Name: The Grip of It
Rating: 3.115384615384615 (52 reviews)
ISBN: 9780374536916

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

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.

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

Amy Maddess

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

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.

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.

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).

Jemc Jac

THE GRIP OF IT is a psychologically intense literary horror novel that deals in questions of home: how we make it and how it in turn makes us A chilling literary horror novel, Jac Jemc’s THE GRIP OF IT tells the story Julie and James, a young couple haunted by their new home. The move―prompted by James’s penchant for gambling, his inability to keep his impulses in check―is quick and seamless; both Julie and James are happy to leave behind their usual haunts and start afresh. But the house, which sits between lake and forest, has plans for the unsuspecting couple... The architecture becomes unrecognisable, decaying before their eyes. Stains contract and expand, mapping themselves onto Julie’s body in the form of bruises; mould taints the water that James pours from the sink. As the couple search for the source of their mutual torment, they become mired in the history of their peculiar neighbours and the mysterious previous residents of the house. Written in eerie, powerful prose, THE GRIP OF IT is an enthralling and psychologically intense novel that deals in questions of home: how we make it and how it in turn makes us, inhabiting the bodies and the relationships we cherish.

The Grip of It A Novel

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