Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Die Geheimnisse von Hill House: Roman by Elizabeth Hand

20 reviews

thegayestghost's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Infidelity, Blood, and Alcohol

ash_bees's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book was more frustrating than scary.  And I say this as a person who doesn't like scary stories.

The climatic scene was essentially a scene from "A Bug's Life":

"Don't go into the light."
"But it's so pretty."
*zap*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

hexedmaiden's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

2.5

Did The Haunting of Hill House need a continuation? No, but I personally read it as a book that happens to take place inside the infamous house so it didn't bother me all that much. 

I don't feel like this was a bad book by any means, I just think I expected something I little different than what I got as someone who reads the haunted house sub-genre a fair amount.

I was, however, mad that the queer rep we get involves one of the bisexual character cheating on their partner with the other bi character in the story. I'm tired of bi characters being seen as the cheaters and shit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

Minor: Child death, Drug use, and Car accident

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Drug abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Child death

caidyn's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It was alright. Didn't wow me. Lots of hype but it didn't live up to it for me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity

nightmarebees's review against another edition

decided i didn’t want to sit through a cheating/infidelity subplot. genuinely disappointed because i was really enjoying the spookiness up until that. there was already enough tension established in holly and nisa’s relationship that the House could’ve used to divide them. the assumedly bi woman cheating on her girlfriend with a man is wholly unnecessary and plays into the “bisexuals can’t choose” stereotype. 

maybe i shouldn’t have reread the original Hill House right before this. like others have said, it’s hard not to draw comparisons, just like with any other reboot. this was really promising up until that reveal, but just for me personally, i can’t stand cheating subplots.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Minor: Biphobia

obsetress's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Car accident, and Pandemic/Epidemic

maryellen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

mary_stormageddon's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I won't sleep well for awhile after this one. But it was worth it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Infidelity, and Blood

emrichards's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This was a well written book (aside from so many chapter breaks mid scene, that was weird) BUT

Shirley Jackson's original was a psychological masterpiece using a ‘haunted’ house as a dark and nuanced exploration of madness. Is Hill House haunted? We never know. This had supernatural rabbits. Frankly a lot of supernatural elements. Unless you’re supposed to take Stevie’s mushroom taste at the end to mean they’ve all been on drugs lol

 
I expected more from an official continuation. Also, if you’re going to have cheaters taking up so much of the plot, I would have loved more about how that fundamental lack of trust would splinter the group even without a haunting. As it is, the cheating is just another tick box to give us unlikable characters.
I would have appreciated this book more as its own haunted house story, without trying to make Hill House something it wasn’t.
Thanks to Mulholland Books for the digital arc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity