Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

108 reviews

paulalourido'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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Confinement

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Self harm

howlhunter's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Vomit, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

persephonefoxx's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

“How many times can someone bend before they break forever? You have to take care, dealing with broken things; sometimes they give way, and break others in their turn.”

Now I understand why so many people told me to go into this book blind. 

I was unprepared for the journey this book took me on, yet in hindsight, it all seems so obvious now. There was a moment in which I  twigged to the core of this book and the story it was telling but in a way that merely scratched the surface. A moment when I thought that this storyline was hurtling towards cliche at breakneck speed. Only for the story to expand itself into the bigger picture - slotting everything into place. Like a Russian doll. Each part perfectly fitting inside the next. 

My biggest qualm with this book is the end to Dee’s storyline. Which I personally didn’t stand up to the rest of the story. 

This is the kind of book to go into as blind as possible (however, checking content warnings is highly recommended). This book uses unreliable narrators to their best ability, luring you into false conclusions and switching up at the final second. And other than that, there is not much more I can say. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Mental illness, Torture, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide

veelaughtland's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

zeldazonks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

It got to a certain point when I was listening to this, that I thought I had it figured out but I was still curious enough to finish and see how everything played out. Well, more fool me, because this book took me completely by surprise on 2 or 3 occasions. Towards the end it was quite tough to get through, so check trigger warnings.

I will also say that I'm not 100% convinced about the mental health representation/portrayal in this. While in the afterword the author does clarify more about the disorder and the research they did into it, the fact of the matter is that you are led to believe a very specific narrative about Ted through most of the novel and while the book does catch you off guard, and challenge the preconceived notions you have about predators and good vs bad people, I just don't think the book carries it off well enough to completely avoid perpetuating stereotypes or harm. This was interesting and quite unique, but I think it almost undermines it's own point in how obviously you're walked down the garden path for the majority of the book. I respect the bold choices - the pov of a cat for example, and

I think I'll be mulling over this one for a little bit, but I don't know that it managed to fully pull off what it was trying to do. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

simplyammee's review against another edition

emotional tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia

xkwright's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad 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: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-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

4.0

I really enjoyed The Last House on Needless Street! There were a few false starts before I finally made it past the halfway point, and was hooked. I adore the gay and religious cat, Olivia!

this is one of the most sincere representations of disassociative identity disorder that I've ever seen! I'm really glad Ted didn't end up being a villain. It was interesting to have gotten Ted's point of view of events only to have those events later rewritten as explained by the consciousness that actually experienced them. I want more information about Ted's mom, tbh. Making Ted both a suspect and one of his mother's victims filled in the hanging questions in the story wonderfully. I also wanted more of an explanation on why the bug man is the way he is and what exactly he did to warrant the temporary loss of his license.
Rob feels like a good addition to the story, and I like the hints of possibility that Ted is gay.
The ending of this book was unexpectedly tender and comforting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

It’s a bit of weird read but I enjoyed it! I called one twist but the other got me.

A religious lesbian cat though? Wasn’t expecting her.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

melliedm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Vomit, and Abandonment