Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

19 reviews

julieyael's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

3.5 stars but rounded up

This is a book that I took time to really appreciate. 
The first half of it (that’s the first 200 pages!) were just ok. It’s a bit slow and I did not care too much for the characters. 
For a moment, I even thought about not finishing the book, because I felt that this was not what I expected from the story. 

But then it becomes more intriguing and you feel that there is more to it. 
When you enter the last third of the book, it becomes hard to leave it. 
I wished the slow part of the begining was not that long, because it’s all well written and you feel the creepy atmosphere building up. 

In the end, the book kept its promises, it’s a fun and creepy horror novel, with a good dose of paranormal, and a light touch of gory details (very light, but I guess it can be triggering for some people)

So I would recommend it, if you are ready to spend some time on the first part which is less exciting and a bit long to my taste. 
The second half of it really deserves a good 4 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Death, Car accident, Physical abuse, Child death, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Gore

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Vomit

ameliadidon's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.5

this book just didn’t do it for me, which is surprising because i loved SBCGTSV and my best friends exorcism. 

HTSAHH was a slower burn and much of the action happened in the final third, an issue i also had with Hendrix’s other two novels i’ve read - however i enjoyed the lead up and storyline of the other two much more. with this novel i was disinterested in the characters and struggled to develop attachments to them, making the read feel like a slog.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Death of parent, and Blood

Moderate: Car accident and Child death

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

persephonefoxx's review against another edition

dark 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

I’m pretty sure Grady Hendrix looked deep into my personal childhood nightmares when writing this, and honestly I feel attacked. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Animal death and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

darumachan's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I enjoyed the dark humor and wild twists.  The sibling relationship went through just as many rollercoaster swoops as the plot, but was touching and rang true in how they connected. This was a total romp with plenty of good suspense, peril, and creepy thrills along the way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Medical trauma

Moderate: Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Dissociation

aniwillow's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Child death and Confinement

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Gun violence

markedwithanm's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Blood

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Pregnancy

maimy_santiago99's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Child death, Body horror, Blood, Death of parent, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child death, Medical content, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Car accident, Blood, Body horror, Mental illness, and Death

Content warning, puppets and dolls

tlholmes's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Child death, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Car accident, Body horror, Violence, Medical trauma, Gore, and Blood

This is the least gory of Grady Hendrix’s books, it’s more about the plot than the gore

jaedia's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow, I could not put this book down. How to Sell a Haunted House follows Louise as she returns home following the sudden death of her parents, only to find herself feeling frustrated by her brother Mark who has already taken control of all of the funeral arrangements and she's not happy. The entire book is about grief and family, and just happens to include a haunted house as its backdrop, although this one is not exactly as you would expect. And I will say no more because the way this story unwinds is so good. As I said, could not put it down. All this did was remind me that I need to pick up his other books because this is the second time I have fallen in love with his writing! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Car accident, Blood, Gore, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Self harm, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content

Minor: Fatphobia, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Gun violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Gaslighting