Kit’s Reviews > The September House > Status Update

I’m fascinated by the little bits of family trauma logic, as repetitive as the actual supernatural elements are. I suppose you could say that that is the point.
A parentified kid begging a parent to make a different choice while also repeating many of the same behaviors of the other parent is exactly how this works, and the healing is glacial when you don’t have a model for what healthy looks like.

I know I frequently struggle with determining whether an author means to make a book funny or not, but somehow here, the way Margaret rationalizes a truly awful situation feels less and less funny the more I read, and I absolutely love that.

I’m running with this theory of generational trauma and hiding/avoiding confrontation of these problems at all costs. Seeing how the furniture looking good is more important than rescuing a relationship (image before authenticity) seems to really reinforce that theme. It’s almost physically exhausting to hear her shriek over furniture but shrug off literal murder.

So far, I’m intrigued by the interplay between boomer avoidance and cycles repeating already from the first chapter. I love it when a main character annoys me, but still makes me curious about their life.