A review by selendrea
The September House by Carissa Orlando

dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I went into this book with barely any knowledge of the plot, and I'm so glad I did. I thought I could predict what would happen, but this was far from the truth. The September House is more than a simplistic haunted house tale - the far scarier monsters are not the incorporeal, mutilated forms of the deceased, but the monsters that are alive. The heart of this story isn't the ghosts, the gore, the nightmares. It's family - albeit an imperfect family, but one that you end up rooting for. As a fiery daughter similar to Katherine in some ways, I loved how well fleshed out the mother-daughter relationship was.

Orlando does a brilliant job bringing the main character, Margaret, to life. She is motivated, funny, tired, and so incredibly loving. She simultaneously feels like a realistic person, but also one who is difficult to fully understand, which is purposeful. As we fall deeper and deeper into Margaret's story, her characterization and reasons behind her behavior become illuminated, and the pacing of these reveals felt perfectly spaced out.

I also want to commend Orlando on balancing horrifying elements with such refreshing use of dark humor. There were several moments in this book that made me chuckle out loud and receive a glance from my husband on the couch. I genuinely had a dream inspired by a scene in this book, that's how strongly the imagery impacted me. 

The only thing that detracted from this novel for me was a lack of subtlety. I believe Orlando could have folded in the allegory between
Margaret standing up to Master Vale versus Margaret never standing up to her abusive husband
in a less obvious way. It was as if the author didn't trust the reader to catch on to the parallels, which became a bit frustrating. I absolutely adore how the book explored
the psychological profile of a woman in an abusive marriage (if I just follow the rules, I can survive),
but I truly think with a bit more subtlety and room to breathe, I would have felt more satisfied at the end when all the puzzle pieces came together.

Nonetheless, I think The September House is an incredibly fun and successful novel. If you enjoy traditional haunted house stories with a psychological twist, you won't regret giving this one a chance!
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