Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

16 reviews

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

spaghettii's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Somewhat predictable, did not love the mental health as a plot device but I think it was done with good intentions

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

thornthistle's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

This was great and awful at the same time. I was nauseous 80% throughout due to how its content was described, but it needed to be written that way. It starts dark and confusing, then as it's twists are resolved, ends with hope.

Great book, but not for the faint of heart.

Lying will be the death of you, but the rebirth of your true self.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.75

This is the first time ever that I’ve read a LOT of other reviews before deciding on my final feelings. I went into this blind, because that seemed to be the recommendation and also my preference with most books anyways. I was expecting horror/thriller/possibly speculative fiction? And I don’t think it’s any of those, which perhaps leads to me feeling a little disappointed. If I had to assign a genre I guess would call it psychological mystery. It’s a very slow build, and there are very few horror or thriller elements here. I guessed the “big twist” about 3 chapters in, but the final reveal I did not expect. 

After reading more reviews from people i follow, it seems like it is widely agreed that going in blind was definitely best, and i agree, and that most of the 5 star reviews I see are upon SECOND read. Which makes a lot of sense. I would probably give this 3.75… it is REALLY hard to talk about this without spoilers. Up until the last few chapters, I had some serious qualms with the representation here and how it could be damaging. I fear that because of the way it’s written, this could be triggering and people would not understand the full story or even finish it, so even though I can retract my claws (pun intended) I think the damage can still be done. I will attempt a second read at some point and see if my feelings change. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

chelsearae87's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

kimberwitch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

aardwyrm's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

It's fun to read, and the genre is full of works that are great atmosphere 90% of the way through and then don't stick the landing. If you just want spooky eeriness, it's not a bad choice. It's just ultimately got nothing it's actually about. The setup seems to promise a situation where lots of cliche genre stuff seems to be true, and then the big twist is all the cliche stuff is in fact true, just obfuscated. It's definitely going for twisty and intricate, but a twist and just changing the story partway through aren't really the same thing. Exactly the sort of book I think ought to have a warning sticker you can optionally peek under so you can know before you get invested if the supernatural is just a bad metaphor. When the big reveal is nothing interesting has really happened, then it's hard to care about what comes before. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

b_lownds127's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

5.0

I devoured this. I think is best to go into it knowing nothing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

themaddbeanie's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

0.5

Readers will be like, "What a crazy twist!" when the author lies to you for 250 pages and then decides to tell you the truth at the end.
Yeah, someone's mental illness is not your horror story. You can't just steal a real disorder and turn it into a "freak show" for others to gawk at. Disrespectful

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit

I feel like this could potentially be very upsetting for people with certain mental illnesses or those who have experienced abuse.

kjm_x's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail