Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

57 reviews

aardwyrm's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

3.0

It's fun to read, and the genre is full of works that are great atmosphere 90% of the way through and then don't stick the landing. If you just want spooky eeriness, it's not a bad choice. It's just ultimately got nothing it's actually about. The setup seems to promise a situation where lots of cliche genre stuff seems to be true, and then the big twist is all the cliche stuff is in fact true, just obfuscated. It's definitely going for twisty and intricate, but a twist and just changing the story partway through aren't really the same thing. Exactly the sort of book I think ought to have a warning sticker you can optionally peek under so you can know before you get invested if the supernatural is just a bad metaphor. When the big reveal is nothing interesting has really happened, then it's hard to care about what comes before. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cinthiaurora's review against another edition

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

3.25

A very weird book. Will add more thoughts to this review later.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, and Blood

amberinbookland's review against another edition

dark tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

abithoughtful's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

Hard to review without spoilers but the sheer number of reversals and revelations we get in this is such a feat of storytelling. Takes a horror trope which is often done poorly and pulls off a blinder. An emotionally complex (but I would say horrifying without being especially terrifying, at least for me) and clever book. Couldn't put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Self harm and Stalking

honeywine's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

kjm_x's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ekmook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I FUCKING GOT IT RIGHT !!! AHHHHH

This is a book that has you crafting theories from the get go. The foreshadowing and detail in the way this is written is just *chef's kiss*. I want to immediately re-read this just to see how everything connects more clearly. 

Also, EVERYTHING IS ANSWERED IN THE END ! This story does not leave you hanging. There was a point where I was thinking that I was going to rate this 4.5 stars, because of something that was not making sense, but then it was all explained so beautifully, and everything clicking into place just felt so good. I was constantly squealing, shouting, and telling my husband what was happening throughout the last 1/4 of this book. 

My one negative is that I don't feel that the character Dee Dee was actually needed. She didn't impact my enjoyment of the story at all, but I just feel she wasn't utilized much, and ended up feeling more like filler in the end. 

Overall this was a fantastic read that I will be thinking about for quite some time. I know it's only March, but this is by far my favorite read of the year. I think it will be hard to top this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Blood, and Stalking

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

cassroberts89's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

The first half was so confusing and a little slow. If you pick it up, give yourself at least until the halfway point! The confusion serves a propose, and it’s brilliant. Uncomfortable, but brilliant. I’m not always a fan of books you have to go in blind with, but this was worth it. My feelings throughout the book bounced back and forth from heartbreaking to shocking to infuriating to beautiful. There was absolutely no “figuring it out.” If you think you figured it out, give it a couple of chapters, and then give it a few more chapters. This is not a bait and switch, quick big reveal kind of novel. This is a slow build-up, a trickling realization, a sputtering conclusion. It’s so good. Just read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Stalking

ninanesseth's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Stalking