A review by tegan_revelsinreads
The September House by Carissa Orlando

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? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book was a tough read for me but probably not in the way you'd think. I loved the spooks, the writing was excellent, the characters were great (flawed and realistic), the mystery was engaging, the red herrings were good... but the detailed descriptions of
abuse
was super triggering for me. They were essential to the plot and the characters so I understand their place in the book despite me not liking them. 

I ended up switching from the audiobook to the ebook to finish the story because the verbal descriptions were getting to me. The narrator is too good! She was perfect for the tone of this book and really got the emphasis needed in certain situations. The kind of grudging acceptance of the situation dotted by moments of clarity before being pulled back down to
self gaslighted
reality... Those moments really hit me hard because I have been there and my sister is currently there. The silver lining to switching formats is that I read the rest of the book in the characters 'voices' that the narrator gave them. I knew the cadence the MC spoke and thought with which was essential in some areas (as sometimes one word in a sentence gave more weight to the situation). I would have missed that if I read it via ebook from the beginning.  

If I wasn't reading this for a book club I may not have finished it but I'm really glad I did. I got a lot of positive vicarious feelings from the sequence towards the end of the book and that alone made the first half of the book worth it. The amount of satisfaction I got from reading that part surprised me and I think it was the perfect way to end the book given the sub-text.

If you're going to read it and need CWs for a few topics - look them up but don't look any further than that. I'll tell you now that you don't need to worry about SA appearing.

The only reason I'm not giving this five stars is due to the mental health spirals (plural) it caused me to have. Having that happen highlighted some things for me that I need to address so thank you to the author for that. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings