Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Little Eve

Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Little Eve by Catriona Ward

33 reviews

booktribe's review against another edition

The first chapter of this book had me hooked! The writing intrigued me and I had to know what happened! But sadly, I had to DNF this book at 51%, I couldn’t continue. The story was so incredibly slow. Sometimes I was interested despite the slow nature of the novel and at other times I just didn’t care what was happening in the slightest. I knew going into the book that this will probably be a slow burn horror, but the story could’ve been condensed A LOT! There are a lot of unnecessary scenes and the writing is so descriptive that it’s boring. I don’t need to know every little detail of every little thing. The book is only 200+ pages, but I feel like I’ve read 400 pages of nothing. The first chapter interested me so much that I still want to know what happened, but not enough to get through another half of this glacially paced book…

Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW (up to 51% in): child death, death of a parent, snakes, animal death, self harm, pedophilia

Content Warnings

charlottesreadingweb's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

4.25

Having read both Needless Street and Sundial, I would say this is the best Catriona Ward book I have read. What it lacks in plot complexity, it makes up for in reflection on what it means to "be the villain" and how the pain of women & children is often unrecognized or ignored. I found myself heart broken repeatedly throughout this book. I found the ending poignant and beautiful. Fans of Needless Street may find this book underwhelming when comparing it's twists and turns, but I think it is a good option for gothic horror fans looking for a book that will pull at your heart strings. Please check content warnings.

Content Warnings

readsandsuch's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

Content Warnings

archaicrobin's review against another edition

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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

alexandragriffin's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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elle_e_d_light's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Really dark, but beautifully written. Pairs well with "We Have Always Lived in the Castle." I liked this so much better than "The Last House on Needless Street". On to "Sundial".

Content Warnings