Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

423 reviews

patibeatriz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Dementia, and Kidnapping

erinjeanette's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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

dananana's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious

4.0

bruh. 😵‍💫😵‍💫

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Homophobia

livy0426's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I’m always wary of books that handle sensitive topics, such as mental health issues. I wouldn’t want to read something that is disrespectful to those with

DID

. So I’m not sure if it was an accurate representation, however I felt it was an interesting look at trauma and mental health. The audio book kept having me coming back for more. I thought it was a spooky and complex read that subverts your expectations even if you think you know what’s coming. A messy plot at times but so is the main characters perspective.

I just don’t understand why Dee’s arc was dropped at the end or how the mother was responsible for what happened to Lulu if she died by hitting her head. Unless she stumbled upon this random child’s body and took it? Strange

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide

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