Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

243 reviews

saorsa_sho's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow. This book is so so well written the plot is absolutely wild. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Animal death

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.

---

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

---

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

matchamarimo's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal death and Panic attacks/disorders

thedistortionist'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia, Vomit, and Death of parent

jadeyfish's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Kept me guessing the whole way through, even after I thought I had guessed what was happening! I did get confused on a couple things towards the end but I still think it wrapped up nicely

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit and Alcohol

ffs_storm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Suicide

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

---

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

seekaymack's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

Minor: Animal death