The September House by Carissa Orlando
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars
My Review on Goodreads
When I first heard about this book, I was intrigued. I love haunted house stories. I was a little worried it might be too edgy, but some early reviews on Booktube suggested it was a cozy horror, so I was on board. Excitingly, my library had it available, and I was able to read the audiobook.
This book is written in a conversational style where the main character is telling her story. I loved this device as it involved me emotionally with the novel as I am being told the story by the participant. Margaret established herself as a sympathetic character early on. There is also an element of unreliable narrator as the story progresses. It throws a reader for a loop as they are prone to asking what kind of book they are reading. Is this a haunted house novel or a novel about familial dysfunction? You are seeing the haunting unfold through Margaret's eyes and she has done research and a couple of other people are aware of it. But there's also a question about whether this is all psychosis. Personally, one of my pet peeves is when stuff is happening and nobody believes the main character. I also admit that I don't want to read stories where the lead character is becoming psychotic. I was worried that this was going to be that kind of book. Without spoiling things, I am glad this wasn't that kind of book, because I would have been majorly disappointed. Instead, this book manages to address the haunting aspect while also affirming that mental illness is a real thing and should not be stigmatized, but instead, it's important for a person who's suffering in that way to get help.
This book is also about lifelong trauma and its effects on a person. That truly resonated with me because it reminded me of someone very close to me who experienced some really awful things in their life and always felt alone and that they had no one they could rely on and who understood what they were going through and supported them. Margaret is that person. What she has dealt with and continues to experience in this house that represents a lifelong dream, but instead in many ways has become a prison and a source of trauma.
I have to say I am not fully onboard with describing this book as a cozy horror. It has some humor and it doesn't end in a way that's depressing or soul-destroying, but this is not a situation that can be dismissed as light reading. Some truly messed up, awful stuff has happened in Margaret's house, and that can be very hard to read. This is not extreme horror, definitely not. Yet, there are some descriptions and depictions that are hard to read. I did have to turn it off a couple of times to get a breather. For me, it was about empathy. I felt things very deeply for Margaret and the past victims in the house. I also felt that it was relatable that Margaret's family had some toxicity and dysfunction that added to the whole picture of Margaret and her relationship to the house. While at times, I had some issues with her daughter Catherine (I listened to the audiobook, so I might be misspelling her name), it totally make sense why she's such an angry person. I appreciated the resolution of Margaret's relationship with her.
This book is quite scary in some moments, and quite disturbing. I was able to listen to it at night while I was cooking, but I wouldn't risk listening to it in bed. Even though 1st person POV can at times be limited, Orlando's imagery is so vivid and well-conveyed. The menacing aspect of the house is enough to send chills down your spine, especially the former owner of the house. It's also deeply sad as well.
Going back to the concept of being imprisoned by one's past. The house is a metaphor for this. Along with the cycle of assaults/attacks visited on Margaret every September. "Everything is survivable," is something that Margaret expresses regularly in relation to her situation with the hauntings that flare up in September. It also applies to the trauma she suffered in her marriage. The author shows instead of telling us how strong Margaret was. It's like she doesn't quite know it. I mean, she did know she was a survivor, but I don't think she realized how tough she was. And I kept thinking, how is this woman going through all of this? It's hard to judge her for wanting to keep her house. I can understand how important the house was to her. If you never had the stability of owning your own house, that means so much to finally be a homeowner. It's not something you'd easily give up or walk away from. Even though I understood this, I couldn't wrap my mind around how she could sustain the constant manifestations in that house that were constant, unrelenting physical, emotional and mental attacks.
I can't find much to complain about with this book. It's not quite a five star, but it's pretty close. I would love to read more from Carissa Orlando. I don't think I could watch this movie. It would be terrifying.
Overall rating: 4.5/5.0 stars
This book is written in a conversational style where the main character is telling her story. I loved this device as it involved me emotionally with the novel as I am being told the story by the participant. Margaret established herself as a sympathetic character early on. There is also an element of unreliable narrator as the story progresses. It throws a reader for a loop as they are prone to asking what kind of book they are reading. Is this a haunted house novel or a novel about familial dysfunction? You are seeing the haunting unfold through Margaret's eyes and she has done research and a couple of other people are aware of it. But there's also a question about whether this is all psychosis. Personally, one of my pet peeves is when stuff is happening and nobody believes the main character. I also admit that I don't want to read stories where the lead character is becoming psychotic. I was worried that this was going to be that kind of book. Without spoiling things, I am glad this wasn't that kind of book, because I would have been majorly disappointed. Instead, this book manages to address the haunting aspect while also affirming that mental illness is a real thing and should not be stigmatized, but instead, it's important for a person who's suffering in that way to get help.
This book is also about lifelong trauma and its effects on a person. That truly resonated with me because it reminded me of someone very close to me who experienced some really awful things in their life and always felt alone and that they had no one they could rely on and who understood what they were going through and supported them. Margaret is that person. What she has dealt with and continues to experience in this house that represents a lifelong dream, but instead in many ways has become a prison and a source of trauma.
I have to say I am not fully onboard with describing this book as a cozy horror. It has some humor and it doesn't end in a way that's depressing or soul-destroying, but this is not a situation that can be dismissed as light reading. Some truly messed up, awful stuff has happened in Margaret's house, and that can be very hard to read. This is not extreme horror, definitely not. Yet, there are some descriptions and depictions that are hard to read. I did have to turn it off a couple of times to get a breather. For me, it was about empathy. I felt things very deeply for Margaret and the past victims in the house. I also felt that it was relatable that Margaret's family had some toxicity and dysfunction that added to the whole picture of Margaret and her relationship to the house. While at times, I had some issues with her daughter Catherine (I listened to the audiobook, so I might be misspelling her name), it totally make sense why she's such an angry person. I appreciated the resolution of Margaret's relationship with her.
This book is quite scary in some moments, and quite disturbing. I was able to listen to it at night while I was cooking, but I wouldn't risk listening to it in bed. Even though 1st person POV can at times be limited, Orlando's imagery is so vivid and well-conveyed. The menacing aspect of the house is enough to send chills down your spine, especially the former owner of the house. It's also deeply sad as well.
Going back to the concept of being imprisoned by one's past. The house is a metaphor for this. Along with the cycle of assaults/attacks visited on Margaret every September. "Everything is survivable," is something that Margaret expresses regularly in relation to her situation with the hauntings that flare up in September. It also applies to the trauma she suffered in her marriage. The author shows instead of telling us how strong Margaret was. It's like she doesn't quite know it. I mean, she did know she was a survivor, but I don't think she realized how tough she was. And I kept thinking, how is this woman going through all of this? It's hard to judge her for wanting to keep her house. I can understand how important the house was to her. If you never had the stability of owning your own house, that means so much to finally be a homeowner. It's not something you'd easily give up or walk away from. Even though I understood this, I couldn't wrap my mind around how she could sustain the constant manifestations in that house that were constant, unrelenting physical, emotional and mental attacks.
I can't find much to complain about with this book. It's not quite a five star, but it's pretty close. I would love to read more from Carissa Orlando. I don't think I could watch this movie. It would be terrifying.
Overall rating: 4.5/5.0 stars
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