Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

376 reviews

amandalachelle's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

This book is absolutely brimming with suspense and atmosphere. It's creepy and it stayed with me when I tried to sleep, but I could not stop picking it up and reading more.

Literally nothing is as it seems, and this is where the story gets so clever. I can't say more because it's vital to go into it knowing as little as possible. But it's the kind of book I want to read again to pick up on all the clues I must have missed.

I have no experience of the subjects that are tackled, but I hope they have been handled sensitively and the author's note backs this up - but don't read it until you've finished the book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, and Grief

dan_tee's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This is an interesting book. Less horror than psychological thriller, we follow Ted, a seemingly nice slow guy, and learn more about his life and how he might not be as nice as he seems. 

I went into this completely blind, so the twists and turns worked for me. Took a little time to get going, but the last third had me speeding through it. 

Spoilers below:

Ted is a person with DID. I had no clue that this would be a thing, and so this kept the mystery working for me. Dee, the missing girls' sister was also interesting; it was nice having someone to root for, and empathise with without feeling guilty..until you realise she was wrong about Ted. Ted's alters come from trauma inflected by his mother. You're led to believe she is..well, mildly abusive, but also caring and scared for Ted and what he is. Again, it's not until the last portion of the book we are shown his mother was more than a little abusive, and was in fact a serial killer and incredibly abusive both physically and psychologically.

So yeah. If you guess the twist, or have seen a lot of discourse around this, you probably won't get as much out of it. I enjoyed it as I was a blank slate. 

Not the most beautiful writing, but an interesting premise reasonably well executed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

twinkle_flavored's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Full transparency, I find it difficult to give a proper ‘review’, bc this is truly a book you should go into blind (Although I do recommend checking trigger warnings). Abstract’ish, non spoiler impressions? Unexpected everything! A lovely descent in, and out of madness. And there’s a cat! So a successful psychological horror/thriller/something between the two as far as item concerned. Well written (really lovely writing), oddly satisfying ending, but also- that feeling you get after you read one of those books is…😱🤯🤪 well, my brain Is still in recovery. However, I found this book to be deliciously well executed. Totally recommend for those moments you need your brain turned inside out for the sake of literature and the joy of actual unpredictability. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Suicide

Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Torture, and Murder

christinaanna's review against another edition

dark tense

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

tiepilot_dandy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

kendallllouise's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

jellyfists's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

One of those books I wish I could forget and read again. I love the unreliable narrators and the twists and turns so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Homophobia

rachmo92's review against another edition

dark emotional

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, and Alcohol