singrequiem 's review for:

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

2.5

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I normally DEVOUR books. Especially dark, challenging, flawed, experimental books. This book, no joke, took me literal YEARS to finish, primarily just because of how much Jonny Truant sucks. He sucks hard. I went on forums to ask people to convince me not to just skip all of his notes and story. I’m glad I’m finally through it. I can appreciate the mastery that Danielewski has over the intricacies of his manuscript, the attention to detail, the world building, the control of tone (especially when switching between academic and informal writing styles) but this book was just a slog. I could rant for paragraphs, but I will try and boil it down to: it’s really not that creepy, and the most interesting parts are buried in jargon and presented dryly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence

Minor: Gun violence, Vomit

Existential dread and unanswered questions