Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

163 reviews

apollo0325's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Just finished but going to come back to this review and maybe adjust star ratings (currently a 3)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Animal death, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Blood, Child death, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism and Medical content

There are a lot of potentially triggering material

including the description of a hanging (suicide), injury/burn descriptions, child abuse, starvation, death, death of a child (dead child's body described), and as a MAJOR PLOT POINT, dissociative identity disorder (I do not have DID so I cannot speak to the authenticity of it - the author's afterword describes her research on DID).

If you're afraid of snakes, one of the narrators has a severe fear of snakes and will constantly describe snakes.

runefactories's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Child death, Animal death, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Hate crime and Homophobia

gothikry's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Self harm, Murder, and Mental illness

manda2512'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Child death, Murder, Suicide, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

calamity_jane01's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was a surprise. Just when I thought I had figured it out, it took a turn. The story centres on Ted a loner, the disappearance of a child  many years earlier, a cat and a dark, boarded up house. I won't provide more detail than that, because the story is best read going in with little knowledge. The book is a horror/murder mystery and can be very dark. The writing is incredible; despite the unlikeable characters the writing is able to provide the complexity of the reasoning as to why the characters are the way they are. The style of the book is quite unusual with different narratives, and again the writing shines through with providing authenticity to the different voices and perspectives. Overall, quite a unique novel, and a very good exploration of mental health, trauma and crime and how it impacts people differently. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment

amessina3399's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I'm not someone who likes to throw around 5-star ratings for books, but this book was certainly the exception. This book is most certainly my favorite to date. I laughed, I cried, I'm about to go to the store and purchase a copy to have forever.

It took me about 25% of the book before I really got into it, and the only thing that kept me was the other reviews saying how great it was, so I trusted. And I am SO glad I did.

There are tons of twists and turns in this book, and it navigates these shifts with a nail-biting grace. It's horrific, it's bittersweet, and the characters are INCREDIBLY lovable. I usually don't re-read books, but I am excited to go back and read this one again to catch all the juicy little details I missed the first time around. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Child death, Suicide attempt, Grief, and Child abuse

Moderate: Vomit, Blood, and Murder

beynotce's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

olivia the cat is the greatest heroine of modern literature, and I will not be taking questions at this time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide and Animal death

teganbeesebooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

This did not go in any way that I expected, and I mean that in the best way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Murder

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

pvp_niki's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Medical trauma, Blood, Child death, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Suicide, and Kidnapping

Minor: Homophobia and Body shaming