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justaddwater's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The first 100 or so pages felt extremely slow, a lot of annoyingness I find common in Grady Hendrix novels. However, after that it ramped up and just kept getting better. As an avid horror lover, it’s been a while since a book kept me up at night, but I couldn’t get the image of Pupkins pointed hat sticking up over the end of the bed out of my head. Also felt like the theme of accepting death and teaching children about death was handled very well, with obvious emphasis and mirrors without being heavy handed.
If you can make it through the beginning, it definitely worth the read.
If you can make it through the beginning, it definitely worth the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Stalking, Self harm, Abandonment, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Gaslighting, and Gore
maggieoc_x's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
i love a camp demonic puppet moment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, Blood, Car accident, Gore, and Death of parent
Moderate: Murder, Gaslighting, Medical content, Cursing, Stalking, and Self harm
Minor: Pregnancy and Alcohol
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I was originally saving this book to read during peak spooky season in October, but I could not resist picking it up during Summerween.
"How to Sell a Haunted House" follows Louise, a single mom to a beautiful, young daughter. Louise left her life in Charleston behind for a new life on the west coast, and she hardly looks back. Especially because she has a very strained relationship with her younger brother, Mark. Louise feels like her parents favored Mark and always made his life easier, and Louise is resentful. One night, completely out of the blue, Mark calls Louise to inform her that both of their parents were killed in a car accident. Now, Louise and Mark have to decide together what to do with their parents' home, filled to the brim with puppets that haunted their childhoods.
Prior to reading this novel, I was quite ambivalent towards puppets, but now, I am kind of weary. These puppets are so unsettling, and especially the fact that there are so many in one home. Learning how much their mom loved one particular puppet, Pumpkin, makes the story all the more unsettling.
One of my favorite aspects of this book was the brother sister dynamic between Louise and Mark. Their relationship is very strained, and it is not too far off to say that they really hate each other at the beginning. I even really empathized with Louise in the beginning because Mark seemed like such a wreck of a human being. But the more I learned about the story and the more I learned what Louise did not know, made me really grow to enjoy Mark as a character, and feel badly for him. I ended up really rooting for them to work together and mend their relationship.
As with all of Grady Hendrix's books, this story is unsettling and has some very graphic scenes. There is one particular scene involving a needle that I cannot erase from my brain, no matter how much I try. I really enjoyed this story, and I will forever pick up Grady Hendrix's titles in the future.
"How to Sell a Haunted House" follows Louise, a single mom to a beautiful, young daughter. Louise left her life in Charleston behind for a new life on the west coast, and she hardly looks back. Especially because she has a very strained relationship with her younger brother, Mark. Louise feels like her parents favored Mark and always made his life easier, and Louise is resentful. One night, completely out of the blue, Mark calls Louise to inform her that both of their parents were killed in a car accident. Now, Louise and Mark have to decide together what to do with their parents' home, filled to the brim with puppets that haunted their childhoods.
Prior to reading this novel, I was quite ambivalent towards puppets, but now, I am kind of weary. These puppets are so unsettling, and especially the fact that there are so many in one home. Learning how much their mom loved one particular puppet, Pumpkin, makes the story all the more unsettling.
One of my favorite aspects of this book was the brother sister dynamic between Louise and Mark. Their relationship is very strained, and it is not too far off to say that they really hate each other at the beginning. I even really empathized with Louise in the beginning because Mark seemed like such a wreck of a human being. But the more I learned about the story and the more I learned what Louise did not know, made me really grow to enjoy Mark as a character, and feel badly for him. I ended up really rooting for them to work together and mend their relationship.
As with all of Grady Hendrix's books, this story is unsettling and has some very graphic scenes. There is one particular scene involving a needle that I cannot erase from my brain, no matter how much I try. I really enjoyed this story, and I will forever pick up Grady Hendrix's titles in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Car accident, Gore, Violence, Child death, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Gun violence
Minor: Pregnancy
lisasilv's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Torture, and Stalking
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