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A review by danielle2121
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I first bought this book in 2014… it took me eight years to finally feel ‘ready’ enough to read it and be able to feel like I would understand it properly, and boy am I glad I waited that long because I feel like I fully appreciated it for all its weirdness and complexity.
This was the most insane experience of reading a book, ever. Truly I’ve never read anything like House of Leaves in my life.
The more I keep thinking about it the more I keep slotting things into this giant puzzle of a story and the more real it feels even though I know it’s fictional. (I think…)
I’ve heard so many people say they felt a weird confusion between fiction and reality whilst reading this book and I kept thinking, surely not… there’s no way a book can do that! But it did! It delivered!
I was baffled, confused and disoriented within this mind f*** of a book, but not once did I find myself unable to follow the plot and I think that’s what I loved about this the most, I really do respect this book for what it did and how easily readable it was even when reading it… wasn’t physically easy at all.
If you’re going to read House of Leaves, go into it knowing almost nothing, I think that’s the best way. Just take every page at a time and try not to rush, bask in its strange glory and allow yourself to forget what’s rational or real.
This was the most insane experience of reading a book, ever. Truly I’ve never read anything like House of Leaves in my life.
The more I keep thinking about it the more I keep slotting things into this giant puzzle of a story and the more real it feels even though I know it’s fictional. (I think…)
I’ve heard so many people say they felt a weird confusion between fiction and reality whilst reading this book and I kept thinking, surely not… there’s no way a book can do that! But it did! It delivered!
I was baffled, confused and disoriented within this mind f*** of a book, but not once did I find myself unable to follow the plot and I think that’s what I loved about this the most, I really do respect this book for what it did and how easily readable it was even when reading it… wasn’t physically easy at all.
If you’re going to read House of Leaves, go into it knowing almost nothing, I think that’s the best way. Just take every page at a time and try not to rush, bask in its strange glory and allow yourself to forget what’s rational or real.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail