The Grip of It
Ratings44
Average rating3.6
I think my main issue is that a lot of the horror/scary elements were explained awkwardly. The physical blocking of stuff that was meant to scare me was so confusing. For example, when they saw eyes and noses and mouths on the wall. I'm somehow supposed to imagine that when it's not explained well. Just simple stuff that, when horror is made into visual media, is always easier to do.
I was a bit confused on the medical aspect as well. I understand the story is open ended (fair but also did not love this), but with the medical aspect right before it, it feels like we're meant to believe both of them are suffering from the same thing. That none of this is real.
I was especially confused in the “Just Kidding” scene. Not sure what i was supposed to get from that. There are things i desperately wish we'd gone back to (cave, water, trees, rolf in more ways than one).
I loved the jumping off the roof scene and some other moments when they begin to not trust each other. The mold and journals were really special and well done detail. It kept me engaged with the language as well.
Neutral 2.5 rounded down
There were lots of interesting aspects to the story which is why I didn't DNF it but I probably should have. The story is told from dual perspectives and largely in snippets of he said/she said and I didn't enjoy it. Something made it impossibly hard for me to feel invested in the characters at all so at the end I was left with an impression that can be summed up with a single word: meh.
This is a claustrophobic, atmospheric, horror gem. The pages fly by and the manic tension in Jemc's extraordinary hands creates a fever dream of a novel. A haunted house story that shatters expectations and hums with deeper meditations on love, understanding, illness, sadness, fear and what it means to truly link your present and future to another human, for better or worse.
The Grip of It by Jac Jemc was an interesting if disappointing haunted house story. Julie and James leave the city to move into a strange house in an oddly empty town. Immediately based on the description of the home I started thinking of the Winchester Mystery House, but unfortunately this aspect of the book was explored less than I desired as the book became a psychologically driven story about uncertainty and a literal haunting held in comparison to the haunting of family and trust. This is a fairly short book, and it just didn't really gel for me. Too many elements felt like they did pay off in a satisfying way. i thought the book lacked both clarity and resolution. I also have to say that I don't love the use of unreliable narrators in general. With that said, what I did enjoy was the protagonists slow descent into uncertainty and increasing levels of being unwell. That's something I haven't read in a lot of stories, which was interesting. Sadly it wasn't enough to make me feel like this book was really great. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Without giving many spoilers away. This book is about a house who not particularly fond of people living in it. While the story is intriguing enough to keep you reading.
The ending left me completely unsatisfied. While I don't necessarily need a happy ending I feel the ending needed more that it was given to fully flush out the story.
With that said it you like a thrill and mystery this book is a good read. Just don't expect a flushed out ending.
“But what if those buried, fetid stories are the ones that have bubbled to the surface? What if they're right there, balanced on the edge of our teeth, ready to trip into the world without even our permission?”
And what if you have practically no idea what the bloody Hell you're actually reading, curled up in your sofa, and yet you cannot help being hypnotized chapter after chapter? Because this is what happened with “The Grip Of It”. This book does grip you and leave you wondering and when you reach the last page, you're still uncertain but you know you've enjoyed the journey. This is how I felt about the novel that kicked off my Halloween reads.
James and Julie are our protagonists. A young couple that decides to leave the big city and start a new life in a small town and a new house. They want to mend certain unhappy choices of the past and look to a cleaner, more innocent future. Their house, however, is anything but innocent. It seems alive, inhospitable. So far, there is nothing groundbreaking in the plot, the virtue of this novel isn't its originality but its powerful writing. This book is like a good ghost film that we watch again and again, always closing our eyes, hiding behind a pillow in the same jumpscares.
After a striking Prologue, we enter the heart of the action right away. The narration is told in both James' and Julie's point of view, in Present tense, like a voice -over. The chapters are like snippets from the couple's life in the house. The foreboding images are plenty. There is the constant presence of woods and waves, the earth and the water elements, both risky, symbolic and powerful. Voices of happy children can be heard, but they're not seen. Ever. In fact, the town seems almost deserted and the few residents seem to know there is something amiss but are unwilling to get involved. The forest surrounding the house seems to move closer, somehow. There is a constant humming noise, there are cracks, drawings on the walls appearing out of nowhere and an old, weird neighbour who may be an intruder.
James and Julie are very sympathetic characters, flowed and realistic. The phenomena largely affect Julie, as is often the case in supernatural occurrences. I can't begin to tell you how sorry I felt for her and I believe James was a fine equivalent to her strength, no matter his flaws. And there were many. Connie, on the other hand, is insufferable. A nosy hysterical who pretends to be interested in Julie's welfare. Why does every mystery seem to need an irritating busybody? I think we'd be much better without their ghastly presence.
I can't say more and I fear I've already said too much. What is so engaging, even frightening if you like, is the psychological effect of the haunting. The book passes beyond the supernatural thriller and becomes a psychological observation. Yes, at certain times, it becomes a bit repetitive and unnecessarily wordy, but overall it is a very satisfying effort. In my opinion, this is everything “The Upstairs Room” wasn't....
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