What do you think?
Rate this book
The Agony House
A New Orleans haunted house, a killer ghost, and a long-lost comic book come to life in this blend of mystery and comics by the author of I Am Princess X.
Denise Farber has just moved back to New Orleans with her mom and stepdad. They left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and have finally returned, wagering the last of their family's money on fixing up an old, rundown house and converting it to a bed and breakfast.
Nothing seems to work around the place, which doesn't seem to weird to Denise. The unexplained noises are a little more out of the ordinary, but again, nothing too unusual. But when floors collapse, deadly objects rain down, and she hears creepy voices, it's clear to Denise that something more sinister lurks hidden here.
Answers may lie in an old comic book Denise finds concealed in the abandoned the lost final project of a famous artist who disappeared in the 1950s. Denise isn't budging from her new home, so she must unravel the mystery--on the pages and off them--if she and her family are to survive . . .
Open this book and dare to enter The Agony House, another spectacular mix of novel and comics form Cherie Priest.
Praise for The Agony House
"Priest pairs with O'Connor to neatly weave together the history of comic books and contemporary concerns about gentrification into an eerie ghost story set in a ramshackle house that's as much a character as the people living in it . . . At its heart, though, this is a ghost story, and Priest excels at building palpable atmosphere . . . Dynamic characters and a surprising mystery round out this sharp, satisfying, and engrossingly spooky story." --Booklist, starred review
"Priest ably weaves contemporary issues and a feminist strand into this fantasy . . . A wonderfully melodramatic climax . . . Conflicts, ectoplasmic and otherwise, laid to rest in a deliciously creepy setting." --Kirkus Reviews
Denise Farber has just moved back to New Orleans with her mom and stepdad. They left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and have finally returned, wagering the last of their family's money on fixing up an old, rundown house and converting it to a bed and breakfast.
Nothing seems to work around the place, which doesn't seem to weird to Denise. The unexplained noises are a little more out of the ordinary, but again, nothing too unusual. But when floors collapse, deadly objects rain down, and she hears creepy voices, it's clear to Denise that something more sinister lurks hidden here.
Answers may lie in an old comic book Denise finds concealed in the abandoned the lost final project of a famous artist who disappeared in the 1950s. Denise isn't budging from her new home, so she must unravel the mystery--on the pages and off them--if she and her family are to survive . . .
Open this book and dare to enter The Agony House, another spectacular mix of novel and comics form Cherie Priest.
Praise for The Agony House
"Priest pairs with O'Connor to neatly weave together the history of comic books and contemporary concerns about gentrification into an eerie ghost story set in a ramshackle house that's as much a character as the people living in it . . . At its heart, though, this is a ghost story, and Priest excels at building palpable atmosphere . . . Dynamic characters and a surprising mystery round out this sharp, satisfying, and engrossingly spooky story." --Booklist, starred review
"Priest ably weaves contemporary issues and a feminist strand into this fantasy . . . A wonderfully melodramatic climax . . . Conflicts, ectoplasmic and otherwise, laid to rest in a deliciously creepy setting." --Kirkus Reviews
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 25, 2018
93 people are currently reading
3720 people want to read
About the author
Cherie Priest
73 books4,373 followersCherie Priest is the author of about thirty books and novellas, most recently the modern gothics It Was Her House First, The Drowning House, and Cinderwich. She's also the author of the Booking Agents mysteries, horror projects The Toll and The Family Plot – and the hit YA graphic novel mash-ups I Am Princess X and its follow up, The Agony House. But she is perhaps best known for the steampunk pulp adventures of the Clockwork Century, beginning with Boneshaker. She has been nominated for the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, and the Locus award – which she won with Boneshaker.
Cherie has also written a number of urban fantasy titles, and composed pieces (large and small) for George R. R. Martin’s shared world universe, the Wild Cards. Her short stories and nonfiction articles have appeared in such fine publications as Weird Tales, Publishers Weekly, and numerous anthologies – and her books have been translated into nine languages in eleven countries.
Although she was born in Florida on the day Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, for the last twenty years Cherie has largely divided her time between Chattanooga, TN, and Seattle, WA – where she presently lives with her husband and a menagerie of exceedingly photogenic pets.
Cherie has also written a number of urban fantasy titles, and composed pieces (large and small) for George R. R. Martin’s shared world universe, the Wild Cards. Her short stories and nonfiction articles have appeared in such fine publications as Weird Tales, Publishers Weekly, and numerous anthologies – and her books have been translated into nine languages in eleven countries.
Although she was born in Florida on the day Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, for the last twenty years Cherie has largely divided her time between Chattanooga, TN, and Seattle, WA – where she presently lives with her husband and a menagerie of exceedingly photogenic pets.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 329 reviews
April 20, 2021
3.5 for now
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
January 9, 2019
Finally finished. I've been working on this one for almost a month. This is my first Cherie Priest book and just judging this book, I don't think I'll pick up more of her works. I'm giving this book 3 stars.
When I first heard about this book I thought it was a graphic novel (only). When I finally borrowed it from the library, I was slightly disappointed. It has some graphic novel illustrations within it's pages, but that kind of moves the story along.
I'll start off with characters. Our main character Denise Farber has just moved from Texas to New Orleans after being away for many years. She moves into a run down "mansion". When I say run down I mean the windows have been boarded up for decades. Denise is around seventeen. She is going to be a senior in high school and her main goal is to survive this year so she can move back to Houston and go to college with her best friend Trish (which happens to be rich). Next there's a neighbor kid by the name of Terry who is super obnoxious right off the bat and pretty much pushes his way into the house to get a look around. The entire neighborhood has heard rumors of the "nail house" and that it is haunted. It has been on the "dare list" for a long time...even Dominique's grandma used to be dared to go inside the creepy haunted house.
Dom and Norman have lived in this part of New Orleans their whole lives and have seen "white families" come and go buying off houses, fixing them up and then parting ways with the house and the town. That puts a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Right off the bat Dom is mean to Denise calling her gentrifiers. At first I didn't like Dom because I've been in that situation. I was the only white girl in my entire neighborhood when I moved to Macon, Georgia in the 5th grade. My neighbors were all very sweet and immediately came to our door to play, but when I got to school I was looked at like a freak. I ended having to go to a private school. With that being said, my bias and experience made me jump to conclusions. Dom and the rest of the town were just nervous that these "rich white people" were going to come in a wreck havoc on their town, building a bed and breakfast for only other rich people.
With the characters out of the way what is the book about? Denise and Terry find an old comic book in the attic of the Agony House. Denise spends the entire book trying to figure out where the comic came from. Who created it. What to do with it now that she has it and of course reading the comic. The graphic novel portion of the book is the comic that Denise is reading. It's main character is a kick ass woman that fights crime with no need of a man to help her. What Denise doesn't realize is that while reading this comic it awakens the ghosts that live in her house. The rest of the story is Denise trying to convince everyone around her except Terry that her house is actually haunted.
The book is written kind of weird. I want to say juvenile? I don't know if that is the right word. I just didn't really care for the writing style. I found all the characters to be a little annoying and the story to drag. I'm happy I read the book because I've always been curious about this author, but this book just wasn't for me.
When I first heard about this book I thought it was a graphic novel (only). When I finally borrowed it from the library, I was slightly disappointed. It has some graphic novel illustrations within it's pages, but that kind of moves the story along.
I'll start off with characters. Our main character Denise Farber has just moved from Texas to New Orleans after being away for many years. She moves into a run down "mansion". When I say run down I mean the windows have been boarded up for decades. Denise is around seventeen. She is going to be a senior in high school and her main goal is to survive this year so she can move back to Houston and go to college with her best friend Trish (which happens to be rich). Next there's a neighbor kid by the name of Terry who is super obnoxious right off the bat and pretty much pushes his way into the house to get a look around. The entire neighborhood has heard rumors of the "nail house" and that it is haunted. It has been on the "dare list" for a long time...even Dominique's grandma used to be dared to go inside the creepy haunted house.
Dom and Norman have lived in this part of New Orleans their whole lives and have seen "white families" come and go buying off houses, fixing them up and then parting ways with the house and the town. That puts a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Right off the bat Dom is mean to Denise calling her gentrifiers. At first I didn't like Dom because I've been in that situation. I was the only white girl in my entire neighborhood when I moved to Macon, Georgia in the 5th grade. My neighbors were all very sweet and immediately came to our door to play, but when I got to school I was looked at like a freak. I ended having to go to a private school. With that being said, my bias and experience made me jump to conclusions. Dom and the rest of the town were just nervous that these "rich white people" were going to come in a wreck havoc on their town, building a bed and breakfast for only other rich people.
With the characters out of the way what is the book about? Denise and Terry find an old comic book in the attic of the Agony House. Denise spends the entire book trying to figure out where the comic came from. Who created it. What to do with it now that she has it and of course reading the comic. The graphic novel portion of the book is the comic that Denise is reading. It's main character is a kick ass woman that fights crime with no need of a man to help her. What Denise doesn't realize is that while reading this comic it awakens the ghosts that live in her house. The rest of the story is Denise trying to convince everyone around her except Terry that her house is actually haunted.
The book is written kind of weird. I want to say juvenile? I don't know if that is the right word. I just didn't really care for the writing style. I found all the characters to be a little annoying and the story to drag. I'm happy I read the book because I've always been curious about this author, but this book just wasn't for me.
February 21, 2019
Denise, her mom, and her stepdad have just moved to New Orleans from Texas, where Denise and her mom got relocated and made a life after Denise’s dad died in Hurricane Katrina. Now they want to open a bed and breakfast in an old “nail house” -- one that sticks up like a nail because it’s the only house on its block. But the house doesn’t seem to want to cooperate with being remodeled. And a comic book Denise finds in the attic may hold clues as to what -- or who -- is making all the trouble.This was a really fun read. It’s fast-paced, interesting, and the mythology mostly worked for me. I learned about the Comics Code Authority, which I’d had no clue about (a list of rules passed in 1954 disallowing “lurid, unsavory, and gruesome illustration;” no horror or terror; no profanity; no nudity; no vampires, ghouls, or werewolves. The CCA was abandoned only this century (and now look at your local comic store shelves!) The only rule I can support in the list is “Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.”) According to this story, the CCA also disallowed comics which didn’t support stereotypical gender roles, so “Lucida Might,” the comic Denise finds, became unpublishable due to its strong heroine perpetually rescuing her mild-mannered fiance who seems to find trouble at every turn.
The story also features a neighborhood kid into paranormal research, and a contemporary-type plotline about fears of gentrification and displacement (Denise’s family is white; the surrounding neighborhood is mostly black).
I really enjoyed this, and developed a huge crush on Lucida Might, whose final comic is shown over the course of the book. (Why isn’t this book set in the font Lucida Bright, what with such a similar name being used?) (Speaking of the font, if anyone knows what it is, please let me know. It has a very distinct lower-case g, and yet I can’t match it to anything.)
The one weakness with the story is that I guessed the Big Twist fairly early on. But that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of getting to the ending.
I plan on reading Cherie Priest’s first YA novel just as soon as I get a little break in my reading schedule.
March 28, 2019
It was cute. The illustrations were on point and everything was completely confusing until the end. As in, I did not expect the twist.
There was one twist and only one twist. It was a good twist, especially since I had to rethink the entire plot to see how it fit in.
Unfortunately, I ended up being more interested in the comic than the storyline itself, but I resisted the urge to skip all the text and read solely the comic. It was well illustrated, but a little short in terms of plot.
There was one twist and only one twist. It was a good twist, especially since I had to rethink the entire plot to see how it fit in.
Unfortunately, I ended up being more interested in the comic than the storyline itself, but I resisted the urge to skip all the text and read solely the comic. It was well illustrated, but a little short in terms of plot.
November 1, 2023
Coming home to New Orleans has not been the grand welcome that Denise, her mother Sally and stepfather Mike would hope for. They have purchased a broken down house with the goal of refurbishing it and turning it into a bed and breakfast with the meager funds they are getting through a small business loan. Denise is less than happy to be leaving her friends behind, starting at a new school, and living in a funky, dirty, falling down house. Add on to the fact that it's haunted by two presences: a small woman and a big man. While the woman seems benevolent, the man is far from it. She finds a comic book in the attic from an artist and author who was quite popular in the 1950s, one that may unlock the mysteries of the house, which seems to fall apart quicker than they can fix it.
This was such an entertaining read. I listened to the audiobook, and I loved how there was actually a dramatic reenactment of the comic book with different actors. That was my favorite part of the book. I enjoyed the twist of the ongoing series in which its lead is the intrepid young woman who constantly has to save her boyfriend, who constantly is the one in danger. A nice turnaround from the typical scenario. Careful attention to this plot device will reveal much of the underlying themes and mystery in the book.
Along with the ghost story and mystery of the house, there's a good story about a young teen finding her feet in a new place and making friends. There is also some great commentary about Hurricane Katrina and the upheaval that the city has not fully recovered from. Additionally, the story explores themes of gentrification and racial profiling, but in a very organic manner. I do think some of that was simplified, but that's understandable as this is appealing to a younger audience.
I loved the characters, from Denise to her parents (both kind and caring with good sense of humor), to the friends she makes, her nosy neighbor Terry (an aspiring ghost hunter), Norman (a hunky young man who had about eight thousand jobs and is a potential love interest), and Dominique (who starts out as an abrasive potential enemy but becomes a friend in the end). I thought the ghostly presences were well done, and how things seem to escalate as the story unfolds.
Despite this being a ghost story with some dark themes, there's a lot of light here as the focus on family, connection and community prevails over the very present evil that the characters face. It wasn't exactly scary, but it was nicely spooky and a very good read for October spooky season.
This was such an entertaining read. I listened to the audiobook, and I loved how there was actually a dramatic reenactment of the comic book with different actors. That was my favorite part of the book. I enjoyed the twist of the ongoing series in which its lead is the intrepid young woman who constantly has to save her boyfriend, who constantly is the one in danger. A nice turnaround from the typical scenario. Careful attention to this plot device will reveal much of the underlying themes and mystery in the book.
Along with the ghost story and mystery of the house, there's a good story about a young teen finding her feet in a new place and making friends. There is also some great commentary about Hurricane Katrina and the upheaval that the city has not fully recovered from. Additionally, the story explores themes of gentrification and racial profiling, but in a very organic manner. I do think some of that was simplified, but that's understandable as this is appealing to a younger audience.
I loved the characters, from Denise to her parents (both kind and caring with good sense of humor), to the friends she makes, her nosy neighbor Terry (an aspiring ghost hunter), Norman (a hunky young man who had about eight thousand jobs and is a potential love interest), and Dominique (who starts out as an abrasive potential enemy but becomes a friend in the end). I thought the ghostly presences were well done, and how things seem to escalate as the story unfolds.
Despite this being a ghost story with some dark themes, there's a lot of light here as the focus on family, connection and community prevails over the very present evil that the characters face. It wasn't exactly scary, but it was nicely spooky and a very good read for October spooky season.
November 4, 2018
This book was a mess, and I'm so sad my love of spooky got me here. I was ready for all the spooks and the ghosties, but instead I got a super boring book that had parts that made me uncomfortable.
The premise of the novel is Denise, a girl from Texas, moves back to New Orleans after years of being away. She first left after Hurricane Katrina, which took away her dad and grandmother, and now she is back with her mother and stepfather to start over new. They move into a dilapidated house that is more than the average fixer and upper to create a bed and breakfast. Besides it being a mess, they soon realize they might not be along after mysterious voices, accidents, and more happen...especially after Denise uncovers a mysterious comic creator died in the house and Denise has found one of his old comics.
👻 The first part of the novel that was meh for me was the storyline. It was super boring. I mean, I wanted to start skimming very early on. It was just a lot of lemme tell you everything I'm doing in this day to day happenings and be super meh about it. I was bored and just ready for the ghosties.
When the ghosties did come, they really weren't very exciting. There were no chills to be had and there was no excitement. I didn't even fully get they were ghosties. The first occurrence of paranormal happenings was I think in the second chapter? Literally, Denise is exploring the attic, sees the door start to move, hears a scratch, and is like GHOSTS. ALL THE GHOSTS. GHOSTS GHOSTS GHOSTS AND MORE GHOSTS. Okay, this girl is all about the ghosties and probably those people on Ghost Hunters would have the same reaction but it was wildly jumped/reached and I was lost.
👻 The art. I thought there would certainly be far more graphic content. That was one of the main reasons I picked it up. I love mixed media novels, and the art looked pretty good. The art that was in the novel was mostly in the chapter headers (that were all the same) and the comic. I mean, the art was good, but I just wanted more of it. The art was honestly the most enjoyable part of the novel.
The art parts really that captivating either. I wanted to like the comic a lot, but it wasn't that great. It was just meh.
👻 The characters. I didn't like any of them. If the character wasn't likeable, they were literally just there. I mean, there was nothing special about any of them. I felt no connection. I was severely not a fan of Denise, and the rest of them? So meh. The parents, Norman, Dominique, and...that one neighbor kid whose name I barely remember. Terry? I'mma call him Terry. I thought perhaps he would be entertaining because he just barged right into the house and was like gimme all your ghosts! But he was still boring and way too aggressive in this respect to be funny.
👻 I wasn't a super fan of the writing either. It was in third person, so I think the disconnect with even stronger than it was had it been from Denise's POV.
👻 Now, onto the parts that made me uncomfortable. There was a first part immediately made me uncomfortable but then I continued on and it got even worst. I read a lot of reviews for this book and a lot of people praised Priest's incorporation of gentrification and these instances, but honestly, I really didn't get it. I just felt turned off and uncomfortable with how it started and for me, I felt like this instance took away any good it did. All of the things I'm about to mention just happened in a few pages.
So, Denise runs into this potential love interest Norman when he is delivering a pizza to her house. He mentions to her, hey, you're new and my age - a good place to hang out is this po'boy restaurant that is a good place to hang AND they have free wifi. The next day, Denise, is like yes! I'm going to go here.
So she wanders in, realizes she has to pay to use wifi, so she gets some food. The author describes this entire process and than, at the very last sentence of the paragraph, this sentence is added in:
"When she got her food, she picked a seat and tried not to feel weird about being the only white person who wasn't working behind the counter."
...
...
...
What does that even mean? I intensely blinked at the book for a good long time, feeling incredibly uncomfortable but still I decided to move ahead because I was hoping to figure out what that meant.
A few paragraphs later, Denise is just minding her business, on the computer, and some girls her age walk up to her and immediately start interrogating her. They want to know if she is the person that moved into the new house and the reasons behind it. They believe she is a gentrifier and has only moved into the area to fix up the house and upsell it so the neighborhood will have issues. They talk about how clear it is.
This immediately makes Denise upset and she has to continuously how poor she is. I mean, there is literally a huge paragraph about her describing how poor she is and how they can't afford anything and doesn't this girl see her beat up laptop??? When that isn't enough, she has to talk about how she is actually from New Orleans and her daddy died in this city.
Dominique, the ring leader, is like, "and i'm supposed to feel sorry for you?"
So Denise is like, "Y'all don't want me here, and I don't want to be here, so there's something we agree on. Leave me alone, or keep giving me grief, I don't care. I've got headphones."
And then randomly Dominique is like, "Why aren't you eating? You should be eating. Give me a dime so I get this girl some fries."
And Denise is like, well, "So Dominique wasn't always awful to everybody, mostly just gentrifiers."
??????? This entire scene clearly makes Denise out to be the victim and Dominique and her group out to be the villain. I mean, Dominique is clearly harshly investigating her and Denise is having to defend herself/mention she is a victim in this situation. Plus, instead of dealing with this and asking Dominique why she feels this way, Denise instead just completely dismisses her. And I still don't even get the french fries thing???? Again, it was incredibly uncomfortable period, but especially after the above statement that put it all into context.
When talking with Sha about this, she found it quite apt that this was entitled Agony House.
The worst part was this exchange that was the worst part in my opinion.
Denise's stepdad comes to pick her up and Denise pops into the car. They exchange a few words and then this appears:
Denise: "You want me to ride a bike in this heat? Through this neighborhood?"
Stepdad: "The heat, I'll give you. But don't crap on the neighborhood. Don't be one of those white kids who's weird about being around black kids."
Denise: "I'm not. I'm trying not to, and...that's not what I meant. I've...I've got black friends in Houston. Kim's black." She knew it sounded dumb even before it left her mouth, but there it was. "But that's not the problem, I don't think. Well, I don't know, maybe that's part of it. The point is, I don't have any new friends."
...
I don't even know where to begin to unpack all of things uncomfortable and wrong in this statement. I don't even remember a Kim being mentioned before this moment, and just because you know/have black friends doesn't not equal you to have racial issues. And you don't think that the problem?? Maybe it's part of it??? I can't even.
Maybe there was a full arc for this (idk, I did major skimming for the rest of the book but there were parts that I was 200% done after this point that I did end up giving up a little past halfway through even in my skimming so I'm not entirely sure) that would topic important issues in race and gentrification, but I believe this beginning part isn't the way to do it at all.
This was just a messy read for me, and this review is long enough. Don't recommend at all. 1 crown and a Merida rating.
The premise of the novel is Denise, a girl from Texas, moves back to New Orleans after years of being away. She first left after Hurricane Katrina, which took away her dad and grandmother, and now she is back with her mother and stepfather to start over new. They move into a dilapidated house that is more than the average fixer and upper to create a bed and breakfast. Besides it being a mess, they soon realize they might not be along after mysterious voices, accidents, and more happen...especially after Denise uncovers a mysterious comic creator died in the house and Denise has found one of his old comics.
👻 The first part of the novel that was meh for me was the storyline. It was super boring. I mean, I wanted to start skimming very early on. It was just a lot of lemme tell you everything I'm doing in this day to day happenings and be super meh about it. I was bored and just ready for the ghosties.
When the ghosties did come, they really weren't very exciting. There were no chills to be had and there was no excitement. I didn't even fully get they were ghosties. The first occurrence of paranormal happenings was I think in the second chapter? Literally, Denise is exploring the attic, sees the door start to move, hears a scratch, and is like GHOSTS. ALL THE GHOSTS. GHOSTS GHOSTS GHOSTS AND MORE GHOSTS. Okay, this girl is all about the ghosties and probably those people on Ghost Hunters would have the same reaction but it was wildly jumped/reached and I was lost.
👻 The art. I thought there would certainly be far more graphic content. That was one of the main reasons I picked it up. I love mixed media novels, and the art looked pretty good. The art that was in the novel was mostly in the chapter headers (that were all the same) and the comic. I mean, the art was good, but I just wanted more of it. The art was honestly the most enjoyable part of the novel.
The art parts really that captivating either. I wanted to like the comic a lot, but it wasn't that great. It was just meh.
👻 The characters. I didn't like any of them. If the character wasn't likeable, they were literally just there. I mean, there was nothing special about any of them. I felt no connection. I was severely not a fan of Denise, and the rest of them? So meh. The parents, Norman, Dominique, and...that one neighbor kid whose name I barely remember. Terry? I'mma call him Terry. I thought perhaps he would be entertaining because he just barged right into the house and was like gimme all your ghosts! But he was still boring and way too aggressive in this respect to be funny.
👻 I wasn't a super fan of the writing either. It was in third person, so I think the disconnect with even stronger than it was had it been from Denise's POV.
👻 Now, onto the parts that made me uncomfortable. There was a first part immediately made me uncomfortable but then I continued on and it got even worst. I read a lot of reviews for this book and a lot of people praised Priest's incorporation of gentrification and these instances, but honestly, I really didn't get it. I just felt turned off and uncomfortable with how it started and for me, I felt like this instance took away any good it did. All of the things I'm about to mention just happened in a few pages.
So, Denise runs into this potential love interest Norman when he is delivering a pizza to her house. He mentions to her, hey, you're new and my age - a good place to hang out is this po'boy restaurant that is a good place to hang AND they have free wifi. The next day, Denise, is like yes! I'm going to go here.
So she wanders in, realizes she has to pay to use wifi, so she gets some food. The author describes this entire process and than, at the very last sentence of the paragraph, this sentence is added in:
"When she got her food, she picked a seat and tried not to feel weird about being the only white person who wasn't working behind the counter."
...
...
...
What does that even mean? I intensely blinked at the book for a good long time, feeling incredibly uncomfortable but still I decided to move ahead because I was hoping to figure out what that meant.
A few paragraphs later, Denise is just minding her business, on the computer, and some girls her age walk up to her and immediately start interrogating her. They want to know if she is the person that moved into the new house and the reasons behind it. They believe she is a gentrifier and has only moved into the area to fix up the house and upsell it so the neighborhood will have issues. They talk about how clear it is.
This immediately makes Denise upset and she has to continuously how poor she is. I mean, there is literally a huge paragraph about her describing how poor she is and how they can't afford anything and doesn't this girl see her beat up laptop??? When that isn't enough, she has to talk about how she is actually from New Orleans and her daddy died in this city.
Dominique, the ring leader, is like, "and i'm supposed to feel sorry for you?"
So Denise is like, "Y'all don't want me here, and I don't want to be here, so there's something we agree on. Leave me alone, or keep giving me grief, I don't care. I've got headphones."
And then randomly Dominique is like, "Why aren't you eating? You should be eating. Give me a dime so I get this girl some fries."
And Denise is like, well, "So Dominique wasn't always awful to everybody, mostly just gentrifiers."
??????? This entire scene clearly makes Denise out to be the victim and Dominique and her group out to be the villain. I mean, Dominique is clearly harshly investigating her and Denise is having to defend herself/mention she is a victim in this situation. Plus, instead of dealing with this and asking Dominique why she feels this way, Denise instead just completely dismisses her. And I still don't even get the french fries thing???? Again, it was incredibly uncomfortable period, but especially after the above statement that put it all into context.
When talking with Sha about this, she found it quite apt that this was entitled Agony House.
The worst part was this exchange that was the worst part in my opinion.
Denise's stepdad comes to pick her up and Denise pops into the car. They exchange a few words and then this appears:
Denise: "You want me to ride a bike in this heat? Through this neighborhood?"
Stepdad: "The heat, I'll give you. But don't crap on the neighborhood. Don't be one of those white kids who's weird about being around black kids."
Denise: "I'm not. I'm trying not to, and...that's not what I meant. I've...I've got black friends in Houston. Kim's black." She knew it sounded dumb even before it left her mouth, but there it was. "But that's not the problem, I don't think. Well, I don't know, maybe that's part of it. The point is, I don't have any new friends."
...
I don't even know where to begin to unpack all of things uncomfortable and wrong in this statement. I don't even remember a Kim being mentioned before this moment, and just because you know/have black friends doesn't not equal you to have racial issues. And you don't think that the problem?? Maybe it's part of it??? I can't even.
Maybe there was a full arc for this (idk, I did major skimming for the rest of the book but there were parts that I was 200% done after this point that I did end up giving up a little past halfway through even in my skimming so I'm not entirely sure) that would topic important issues in race and gentrification, but I believe this beginning part isn't the way to do it at all.
This was just a messy read for me, and this review is long enough. Don't recommend at all. 1 crown and a Merida rating.
November 25, 2018
I knew I would like this, but ended up really loving it! It reminded me of Cherie's FANTASTIC and TERRIFYING The Family Plot, but for teens. I loved the comic pages woven into the story, and really love the look at the rebuilding of the NOLA community after Katrina.
December 25, 2018
5 Stars
Cherie Priest is a favorite author of mine. All things haunted house also a favorite of mine. Throw in some nice illustrations to this great story and you have a great book.
Cherie Priest is a favorite author of mine. All things haunted house also a favorite of mine. Throw in some nice illustrations to this great story and you have a great book.
January 22, 2019
The instant I heard the words "Agony House" I knew I was going to like the book. And as I read it more I realized that I absolutely loved it. It had both thriller and comedy all in one book. Anyone that reads the book would definitely agree that this is an amazing book.
February 17, 2020
This is Cherie Priest's best book of her last several, in my opinion, in both adult and young adult catergories. It skews older than her last YA novel, I am Princess X, and meets the technical definition of a YA novel, but I think it works quite well as an adult novel as well, taking into account the teen character POV. It is also a better haunted house story than her last, The Family Plot. I firmly enjoyed this. In other reviews of Cherie Priest's novels I have described my frequent aversion to her dialogue, but I experienced none of that here. The main character, Denise, speaks as a smart, chill, world-wise teenager. Her friends are diverse and well-characterized too.
Priest uses the same gimmick as in her prior YA outing, crafting a story that interweaves with a comic, creating a partial-graphic novel, although it is heavily more novel than graphic. The effect is welcome and effective here. One thing left me baffled in this tale, however, is that it took Denise perhaps two full weeks, or however long the events take place over, to read all the way through a single comic book manuscript. We are talking about perhaps 30 pages with very few panels per page. Sure, she kept getting interrupted, but she couldn't have taken 5 minutes to finish it on the first day? Comparitively, the use of cell phones and internet is realistic. It must be frequently challenging to set a novel in current times without ignoring the availability of the internet as an easy solution to all of the characters' problem. Priest gets around this here by rooting the mystery in events from the 1950's.
This was a pleasing read, and I will continue to check out Cherie Priest's books as they are released.
Priest uses the same gimmick as in her prior YA outing, crafting a story that interweaves with a comic, creating a partial-graphic novel, although it is heavily more novel than graphic. The effect is welcome and effective here. One thing left me baffled in this tale, however, is that it took Denise perhaps two full weeks, or however long the events take place over, to read all the way through a single comic book manuscript. We are talking about perhaps 30 pages with very few panels per page. Sure, she kept getting interrupted, but she couldn't have taken 5 minutes to finish it on the first day? Comparitively, the use of cell phones and internet is realistic. It must be frequently challenging to set a novel in current times without ignoring the availability of the internet as an easy solution to all of the characters' problem. Priest gets around this here by rooting the mystery in events from the 1950's.
This was a pleasing read, and I will continue to check out Cherie Priest's books as they are released.
March 24, 2024
I just didn’t enjoy it much, cool concept tho
September 19, 2018
***Big thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review***
This book is definitely different from what I normally read. I have never been into graphic novels, not that I'm against them, they just haven't been my thing. But this cover is gorgeous and I was intrigued by the synopsis. I had REALLY hoped that it would have been a BIT more scary.
This book focuses on a young girl, Denise, who moves back to New Orleans years after the big hurricane. She lost her father and her grandfather in "the Storm". Her mother and her step dad throw all of their money into an old house with hopes of sprucing it up and opening up a bed and breakfast. Besides the house being a "crap hole", Denise is not too excited about being away from her friends for her Senior year. She is also less than thrilled when weird things start happening around the house.
Her and a neighbor kid find a comic wrapped in plastic up in the attic. They start to read it, and throughout the book, whenever something happens in the comic the same thing happens in real life. Windows slam shut on hands, nails trip people up the stairs, porches cave in. It's like the house, or someone, doesn't want them there.
Things progress as Denise uncovers secrets about the house, the past owner, and the mysterious comic. Not all things are as they seem. And one night, things come to a scary confrontation.
This story is cute, and has a good sense of mystery to it. It's the typical, good ghost bad ghost situation and it all ends happily. I did feel like there were some parts of the book that were pushed or stressed a little too much. They brought up the fact about white people coming in and buying houses and trying to "white up" the neighborhoods. It was mentioned several times and really didn't have ANYTHING to do with the story. Nothing at all.
Again, I would have liked the story to be a BIT more scary. All the really good ghost stuff happened in like the last 3 chapters. It was a cute little ghost story though! The writing was great!
This book is definitely different from what I normally read. I have never been into graphic novels, not that I'm against them, they just haven't been my thing. But this cover is gorgeous and I was intrigued by the synopsis. I had REALLY hoped that it would have been a BIT more scary.
This book focuses on a young girl, Denise, who moves back to New Orleans years after the big hurricane. She lost her father and her grandfather in "the Storm". Her mother and her step dad throw all of their money into an old house with hopes of sprucing it up and opening up a bed and breakfast. Besides the house being a "crap hole", Denise is not too excited about being away from her friends for her Senior year. She is also less than thrilled when weird things start happening around the house.
Her and a neighbor kid find a comic wrapped in plastic up in the attic. They start to read it, and throughout the book, whenever something happens in the comic the same thing happens in real life. Windows slam shut on hands, nails trip people up the stairs, porches cave in. It's like the house, or someone, doesn't want them there.
Things progress as Denise uncovers secrets about the house, the past owner, and the mysterious comic. Not all things are as they seem. And one night, things come to a scary confrontation.
This story is cute, and has a good sense of mystery to it. It's the typical, good ghost bad ghost situation and it all ends happily. I did feel like there were some parts of the book that were pushed or stressed a little too much. They brought up the fact about white people coming in and buying houses and trying to "white up" the neighborhoods. It was mentioned several times and really didn't have ANYTHING to do with the story. Nothing at all.
Again, I would have liked the story to be a BIT more scary. All the really good ghost stuff happened in like the last 3 chapters. It was a cute little ghost story though! The writing was great!
Read
September 9, 2018This hybrid novel/graphic novel explores the story behind a haunted house in a gentrifying area of New Orleans. Since the book's told in third person, we don't get particularly close to Denise, but in the context of the story, this not only makes sense, it works well. When Denise, her mother, and stepfather, return to New Orleans to fix up an old home years after the storm, they're met with suspicion in the neighborhood. They're white, and the neighborhood is primarily black. There's smart discussion of gentrification and the issues surrounding it, without feeling like a lecture or like Denise and her family weren't welcome (there's a particularly poignant part about employing the neighbors to help with fixing the home and then, when it turns into a BnB, employing them with fair wages).
But the ghost story is the key here!
Denise and her new friend discover a comic in the spooky attic and -- surprise! -- the comic is the key to understanding the weird, ghostlike experiences they're having in the home. There's a neat look at comic culture and how, during the era of CCA, women and people of color weren't allowed to play real roles in the stories.
Fun horror, perfect for younger YA readers (& no problem for middle grade readers, either). This is a book without romance for any readers seeking that out.
But the ghost story is the key here!
Denise and her new friend discover a comic in the spooky attic and -- surprise! -- the comic is the key to understanding the weird, ghostlike experiences they're having in the home. There's a neat look at comic culture and how, during the era of CCA, women and people of color weren't allowed to play real roles in the stories.
Fun horror, perfect for younger YA readers (& no problem for middle grade readers, either). This is a book without romance for any readers seeking that out.
October 7, 2018
I picked this for the Halloween display at the book store I work for. It's new, and will be a great addition for those who like YA titles. It's interesting, and the graphic portions of the story definitely enhance the written portions. There were a couple of bits that felt a tad bit...preachy...but they didn't take away from the overall story. My daughter is already asking to read it!
Note: For those who care about such things (like me), if you buy the HB version and don't wait for pb to come out...there are PRETTIES under the dust jacket.
Note: For those who care about such things (like me), if you buy the HB version and don't wait for pb to come out...there are PRETTIES under the dust jacket.
September 3, 2024
An enjoyable haunted house story set in the present day, and referencing a government-mandated transition time in comics development.
Denise and her mum and stepdad move back to New Orleans into a crumbling house that her mum has plans to transform into a bed & breakfast. Strange and violent things start happening after Denise finds an old comic book hidden in the attic and begins reading it. The comic tells of a tough female detective whose boyfriend is kidnapped, and whom she follows to what looks to be the same house the Farbers are now living in.
Denise researches and discovers who the comic book artist was, and why this issue was never published. Denise and her new friends also discover the identities of the ghosts haunting the house and causing all the disturbances and accidents.
Without being didactic, Cherie Priest discusses gentrification and privilege, and how that affects the Farbers and Denise's new friends. Also, to people new to comic book history, Priest discusses how due to unfounded fears coming out of WWII, the US government created the Comics Code Authority, which tightened up and restricted what could be published in comics, affecting the livelihoods of many storytellers and artists.
Denise is a compelling character, and though I figured out the mystery early on, I enjoyed watching how she and her friends slowly puzzled their way to the resolution.
Denise and her mum and stepdad move back to New Orleans into a crumbling house that her mum has plans to transform into a bed & breakfast. Strange and violent things start happening after Denise finds an old comic book hidden in the attic and begins reading it. The comic tells of a tough female detective whose boyfriend is kidnapped, and whom she follows to what looks to be the same house the Farbers are now living in.
Denise researches and discovers who the comic book artist was, and why this issue was never published. Denise and her new friends also discover the identities of the ghosts haunting the house and causing all the disturbances and accidents.
Without being didactic, Cherie Priest discusses gentrification and privilege, and how that affects the Farbers and Denise's new friends. Also, to people new to comic book history, Priest discusses how due to unfounded fears coming out of WWII, the US government created the Comics Code Authority, which tightened up and restricted what could be published in comics, affecting the livelihoods of many storytellers and artists.
Denise is a compelling character, and though I figured out the mystery early on, I enjoyed watching how she and her friends slowly puzzled their way to the resolution.
November 24, 2018
Similarly to her work in the terrific
I Am Princess X
, in The Agony House author Cherie Priest tells a gripping story with comic book illustrations mixed in to tell a piece of the tale. When Denise discovers the hidden comic book in the creepy attic of her new house (which she bluntly refers to as a "craphole" at all times), the book seems to be a clue to the unexplainable events happening to the family as they try to make the old place livable once again.
Denise is a great main character -- clearly very smart, devoted to her family, but unhappy with being dragged away from her friends back in Houston and forced to live in this awful house. As she settles in and gets to know some of the teens in her neighborhood, we get a picture of the devastation left by the Storm (as they refer to it), even after so many years. The book deals with issues around economic hardship, gentrification, and privilege, not in a preachy way, but by showing the struggles and resentments of the characters and the new understandings they need to reach in order to get along. The social lessons here feel organic and important to the story, and I appreciated seeing the characters come to terms with one another in all sorts of interesting ways.
I'd place The Agony House somewhere between middle grade and young adult fiction. The main characters are high school seniors, but the events and the narrative would be fine for younger readers, middle school or above, so long as they're okay with ghosts and spookiness. I really enjoyed the comic book pages and how they relate to the main story, and thought it was all very cleverly put together. As an adult reader, I saw the plot resolution twist coming pretty early on, but that didn't lessen the satisfaction of seeing it all work out, and I think it'll be a great surprise for readers in the target audience.
Denise is a great main character -- clearly very smart, devoted to her family, but unhappy with being dragged away from her friends back in Houston and forced to live in this awful house. As she settles in and gets to know some of the teens in her neighborhood, we get a picture of the devastation left by the Storm (as they refer to it), even after so many years. The book deals with issues around economic hardship, gentrification, and privilege, not in a preachy way, but by showing the struggles and resentments of the characters and the new understandings they need to reach in order to get along. The social lessons here feel organic and important to the story, and I appreciated seeing the characters come to terms with one another in all sorts of interesting ways.
I'd place The Agony House somewhere between middle grade and young adult fiction. The main characters are high school seniors, but the events and the narrative would be fine for younger readers, middle school or above, so long as they're okay with ghosts and spookiness. I really enjoyed the comic book pages and how they relate to the main story, and thought it was all very cleverly put together. As an adult reader, I saw the plot resolution twist coming pretty early on, but that didn't lessen the satisfaction of seeing it all work out, and I think it'll be a great surprise for readers in the target audience.
August 22, 2021
Maybe 2.5/5, but rounded down. This wasn’t a bad read, but it was sooo drawn out and slow and I feel like nothing much happened at all. There was some brief mentioning of race and I feel it wasn’t necessarily called for or handled too well. That’s just my personal opinion. The best part—the comic book. I thought this was only a graphic novel, but it’s a novel with bits of a comic book thrown in throughout the novel. Like 2-3 pages tossed in at a time. So I was bummed about that, but I do still like that—a comic book inside a book. It’s just the overall story didn’t grab my attention. Basically nothing happens until halfway through. I wanted to DNF, but just figured I’d finish it cause it was short and I liked the comic book. I hoped the supernatural aspect would pick up more towards the end. It did I guess, but not enough to spark my interest. 🥱
Overall, a very slow moving supernatural book. One I didn’t hate, but one I wouldn’t recommend. Sorry 🙈 I wouldn’t count out Cherie Priest though. I may try another book of hers.
Overall, a very slow moving supernatural book. One I didn’t hate, but one I wouldn’t recommend. Sorry 🙈 I wouldn’t count out Cherie Priest though. I may try another book of hers.
January 10, 2023
Denise and her family move back to New Orleans and start to fix-up an old house that no one's been in in years. There's lots of work to be done, and lots of strange happenings. The more Denise explores the more she wonders if her and her family aren't the only people in the house. Then she finds a comic book in the attic that has an eerie resemblance to her house. Written in a combination of graphic novel and regular chapter book this book is a read that will keep you on your toes.
October 20, 2018
3 1/2. I didn’t enjoy it as much as Princess X, but as a ghost story/mystery/haunted house story for middle school and high school it works.
September 25, 2018
@Kidlitexchange #partner - I received a copy of this book from the Kidlitexchange network in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Releases 9/25/18
Denise and her family move back to New Orleans in hopes of changing their fortune by renovating an old house and turning it into a bed and breakfast. Old houses are a tricky business to handle but when it becomes undeniable that the house didn't want Denise and her family around, she decides to push back and keep her family safe by uncovering the house's dark past.
My favorite kind of scary story is the kind that makes me jumpy, the kind that makes me wonder if what the character sees is real or an illusion, and the kind that makes me paranoid about anything remotely odd. Cherie Priest delivers all of that and more. The combination of prose and graphic novel panels adds a neat interactive level to the reading experience.
Wondering about what unsettling details Denise will uncover in her search through the house's past makes this book a thrilling page turner and so hard to put down.
Agony House is an excellent horror read that doesn't over do it. I highly recommend you read it in one sitting.
Releases 9/25/18
Denise and her family move back to New Orleans in hopes of changing their fortune by renovating an old house and turning it into a bed and breakfast. Old houses are a tricky business to handle but when it becomes undeniable that the house didn't want Denise and her family around, she decides to push back and keep her family safe by uncovering the house's dark past.
My favorite kind of scary story is the kind that makes me jumpy, the kind that makes me wonder if what the character sees is real or an illusion, and the kind that makes me paranoid about anything remotely odd. Cherie Priest delivers all of that and more. The combination of prose and graphic novel panels adds a neat interactive level to the reading experience.
Wondering about what unsettling details Denise will uncover in her search through the house's past makes this book a thrilling page turner and so hard to put down.
Agony House is an excellent horror read that doesn't over do it. I highly recommend you read it in one sitting.
April 14, 2020
Trisha's new home is more than a fixer-upper. She'd use a more colorful phrase. But this old New Orleans house needs more than just new wiring and mold removal: it needs an exorcism. While her mom and stepdad diligently work to improve the dilapidated building, hoping to open a bed & breakfast successful enough to pay off their loans, Trisha increasingly feels like they are not alone. After she finds a manuscript for a never published comic book, things get even more intense: it seems like there's a ghost - or two? - sabotaging their home-improvement efforts, even causing the family bodily harm. She suspects there is a connection between the spirits and the comic book, but she will need to figure it out before someone gets seriously hurt.
This book resists over-complication, presenting a straight-forward paranormal mystery that young teens will enjoy. I appreciate that the author doesn't waste much time convincing characters that ghosts are real - few people put up a major fight about the presence of spirits, even the adults. The breakout comic panels make the experience all the more accessible. Stay up late at night to read this in one sitting, if you dare.
This book resists over-complication, presenting a straight-forward paranormal mystery that young teens will enjoy. I appreciate that the author doesn't waste much time convincing characters that ghosts are real - few people put up a major fight about the presence of spirits, even the adults. The breakout comic panels make the experience all the more accessible. Stay up late at night to read this in one sitting, if you dare.
October 3, 2021
I absolutely ADORED this book. It has kids finding something mysterious in an attic, ghosts, a group of kids/teens coming together to solve a mystery, and a great setting (New Orleans). Chuck in plenty of strong female characters and great male characters who can accept the strong women without being portrayed as ‘weak’, plus diversity and you literally have the perfect read in my opinion!
Towards the end of the book, it is mentioned that there are other haunting/mysteries in the neighbourhood and that the kids should form a ghost hunting club. YES PLEASE!!!! It could work as they are set to go off to college but it’s implied they’d attend the city university (Tulane) so….
Towards the end of the book, it is mentioned that there are other haunting/mysteries in the neighbourhood and that the kids should form a ghost hunting club. YES PLEASE!!!! It could work as they are set to go off to college but it’s implied they’d attend the city university (Tulane) so….
June 11, 2019
A YA story that is as deep into horror as I like to get (ankle-deep) with a gothic haunted house, helpful neighbors, a story linked to a lost comic book, and home repairs complicated by that haunted bit I mentioned above. The setting is firmly New Orleans a decade after the flood, with our heroes returning to try to remake their lives. Kids have phones and the internet, and also juggle quarters to afford take-out.
The final scene with the showdown between ghosts was well done and kept me turning pages after I meant to turn off the light.
The final scene with the showdown between ghosts was well done and kept me turning pages after I meant to turn off the light.
November 25, 2019
This book took a while to hook me in, and even so, it never really hooked me. The protagonist was too cynical at the beginning for my liking, the ghost mystery didn't really seem real and it all felt like an "it-was-all-a-dream" plotline. In the middle, though, when more side characters are introduced, is when the story finally begins to start chugging along. Terry, Norman, and Dom are all charming in their own right, and the struggles of race in their town seemed like the mystery was headed towards a ghost with race-fueled revenge. Unfortunately, that's not what I got, and the ending dropped all momentum it had introduced, like a train screeching to a halt. If you're a fan of comic books and comic book history I'd recommend you'd give it a read, but otherwise I'm not sure if you'd like it or not.
January 23, 2019
The Agony House was so great. I loved how there was a story within a story, it added to the entire depth of the novel. I liked Denise, and loved how her parents were not "absent parents," their relationship, especially with her stepdad, was very endearing. It is no surprise that my favorite parts of Agony House were the creepy bits! I loved the New Orleans setting and enjoyed traipsing about the old house with Denise. Recommended.
February 20, 2023
eh ... this was an interesting read ig? i was rlly intrigued by the premise, esp the use of the comic throughout the story, but the book itself fell kinda flat. there were some weird ... attempts at talking about race by a white woman that honestly felt forced and just overall weird ????? and the story felt like it dragged on a lot more than necessary.
anyway loved the comic part!! the illustrations were awesome :-)
anyway loved the comic part!! the illustrations were awesome :-)
November 22, 2018
a fun, feminist ghost story set in post Katrina New Orleans; an old house nightmare, with a mystery solved by an engaging, plucky young heroine who's not afraid to get help from the dead (with gentrification issues touched on)
January 28, 2019
I really enjoyed this one! I'm glad I listened to it on audio because it was so atmospheric and spooky that way! The sound effects during the comic book portions were awesome and really added to the story! I do feel like it went a bit slow at times, but it eventually picked back up and turned out to be a great story! It felt so classic ghost story and I loved that!
May 10, 2023
I stopped caring at page 75. The language was terrible, the writing infantile, the main character is a whiny crybaby with a victim mentality, and I'm sick of modern political correctness and politics being shoved down my throat. The Agony House was agony to read.
September 30, 2025
SO GOOD. Has some more mature language, the story itself is pretty creepy once it really starts in. I liked the addition of the history of comics and the CCA and how it came to be. I liked the twist at the end- I didn't see that coming.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 329 reviews