Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

125 reviews

punk_flower_child's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

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

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

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

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I know this book is considered horror, but I think it’s more accurate to call it psychological. Reminds me of how I felt watching Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Ted is a character for whom I’ll have infinite compassion. Dee, less so, but she too could benefit from kindness and therapy. I feel so deeply and heavily sorry for Ted. This may be the best fictional work I’ve read on DID. It’s a rare disorder but one that those who suffer from it could be greatly helped if we had more books about it, both fictional and scientific.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

omega's review against another edition

5.0

Obra de arte

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

lilsteegs's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Kidnapping, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

parisfba09's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad

5.0

i don't know if i'd call this a horror. nothing about it made me scared to go to sleep at night it just made me incredibly sad. there were some pretty graphic descriptions of child abuse towards the end that were really upsetting. i had so much sympathy for ted right from the beginning and i was so anxious wondering 'will he be alright?'

so i'm so glad they all got a happy ending and made a friend despite it all.

a lot of people leaving reviews for this book seem confused esp. re: olivia the christian cat - if you finish this book and still don't know what's going on i encourage you to use the bibliography at the end to do some research.

Encina

has given a few interviews and has a youtube channel that catriona ward says she watched as part of her research that is really helpful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

bllrslvctrn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• 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, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Murder and Fire/Fire injury