Jac Jemc

"A chilling literary horror novel about a young couple who purchase and live in a haunted house"--

A Novel

The Grip of It

I've never seen 2 people act more casually while thinking their house is haunted

Megan Christensen

Arturo Hernández

I appreciate the writing for this story, it’s coherent and it flows naturally. However there are serious plot holes and the story never really gets somewhere (is it the house, is there a ghost, is there a virus...). It feels like they created this huge built-up and then the book finishes with a side story as the ending. It’s a shame, the whole universe this presented in the first chapters was quite promising.

Latitude Tamarind

This sure was a book that wanted to be House of Leaves.

Sarahi Flores

A strange and unsettling story that will have you asking why? 

Check out my full review on my blog: www.readergalcom.wordpress.com

I love the back and forth of perspectives and how the author doesn’t waste time with details that are unnecessary. The plot of the story moves this one forward, and not all the silly bells and whistles of needing to constantly describe the atmosphere or physical appearance of things in essay form. 4 stars because I found that the ending speed balled a little, and it left me with a lot of questions. But it was so worth the read! I’d rather have an open to interpretation ending than a horrible one. And I love horror that doesn’t rely on torture or body horror to be unsettling. Would recommend this one!

Amy Maddess

I can’t tell if I’m pleasantly surprised or slightly disappointed.

shellybn

The author tried far too hard to be literary. I saw this book on a list of best horror novels and decided to try it. I did not like it. There were far too many unanswered questions for my taste, I and I found the ending completely unsatisfactory.

Closer to 4.5 stars, I think.

I really, really enjoyed this book! It was sufficiently creepy, had some surprising twists, and kept me guessing until the end.

I wasn't a huge fan of the alternating first-person POVs though...I found it confusing at the beginning because there was no indication of who was speaking, so I had to rely on context clues (usually the other main character being named) to figure out whose perspective it was from. It seemed to alternate every chapter, so I settled into that pattern...then there were two chapters back to back from Julie's perspective. This happened a few times throughout the book, so the lack of consistency kind of annoyed me a bit.

About the ending, if you want to know what kind of ending it has re: explanation of the events in the book or lack thereof and nothing else, it's safe to click: (view spoiler)[If you're a fan of horror books being totally explained, you won't like this book. The accusations in the reviews that the book explains "nothing" are unfounded, however. There are clues, and it is up to the reader to come to his/her own conclusions. (hide spoiler)] Skimming the reviews, it seems that this is a large reason why the ratings are so low (undeservedly, imo). I say, read it with an open mind and let the story consume and unnerve you. It is literary horror, after all.

Kath Lau

FULL REVIEW HERE

I honestly feel sad that I didn’t end up loving this book. It has disturbed characters, a haunted house, strange noises, drawings and stains on the wall, shadows, little hidden/secret rooms, and an old creepy neighbor. It sounds like a perfect horror story but unfortunately, it didn’t work out for me.

Ruth Parker 

This book started off amazingly. I was hooked into the haunted house vibes and was instantly creeped out by opening doors and cold spots. 
But it quickly lost momentum for me and I found it didn’t love as fast as I was hoping. 
It’s a good book, with some great scares, but it could be a little more fast paced.

Jordan Robinson

I don't know how to feel about this? I didn't hate or dislike the book, but I also wasn't that into it. It feels like one of those books where you have to understand the symbolism, the themes and I did not get any of that. Maybe I'm too dumb for this. Also not even a little bit scary. I wouldn't call this a horror novel, I'd call it a psychological thriller.
The writing is super beautiful though, and the characters weren't bad.

Witch

3.5 stars
The first 75% of this book was amazing. It was eerie, scary, and kept me on the edge of my seat. The tension was palpable and I wanted to know what was going to happen.
The last quarter felt a bit rushed and the ending left me unsatisfied. So many questions were left unanswered and there were plot lines that just led to nowhere.

Casie Blevins

DNF. Terrible on the nose writing which is mindnumbing in first person. Both first person narratives were indistinquishable. Characters acted in baffling/bad writing ways instead of plot forward ways. Really short book but I couldnt make myself finish. Too bad, as I waited months to get this book at the library...

Renee Blankenship

Are you in the mood for a spooky story? About a haunted house and a couple who starts to question who they are, to each other and themselves? THEN THIS IS YOUR BOOK.

I picked up this smallish sized book after FSG Originals sent me a copy thinking "Oh, this will be such a quick read! Look at those short chapters! And I can toss it in my small purse!" Beware. Short chapters or not, each page was filled with creepy, unsettling psychological or physical paranormal stuff. The first night I read it before bed gave me nightmares and I quickly finished it the next day, with all of the lights on.

Told in alternating chapters between James and Julie, a married couple who move to the suburbs to escape the big city and all of its vices, they realize quickly that they may have gotten more than they bargained for with their new home.

What I loved the most about this book, besides the fact that the supernatural side of things was SO WELL DONE (not cheesy or unbelievable, but just subtle enough that I could almost see it happening) was the deterioration of James' and Julie's relationship. Psychologically they both start to unwind a bit and by the end are questioning everything (rightly so) and everything about each other. Motives, actions, EVERYTHING. Talk about paranoia! But when the other option is a haunted house, maybe that makes sense.

"I take more photos. I say "This is only one way it might be." thinking of all the other ways. I'm either telling a lie or there are so many truths."

A long time ago, during a summer break in high school, I sat by the window in my bedroom and read The Amityville Horror in its entirety. It was so creepy! I still remember thinking about a house having a presence, how it controlled the people inside of it and how I didn't understand why after the very first suspicion, they didn't high tail it out of there. There are hotels! Move away! You can see what is coming.

I felt this way a little bit while reading The Grip of It, but the excellent portrayal of both character's mental states really made me feel as if I was there too. And no, I wouldn't jump to it being a ghost drawing on the wall but more obviously my husband who was home all day. And obviously he's lying about it. And other things too. See what I mean?! Oh goodness. This book really got under my skin!!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a creepy haunting, who loves the paranormal. I really enjoyed it when all was said and done (and am thankful we are not still living in our century old home).

Jon Aho

Mary Gilpin 

Lauren Robinson

Nicole Neuman

Finalist for the Chicago Review of Books Fiction Award, Dan Chaon's Best of 2017 pick in Publishers Weekly, one of Vol. 1 Brooklyn's Best Books of 2017, a BOMB Magazine "Looking Back on 2017: Literature" Pick, and one of Vulture's 10 Best Thriller Books of 2017. Jac Jemc's The Grip of It is a chilling literary horror novel about a young couple haunted by their newly purchased home Touring their prospective suburban home, Julie and James are stopped by a noise. Deep and vibrating, like throat singing. Ancient, husky, and rasping, but underwater. “That’s just the house settling,” the real estate agent assures them with a smile. He is wrong. The move—prompted by James’s penchant for gambling and his general inability to keep his impulses in check—is quick and seamless; both Julie and James are happy to start afresh. But this house, which sits between a lake and a forest, has its own plans for the unsuspecting couple. As Julie and James try to establish a sense of normalcy, the home and its surrounding terrain become the locus of increasingly strange happenings. The framework— claustrophobic, riddled with hidden rooms within rooms—becomes unrecognizable, decaying before their eyes. Stains are animated on the wall—contracting, expanding—and map themselves onto Julie’s body in the form of painful, grisly bruises. Like the house that torments the troubled married couple living within its walls, The Grip of It oozes with palpable terror and skin-prickling dread. Its architect, Jac Jemc, meticulously traces Julie and James’s unsettling journey through the depths of their new home as they fight to free themselves from its crushing grip.

The Grip of It A Novel

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