book. The ending was just perfect, to me, and the entirely wrapped up the “house” and Louise’s history and trauma coming to a close. 5 stars because Pupkin was too scary good!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Cursing

Minor: Child death