Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

165 reviews

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

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

queergoth_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Murder

kynaeus's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This horror book will take you places, you'll think you know where this car is headed but the pitstops and detours along the way really make this a novel worth experiencing. As the premise here indicates you think you know the story and you'll be guessing ahead at each twist or explanation only to have it twist away from your grasp and become something unexpected

This feels like another 'Haunting of Hill House' to me, insofar as it is an excellent example of how the medium of reading can be leveraged for an incredible horror story. Try to go in knowing as little as possible to enjoy this as much as possible but definitely don't hesitate to theorycraft about what's going on! It's worth every page

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Child abuse

Moderate: Child death and Kidnapping

thewordapothecary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

A rollercoaster for sure. There were multiple times I swore I had it all figured out. And I guess in a way I did, but not fully. There are so many ups and downs with the characters, you love them and think they’re good and then the next you hate them and think they’re the bad guy.

Not a challenging read, but you do have to get used to how Ted speaks. Once you do though, it’s a very fast read. 

Really dark, but so good and I can tell it was well researched. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Physical abuse, Vomit, Body horror, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, and Violence

thornthistle's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

This was great and awful at the same time. I was nauseous 80% throughout due to how its content was described, but it needed to be written that way. It starts dark and confusing, then as it's twists are resolved, ends with hope.

Great book, but not for the faint of heart.

Lying will be the death of you, but the rebirth of your true self.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Death, Murder, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

marisamoo's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexism, Animal cruelty, and Sexual content

Dissociative identity disorder

jahsi's review against another edition

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Self harm, Torture, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Murder, Child death, Suicide attempt, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

bookish_af's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Violence, Child death, Child abuse, Murder, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Death of parent