Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

185 reviews

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

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

twistykris's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Blood, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Vomit, and Death of parent

bail33's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

5.0

Holy shit? Not much to say other than I've never read a book like this before. This was a rollercoaster of emotions and if nothing else, this book is extremely effective at getting you to feel such a wide range of emotions. Not much you really can say without spoiling it. I'll genuinely be thinking about this for the rest of my life. Soooo many TWs though, take a look if you're triggered (even a little bit) by anything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, and Alcohol

robynbookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

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

dysfunctile'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

5.0

I find that this book is very polarizing—people either really love it (me) or really hate it (which I understand). 

I personally thoroughly enjoyed this book more than I anticipated. The writing style and different POVs were hard to follow at first and there were points where I felt like it was too pretentious, but I’m glad I stuck with it because I was tearing up by the end.

I’ve seen people call the twist cheap because it relies on

an overused trope (mental illness)

in horror media, but I actually found it to be progressive? Not sure what the right term is but it made me feel bad when I found out that

I was wrong to suspect this man just because he’s neurodivergent.

It flips the whole stereotype on its back, and I felt like it was executed well even if I also guessed the twist early on. 

Overall I understand why some people detest this book. I personally liked it and it was very enjoyable both as a mystery-thriller read and as a book with a surprisingly emotional arc for the main character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Suicide

whyohchai's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

2.0

I found this to be a difficult read, especially the passages written in the POV of the religious cat and the young girl, which I had to skim to get through. I decided to finish it because I wanted to know the ending but I was really disappointed by

it being DID. It felt like a cheap trick I’ve seen in multiple horror movies and books, rather than an answer to a layered mystery.

Honestly wish I just didn’t finish it at all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

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

hailey_bates's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

I absolutely LOVED this book. A really amazing thriller that was very different. I’ve never read anything like it before. The way the plot unfolded and the twist was executed truly blew my mind. If you can get past the oddness of the POV switching, you’ll find a great story with original characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Violence

Moderate: Self harm, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gore, and Death of parent