Reviews tagging Emotional abuse

Little Eve, by Catriona Ward

16 reviews

_teoeo's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Child death, Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Blood, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Murder, Rape, Suicide, and Torture

tamara_joy's review

Spoiler

A story about a cult, cult psychology; not the spooky/gothic I was hoping for. I've had it with abusive male cult leaders.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Pregnancy, Murder, and Eating disorder

kkalicky94's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Grief, Miscarriage, War, Physical abuse, Animal death, Rape, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Murder, Pregnancy, Child death, Blood, Death, and Emotional abuse

mangofandango's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

 I was eager to read this after reading the author's "The Last House on Needless Street" and really loving it. This one didn't blow my socks off in quite the same way, but it was still very very good, and had similar qualities and a similar twisty ending (or really, final third probably) that reframes the whole story. It's a Gothic story for sure, with all the elements thereof that you might expect, including broody atmosphere for miles. It's worth a content warning - the child abuse in this book is intense (but very matter-of-factly explained by the characters, for whom it is normal and a part of their "religion", which is all they know) and CSA is alluded to but never described. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Child death, Injury/injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship

paronomaniac's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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: Body horror, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault, Animal death, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Murder

keenanmaree's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Drug use, and Murder

caidyn's review against another edition

I was so looking forward to this book, but I just couldn't get into it. I kept trying, but I never got there. Although, this will be on my list of books to try again another time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Confinement, and Physical abuse

sorry_imbooked's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Violence, Confinement, Self harm, Torture, Miscarriage, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death, Child death, and Animal death

Moderate: Child death and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Rape

pages_and_cacti's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

Little Eve by Catriona Watd

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: on the small isle of Altnaharra, a small clan is preparing for the end day with the adder. The adder is their god and his power can only be had by one. Little Eve is prepared to do anything to get that power. When Chief Inspector Black begins investigating a brutal murder, their world begins to come undone. 

My Thoughts: This one came so close to being a DNF for me. This book was so slow to read. I couldn’t get more than 20 pages an hour in. Not that it wasn’t interesting, but it just read so slow. The last 25% of the book was the only thing that save this one for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Incest

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

Out October 11, 2022 [Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!]

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

On the island of Altnaharra lives a clan preparing for the end of the world and the rise of The Adder. But things aren’t exactly what they seem and terrible tragedies will have deadly consequences.

I love Gothic horror, so I when I saw glowing reviews from two of my most trusted book recommenders, I immediately suspected this one would be right up my alley…and I was definitely right. Little Eve has everything you could want out of a horror novel setting—it’s grim, dreary, tense, and haunting while still feeling just mystical enough for me to understand the lure. It’s also historical fiction that manages to feel both of its time and outside of time, borderline surreal while still entirely grounded. Setting can really make or break this kind of novel for me, and Catriona Ward absolutely nailed it here.

If the setting isn’t enough, the plot here is just as rich, smart, and nuanced. It’s culty without being campy, gory without being gratuitous, and surprising without being over the top. I felt like I was peeling back layers of an onion as I read, and even though I saw the end reveal coming, I was still on the edge of my seat in the final pages.

In short, the takeaway: this was my first Catriona Ward read, but it absolutely will not be my last.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: Gothic horror; cult-based suspense; intricate settings

CW: Death/murder/blood; suicidal thoughts/suicide; sexual assault/child molestation; confinement; physical and emotional abuse including child abuse; animal cruelty/death; pregnancy/miscarriage.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Violence, Gaslighting, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Child abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Pregnancy