Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

402 reviews

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

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

kietz's review against another edition

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

4.75

I really enjoyed this. I think the twist centered around the story is very well done and the author shows a lot of empathy and kindness toward the main character that would have been exploited by a lesser author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Violence

themis_biblos's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

 There was a lot more heart and hope in this than I initially thought it would have. The ending saved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Blood, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment

mpmueller's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Not really in the horror genre. The story takes a long time to spin out, and & feels like the “good parts” are greatly spaced. The book does pick up at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, and Murder

anettainkeri's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Blood

marrie_'s review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

tomasalbanez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

kentuckyblue's review against another edition

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Mental illness