House of Leaves

WARNING: REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS ABOUT THE ENDING!


So, technically I’m not completely finished with this book. I still have the exhibits, annexes and appendixes to go, but I’m finished with the main story of this book and to be honest, I just want to be done, get this book of my currently reading shelve and never think about it again!

This was… not fun.
I read this as a buddy read and that was the only thing keeping me from DNF’ing it, but boy, did it feel like a chore!

I thought I was supposed to read one book, but it felt like a book and a book about said book...

The book follows a movie, made by Will Navidson, who moves his family into a house, that appears normal on first glance, but turns out to be bigger on the inside than on the outside.
The book about the book follows Johnny Truants story and notes about how he came in contact with this film and how it affected his life.

I enjoyed the house parts of this book. I found it interesting and I was keen to find out what was up with the house and I really wanted to find out what happened to everybody.

The parts written by Johnny though…
Trying to follow a mostly drunk or high person’s mind is always a tricky thing. I didn’t get the relevance between the two plot lines and I just felt very annoyed by this part of the book. In the end I noticed I was skim reading this plot line.

The format is… weird…
I normally don’t mind a weird book, I actually really enjoy unique formatting, but this was just not my cup of tea.
I get that it was done to make you feel just as lost and influenced by the house as the people actually in it, but I just wasn’t feeling it.
All the lists of names, places, things you find in a normal house… nope, no thank you, I can do without!

But what I disliked the most, was the way this book ended.
I was expecting the 2 plot lines to integrate at one point, but I feel that didn’t really happen…
I could have done without all the Johnny parts to be honest, that would have actually improved the book for me.

I really, really did not like how the author wrapped up the House storyline. I wanted so much more! How did Karen find Will? How did she get him out? How did she feel when she found him? How did Will feel when he got out? How did he feel about the house? Questions… I have so many questions!!!

And seriously???
The actually ending: Will is going to die, Karen goes into the house, finds him, closes her eyes and… POOF!... the house “disappears”
I felt cheated! I invested time in this book. It wasn’t an enjoyable read. I was counting on a good, strong ending. BUT NO! ALL I GOT WAS… POOF!

I went into this book expecting a scary, creepy read. That’s what all the reviews said.
Turns out: I wasn’t scared, creeped out, nothing, not even once…

Don’t read this in the dark or when you’re alone?
Why I ask you... why?

This book was definitely not for me.
The only reason I’m adding the second star is because I did enjoy some parts of it.