Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

416 reviews

blackeyedraptor's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.5

This book was... Weird, and not in a Tim Burton, Neil Gaiman kind of way. Tbh, I'm kind of disappointed. 
The writing style was fantastic, I would definitely read the authors other works, but I find myself being disappointed in it. 
It went from properly creepy to wannabe slasher fic in about a single chapter, and I hate slashers! They're needlessly gory and when a story has to depend on bloody shock factors, the writing is bad, which is sad because the author has style! I nearly dnf'd at least 3 times, but kept plugging on. 
*Spoilers* 
So turns out, it's not the house that's haunted, even though it initially comes off that way, it's her mom's creepy childhood puppet, who's haunted by her dead uncle who died young. Again, the whole thing felt like it was depending on the shock Factor too much, and was just weird. I love a good spooky ghost story, but I argue that this belongs in that category. If it were a movie, it'd be a slasher, but at least it would get marks for being unpredictable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child death, Death, Grief, Blood, Violence, Murder, Gore, and Death of parent

Moderate: Self harm, Ableism, and Emotional abuse

calebmbuys's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Gore, Death of parent, Violence, and Child death

alicroz34's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

3.0

This was the closest I came to a DNF in many years. The first third was a bit of a slog for me, but I'm glad I stuck with it overall. The last third almost made up for the infuriating start. 

Little to no applicable advice or information about to sell haunted houses, wth

 I'm all for character flaws, but going from physically fighting your idiotic brother to LETTING HIM PLAN YOUR PARENTS' FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS ENTIRELY BY HIMSELF IN THE SAME DAY BECAUSE HE SAID HE LIKED YOUR MOM'S FRIED CHICKEN IS FUCKING INSANE. Parts of it felt campy on purpose & parts of it felt cringey by accident. 
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Death of parent, Vomit, Death, Animal death, Abandonment, Child death, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Ableism

bowlsofpasta's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Body horror, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Car accident, Gaslighting, Gore, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Child abuse, and Violence

copiani's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief

kristenkrae's review against another edition

dark funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Death

Minor: Child death and Car accident

witchofthemountains's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Death, Body horror, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Car accident

Moderate: Confinement, Medical trauma, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Alcohol, Mental illness, Abandonment, and Animal death

Minor: Cursing, War, Genocide, and Fatphobia

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I think it’s safe to say that Grady Hendrix’s work is just not for me. I really tried & read a lot of his backlist. There’s something about his writing that is just not that compelling or enticing to me. I know some books have been optioned and are being adapted for film or tv, so maybe that form of media will be better (for me)? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Child death, Self harm, Death, and Animal death

adorabubbles's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Car accident