A review by larenlit
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

TL;DR -  Not worth the read. 

I don't honestly know how I feel about this book. 

I think there were some great concepts that ultimately ended up overshadowed by trying to mesh too many things into one. Tremblay's constant references to other movies or stories really end up feeling like he is trying to spoon feed the reader the story. The plot was a messy mashup of possession/exorcism tropes. Admittedly, if I had read this prior to reading The Indian Lake Trilogy I may not have minded all the movie mentions but since I've read it done well, this was so much worse in comparison. Instead of feeling like cool easter eggs, the numerous mentions of The Exorcist felt like a crutch for sloppy, lazy writing. 

And then there's the handling of a schizophrenic character... 

I have no personal experience with this type of mental health diagnosis, but representation can be impactful whether positive or negative. There seemed to be a genuine attempt to portray the repeated failures of the Catholic Church's handling of mental health. However, I think it would be beneficial for authors to take a strong look at whether they're representing victims well or further contributing to harmful stigma.