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jordanwilde's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Murder and Suicidal thoughts
catspajamas15's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Minor: Emotional abuse, Murder, Self harm, Grief, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Death, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, and Death of parent
maryellen's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, Blood, Suicide, Body horror, Gore, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Death of parent
otterno11's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Emily Carroll’s latest affecting, eerie graphic novel A Guest in the House is her most chilling yet. I’ve rarely felt literal chills while reading a comic, but Carroll certainly builds them up here. Grounding her phantasmagorical ghostly tale in the familiar mundanity of a quiet northern lake town sometime in the ‘90s makes the horrors that fill the pages all the more startling. Carroll is an expert at evoking visceral human emotions and imbuing them with an ominous power, and A Guest in the House accentuates this.
Abigail, an emotionally subdued, self effacing young woman newly married to an older widowed dentist, is struggling to adjust to her new life, especially engaging with her new stepdaughter Crystal. Under the surface of her placid, passive exterior, her personality surges with a vibrant, if unsettling fantasy life. Despite the prosaic appearance of her life, it is a house of secrets and the presence of Sheila, her husband’s first wife and Crystal’s mother, looms large over the lakehouse Abby spends so much time alone in. Soon, Abby comes to interact and build a relationship with Sheila's presence in the house, a relationship by turns enticing and menacing
and the boundaries between the real and the other begin to blur, for both Abby and the reader.
Carroll illustrates the mundane details of Abby’s daily life - the grocery store, the wall harp, the dock - in a static black and white, while her dream experiences are shown in lurid reds and blues, a striking and effective way to convey this disquieting atmosphere, especially as the ambiguity of Abby’s understanding becomes more evident. Full of strange and surreal touches that accentuate this uncertainty, as the tension mounts, we find ourselves unsure where Abby’s dreamworld ends and its reality begins.
All in all, there is a lot going on under the surface of this story, from Abby’s anxieties and sexuality to the stifling nature of her small town at the end of the conformist 20th century, that makes it all very open to interpretation in a provocative and rewarding way, especially its shocking and sudden ending. An intricate and terrifying puzzle, Carroll’s lush artwork and pacing make A Guest in the House a gripping story that is best read during the day.
Graphic: Self harm, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Domestic abuse
tussenlettersin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Death, and Mental illness
whatisjordyreading's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gore, and Self harm
Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Domestic abuse and Pregnancy