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A review by joyceheinen
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
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
4.0
I got to know Grady Hendrix’ books this year and this is his newest release. Hendrix is known for his quirky, strange horror stories and “How to Sell a Haunted House” is not any different. It’s not your typical haunted house story, it involves puppets and dolls. And it’s super creepy.
The book is, besides having regular chapters, divided in sections. Each represents one of the stages of grief. Because that is its main theme. This doesn’t fully come into its own, but I really love this idea. What I loved most about this book was the brother and sister relationship. I haven’t read books often where this was such a big part of the story. I’ve read many stories about sister bonds and brotherly relationships, but not the brother-sister sibling relationship. And the characters are well fleshed out, we get to know them very well. At first you like Louise and hate Mark, you switch sides at one point. And there is also a moment where you hate them both. But eventually, because you know them and their history better, you get to understand them more.
The one problem I had was the pace. It took a long time to really get into it, before it got interesting and something started happening. I understand if people would DNF it because of it. I don’t do that very often, so I’m glad I continued reading. Because once the spooky bit starts, you can’t stop reading.
I’ve never given Grady Hendrix a 5-star rating, but always a high score. He’s a very solid writer who became an auto-buy author for me.
The book is, besides having regular chapters, divided in sections. Each represents one of the stages of grief. Because that is its main theme. This doesn’t fully come into its own, but I really love this idea. What I loved most about this book was the brother and sister relationship. I haven’t read books often where this was such a big part of the story. I’ve read many stories about sister bonds and brotherly relationships, but not the brother-sister sibling relationship. And the characters are well fleshed out, we get to know them very well. At first you like Louise and hate Mark, you switch sides at one point. And there is also a moment where you hate them both. But eventually, because you know them and their history better, you get to understand them more.
The one problem I had was the pace. It took a long time to really get into it, before it got interesting and something started happening. I understand if people would DNF it because of it. I don’t do that very often, so I’m glad I continued reading. Because once the spooky bit starts, you can’t stop reading.
I’ve never given Grady Hendrix a 5-star rating, but always a high score. He’s a very solid writer who became an auto-buy author for me.