Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

82 reviews

epeolatrist's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I can't believe I convinced myself into starting this book at 1 am. I won't lie and say that I'm not easily scared (because I am), but horror novels typically don't rattle me. A Head Full of Ghosts, however, had me on sleeping with the lights on. The novel is as terrifying as it is mysterious--throughout the entire story I couldn't tell whether Marjorie was genuinely possessed or simply an extremely ill teenage girl who needed help. It kept me on my toes while I read every page. It's impressive, to me, to read writing that gives no hints as to what is true and what is not until the end. There were moments when I predicted whether Marjorie's actions were demonic or schizophrenic, but each time I decided, I would change my mind.

I really enjoyed A Head Full of Ghosts (even if it kept me from sleeping). It was a fast and interesting read that scared me to my core. I'm not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to read this in my 100-year old childhood home which I've always thought it to be "haunted" (but can you blame me for having an overactive imagination when I read books like this?) I won't spoil the ending for you, but I was amazed at how Paul Tremblay was able to make my jaw drop all the way to the floor. I genuinely loved this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Vomit, Death of parent, and Self harm

stickypeach's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Child death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Body horror

k20m13d's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Drug use, Death of parent, Child abuse, Murder, Suicide, and Blood

musicmenagerie's review

dark 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

3.5

Not as scary as I thought it would be, but thought-provoking. And, the ending really shocked me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Child abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Body horror, Vomit, Blood, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Excrement, Alcohol, Addiction, Death, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Cursing

caramelcaylee's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Death, Vomit, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Mental illness, Violence, Gore, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Body horror

rorunyon96's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Vomit

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Death, and Death of parent

jkergan's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Addiction, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Body horror

lata's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.75

Holy shit, that was pretty sad. AND THE END... WHAT?! the start was boring, but the third part of the book compensates that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Excrement, Sexism, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm

evanaviary's review

dark mysterious 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

maybe the real demons were the friends we made along the way

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicide attempt

hellokatya's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.5

i wanted to like this book; i went in so excited but it really just fell flat. i had read in someone else’s review about the blog posts being out of place, and considering there wasn’t much done with them — and it spoiled the biggest twist — i am also not a fan. i feel like the story being told on chronological order, through the unreliable perspective of an 8 year old would’ve served the book a lot better. saddened to see the loss of the potential it had.
 try hard to pick back up once i’d put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Mental illness, Death, Death of parent, and Suicide

Moderate: Body horror, Grief, and Vomit

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, and Pedophilia