The Grip of It
Jac Jemc
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2017
Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because it is another
haunted house book. She’s into haunted houses these days, for reasons that will
remain unspoken. On the cover of THE GRIP OF IT, little faces are etched in
that you can barely see, which Ms. Hen thought was adorable and scary when she
first saw them. She likes a book with a creative cover.
This novel is about a young couple, Julie and James, who are
tired of living in the city, and who want to move to the suburbs. The find the
house, and are at first enchanted by the secret passages and large rooms and
dark cellar. They move in, and change their jobs closer to their new home, and strange
things start to happen. Julie gets weird bruises all over her body, and their
neighbor stares at them through their window. The house has hidden rooms they
don’t know about, and Julie gets trapped in one of the rooms.
The house makes the couple doubt each other. They don’t
believe each other when they say they didn’t do certain things. Peculiar drawings appear on the wall in the bedroom, and each thinks the other did them.
James cuts out of work to go to a museum in the city, and faints, and has to
explain to Julie what happened. James had a gambling problem in the city, and
he struggles with not gambling when they move. Julie has to take over the
finances and handles paying for the house, because James lost a lot of his
money. She is a take-charge person and practical, and he is a type of drifter.
One aspect of this novel that Ms. Hen likes is the point of
view shift. Each chapter is told from the alternating viewpoint of either Julie
or James. Ms. Hen didn’t get confused like she usually does when POVs change,
because she knew exactly who was talking at the time. The characters have
similar voices, but are distinctly different.
Ms. Hen thinks this is a scary book that’s worth it, unlike
the previous book she reviewed here. She thinks that it’s psychological without
getting boring, and the characters are continuously doubting themselves and
each other, which makes the reader to continue to doubt whether what is
happening is true or just part of their imaginations. Ms. Hen did not know what
was going to happen in the end, and she likes when that happens.
Ms. Hen truly enjoyed this novel. It’s scary enough without
getting too scary, and the fact that the characters don’t believe what is
happening adds to the frightening aspect of the novel. Ms. Hen believes that
the world can be a terrifying place, but reading books like this make it easier
because it makes us realize life could be worse than it is right now. Ms. Hen says Happy
Halloween!
Side Note:
The author is doing a reading at Harvard Bookstore on
Saturday November 2. Ms. Hen does not think she can go, but you can read
about it here:
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