Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Little Eve by Catriona Ward

32 reviews

itsalljustsemantics's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage

This is a book about a cult

archaicrobin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

1.0

Honestly, I really didn’t like this book. It had the same excellent writing and dark atmosphere of Ward’s other novels but was lacking in every other element for me. 

The characters were all unlikeable and prevented me from connecting with any of them.  The story is told from two timelines, one in the past before the massacre on the island, and the other after from the perspective of the sole survivor. It’s written in first person for both perspectives but this did not help connect with the character, it just made things more tedious in my opinion. 

Along with unlikeable characters the pacing was far too slow and this book was a total slog to get through. I had to force myself to read this because most of the time nothing was happening but more abusive cult bullshit with no real purpose. Trigger warnings for rape, drugs, torture, starvation, child abuse, sexual assault, pedophilia, and violence by the way because no trigger warnings are given and this whole book is focused on this mini cult where all these abuses occur.   It was so tedious to pick this up and have another chapter about abuse but it’s ok because it’s for Adder, like I GET IT, they’re in a cult on this island for some reason. 

I know there’s a plot in this book I just honestly can’t find it. The twist was also just confusing, there were so many questions, all of them left unanswered. The narrator is a huge part of the twist and it lies in her changing her mindset and leaving the brainwashing but it was unbelievable how it happened. She just woke up on day and decided to not believe in it anymore, after being raised and manipulated and abused her entire childhood she just one day stands up and says “nah”. 

Overall, I would skip this earlier novel by Ward which was recently re-released on the states and read her newer works instead that have engaging characters, better pacing, and a clear plot line that doesn’t get muddled up in abuse and cult nonsense. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

wrestleacademic's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Blood, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Heavy heavy eye trauma/horror; religious zealotry and abuse

goldenas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

grimmwinters's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

A terrific dark tale. It is a promised dark story as is promised. As the reader you are given clues to figure out the mystery of what happened. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bri_fabiano's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Minor: War

readingwithrylanne's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.0

I was pretty bored for most of this book, and I think I screwed myself over by listening to the audiobook since there are multiple timelines and POVs going back and forth throughout it. I love all the cult vibes, but this one unfortunately didn’t do it for me, and I’m already forgetting most of what happened. The cover is stunning and gives me all of the creepy vibes, Maybe I just should have read it physically! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

mwass's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. The story itself was excellent, 5 starts! There were moments I was on the edge of my seat, suspense, plot twists, everything you want from a thriller! However, I found the story telling to be very dense and hard to get through. I was considering DNFing this until about 60% through the book, when I had no choice but to finish because I needed to know what happened. This could be because I’m generally just not very into historical ficition and this was my first gothic horror. So it’s feels more like this writing style just isn’t my personal jam, but the plot and characters were strong enough that I pushed through it! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

mickeyzbookz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting