Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Little Eve by Catriona Ward

30 reviews

jesskathleen's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

lizreaderhold's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Abandonment, Animal death, Body horror, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Torture, Abortion, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Confinement, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

whatchareadingheather's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

Not quite sure how to feel about the fact that this won an award because I thought it was just ok. It was very slow moving and I didn't really fall in love with any of the characters. There were a few interesting bait and switch moments that I didn't see coming or wasn't sure the story was leaning towards for sure, but overall I feel like this was grim for the sake of being grim. However, I do think this author does a great job with the atmospheric aspect of the story and with that I am more inclined to check out her other works.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death

archaicrobin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Honestly, I really didn’t like this book. It had the same excellent writing and dark atmosphere of Ward’s other novels but was lacking in every other element for me. 

The characters were all unlikeable and prevented me from connecting with any of them.  The story is told from two timelines, one in the past before the massacre on the island, and the other after from the perspective of the sole survivor. It’s written in first person for both perspectives but this did not help connect with the character, it just made things more tedious in my opinion. 

Along with unlikeable characters the pacing was far too slow and this book was a total slog to get through. I had to force myself to read this because most of the time nothing was happening but more abusive cult bullshit with no real purpose. Trigger warnings for rape, drugs, torture, starvation, child abuse, sexual assault, pedophilia, and violence by the way because no trigger warnings are given and this whole book is focused on this mini cult where all these abuses occur.   It was so tedious to pick this up and have another chapter about abuse but it’s ok because it’s for Adder, like I GET IT, they’re in a cult on this island for some reason. 

I know there’s a plot in this book I just honestly can’t find it. The twist was also just confusing, there were so many questions, all of them left unanswered. The narrator is a huge part of the twist and it lies in her changing her mindset and leaving the brainwashing but it was unbelievable how it happened. She just woke up on day and decided to not believe in it anymore, after being raised and manipulated and abused her entire childhood she just one day stands up and says “nah”. 

Overall, I would skip this earlier novel by Ward which was recently re-released on the states and read her newer works instead that have engaging characters, better pacing, and a clear plot line that doesn’t get muddled up in abuse and cult nonsense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexism, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Torture, Abandonment, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Classism, Body horror, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Drug abuse, and Pregnancy

wrestleacademic's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Body horror, Animal death, Child abuse, Miscarriage, and Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Heavy heavy eye trauma/horror; religious zealotry and abuse

elle_e_d_light's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Really dark, but beautifully written. Pairs well with "We Have Always Lived in the Castle." I liked this so much better than "The Last House on Needless Street". On to "Sundial".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, and Pedophilia

Minor: Rape, Suicide, Confinement, Animal death, and Miscarriage

A major topic of the book is cults and cult behavior. Just assume that most of the usual cult-related behaviors and activities will probably be at least mentioned at some point in this book.

goldenas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Blood, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Animal death, Gore, Torture, and Violence

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Child death, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Infertility, Murder, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Miscarriage

brianna_moye's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Animal death, and Death

Moderate: Pregnancy, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

Minor: War

mwass's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. The story itself was excellent, 5 starts! There were moments I was on the edge of my seat, suspense, plot twists, everything you want from a thriller! However, I found the story telling to be very dense and hard to get through. I was considering DNFing this until about 60% through the book, when I had no choice but to finish because I needed to know what happened. This could be because I’m generally just not very into historical ficition and this was my first gothic horror. So it’s feels more like this writing style just isn’t my personal jam, but the plot and characters were strong enough that I pushed through it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Self harm, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape