Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

74 reviews

mommarex1221's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

At 25%, I considered DNFing... but I stuck it out. Halfway through, I was finally starting to come around. Pieces of the story were falling into place and the more of the picture I saw the more and more I was blown away. If there's anything that intrigues you about this, please read on. I promise the pay off is worth it. 
I knew from the first few chapters that what Ward had created was masterfully written, even if I questioned what exactly it was that I was reading. This book will stick with me. 
Triggers galore. Explore at your own risk, some may be considered spoilers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

cjxx26's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Mental illness, Suicide, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Blood

whatathymeitwas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I'm going to be honest, by the time I was about halfway through this, I was irritated and thought I would hate it by the end. I've maybe never had a book so suddenly change my thoughts on it as this one.

The blurb is very correct. Initially, you think you know what's going on here. Then a couple more times you maybe shift that around some and have an AH-HA! moment, and you think about the blurb, and you tell yourself oh boy they almost got me there. And that's when it changes on you again and you realize you did not in fact have a clue.

It was the second or third little shift that made me think I'd hate this. I had a terrible feeling it was going in a direction that was shocking for the sake of being shocking, and for whatever reason it made me angry. I'm not sure why, because this book is very well written, well fleshed out, with really lifelike characters for the most part. I guess maybe that was the issue, I couldn't reconcile why in the middle of all that, suddenly it would be taking a hard left turn into shock territory somewhat unnecessarily.

I'm happy to say that didn't happen, and I was shook by the time I realized what was really going on and how things linked together, in ways I was completely misled from considering. Color me surprised.

This book is so much more than I thought it was at that point, and it's completely different than what I expected at any point other than the very end. Definitely looking forward to Sundial now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kbergsten's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-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

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

libraryofdoe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

How to talk about this book without spoilers? What I can say is it’s absolutely fantastic, harrowing and packs a heavy punch.

The premise is that a woman moves to a street where the man who she believes abducted her younger sister 11 years ago lives. The novel is both about that and absolutely not about that (I know, frustrating when you’re trying to decide whether to read it). I definitely advise reading the trigger warnings and going in somewhat prepared. If you like mental health rep, unreliable narrators and horror that makes you think, this is for you.

I need to reread this ASAP, knowing what was going on, so that I can pick out the inner and outer world parts. I will also be looking for reviews from people with DID to see how well the novel portrays it, as while I have a trauma-based dissociative disorder and have engaged previously with a lot of the content listed in the bibliography, I don’t have any form of DID and I therefore can’t speak on the representation. To me, it was fantastic and so, so sad. Amazing to see a novel use characters with these disorders and not have them be a villain. I feel this book really encourages the reader to question their worldview and view on mental health, and the afterword has me sobbing even now.

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Homophobia

drraytay's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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, Child death, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

mgordon3118'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Blood, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

nataliereadz's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

klitanightfuryreads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-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

I’m happy to start the year with such a strong book. I loved the book since the first Olivia chapter..

It was a rollercoaster that I didn’t want to end, I could easily read a second book about it. I thought I had it figured it out at first, then changed my mind, then everything was upside down and then everything made sense…

I may come back and write a more detailed reviewed later but right now I’m still processing and enjoying what happened…

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

hillarydanielle's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

Loved the cat’s character, hilarious concept. A few hard to read scenes concerning animal death and abuse.
Would recommend for fans of I’m think of Ending Things. You will be confused as hell but you’ll keep reading on the edge of your seat to find out what’s happened, what’s going on, and what will happen next. If you haven’t read the author’s note after finishing the book I highly suggest it.

Was a bit disappointed that the big reveal surrounded a character with DID, similar to my disappointment with I’m Thinking of Ending Things. However the author did a fantastic job, I was constantly second guessing who each character really was, and was unsure if the cat and Lauren were in fact both girls, both cats, or a single entity. The way the author played with time also had me very confused and I was constantly waiting for a reveal that these things were all happening at different points in time. Especially with the mentioning of “the green boys” I was hoping for a more out-there ending. Overall some scenes were very hard to read from Olivia’s birth story to constant abuse flashbacks and the fact that Olivia was constantly starved by Ted’s neglect. The chest freezer was an absolute nightmare, the thought of boys decomposing and turning green in the attic, and the Misery imagery of broken feet. I was absolutely sucked in and while I think the author did a great job at what she set out to do, I was a bit disappointed in the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Lesbophobia