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A review by thepurplebookwyrm
A Guest in the House by E.M. Carroll
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
A Guest In the House mostly functions as a ghost/haunting story centred on an extremely timid and passive woman named Abby, newly married to a slightly older man named David, who starts seeing what she believes to be the ghost of her husband's first wife, Sheila, shortly after moving into a new house with her husband and step-daughter, Crystal.
I've read Through the Woods, and loved it. I've read Speak: The Graphic Novel which wasn't written, but illustrated by Emily Carroll as well, and loved it. This one, however, was largely a disappointing miss for me.
The art of this graphic novel was, yes, absolutely gorgeous. The story had beautiful, evocative imagery and symbolism, and I really liked the visual 'code' the author chose to convey different aspects of her story, and her protagonist's mind states. In her (incredibly pervasive) passive, repressed and 'disconnected from life' state, Abby's perception of everyday life is rendered entirely ing gray scale. But Abby also has a vivid imagination and active fantasy life, which starts to bleed into her life and supernatural encounters; these fantasies, waking dreams, 'illustrated feelings' are rendered in lush and vivid colours, and it is here too that the rich, often body-horror-adjacent and sensual imagery shines.
The plot, however, was a mess for me. There wasn't actually all that much depth to the story, nor its characters; I never really grasped what Abby's deal truly was, and there just wasn't much substance there, given the graphic novel's length. Yes, given its conclusion, I most certainly felt it was too long and meandering; Through the Woods' short stories worked infinitely better for me, as a comparison.
Thematically... sure, I'd agree A Guest In the House plays with the trope of the 'Mad Woman', somewhat, heterosexual domestic lassitude, and repressed lesbianism, but none of that was executed particularly well, lacking as it did necessary set-up and supporting development. And that ending... eh, not to my taste at all. If I have to 'peer-review' a story's conclusion to make greater sense of it, it has failed the assignment – in my subjective book of course.
And I felt nothing reading this, besides a little sorry for the kid.
The 'supernatural ambiguity' device really did not work for me here. A movie like The Others, for example, manages its plot and pacing in a way that actually makes the ambiguous ending feel clever and earned. But with something like A Guest In the House, I'm sorry (not sorry), but: I was legitimately led to believe and buy into the fact this was a ghost story, especially given the way Crystal was written to behave. But then... no? Abby was nutso all along? And then BAM! murder-suicide?! Just felt like a cheap post-hoc trope deployment to me.
I've read Through the Woods, and loved it. I've read Speak: The Graphic Novel which wasn't written, but illustrated by Emily Carroll as well, and loved it. This one, however, was largely a disappointing miss for me.
The art of this graphic novel was, yes, absolutely gorgeous. The story had beautiful, evocative imagery and symbolism, and I really liked the visual 'code' the author chose to convey different aspects of her story, and her protagonist's mind states. In her (incredibly pervasive) passive, repressed and 'disconnected from life' state, Abby's perception of everyday life is rendered entirely ing gray scale. But Abby also has a vivid imagination and active fantasy life, which starts to bleed into her life and supernatural encounters; these fantasies, waking dreams, 'illustrated feelings' are rendered in lush and vivid colours, and it is here too that the rich, often body-horror-adjacent and sensual imagery shines.
The plot, however, was a mess for me. There wasn't actually all that much depth to the story, nor its characters; I never really grasped what Abby's deal truly was, and there just wasn't much substance there, given the graphic novel's length. Yes, given its conclusion, I most certainly felt it was too long and meandering; Through the Woods' short stories worked infinitely better for me, as a comparison.
Thematically... sure, I'd agree A Guest In the House plays with the trope of the 'Mad Woman', somewhat, heterosexual domestic lassitude, and repressed lesbianism, but none of that was executed particularly well, lacking as it did necessary set-up and supporting development. And that ending... eh, not to my taste at all. If I have to 'peer-review' a story's conclusion to make greater sense of it, it has failed the assignment – in my subjective book of course.
And I felt nothing reading this, besides a little sorry for the kid.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Murder