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

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

“Ideas. I’m possessed by ideas. Ideas that are as old as humanity, maybe older, right? Maybe those ideas were out there just floating around before us, just waiting to be thought up. Maybe we don’t think them, we pluck them out from another dimension or another mind.”

― Paul Tremblay, A Head Full of Ghosts


My book club chose this spooky read for October, and what a ride it was. I am relatively new to the horror genre, but since I’m not a sensitive reader, I had no issue jumping into the scary stuff. This book, part ghost story and part demon possession, had my mind reeling and left me thinking, “Wait, what?!” at the very end. I listened to this book on audio and also followed along reading the print when I had the time to sit down. I was engaged from beginning to end, and I give the audio a lot of credit for it! The voice actor did an excellent job.

5 things about this book (4 I loved and 1 I didn’t):

  1. The storytelling. Whether or not you enjoy this kind of storyline, I think that the way it is told will absolutely captivate any reader.
  2. The unreliability of the lead characters. Normally this trope can bother me, but Tremblay wrote them so they were just unreliable enough that I could still like them, but also crazy enough that I had my jaw on the floor a few times. 
  3. There is one totally good, totally kind character in a supporting role. I think every book needs a character that you want to see more of because you love them so much, and this book definitely had one.
  4. Loved the twisty ending. Can honestly say I never saw that coming.
  5. The ending left me with a big question mark and I didn’t like that. I need more closure!

Overall, I think this book was a solid spooky read that is not for the faint of heart. 

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