Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

93 reviews

grunbean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

A must read. I was a bit puzzled by it at first, but it falls into place and knocks you off your feet. 

It is a dark book for sure. The last chapters made my skin itch. But it is thrilling. I read the second half of this book in hours - I couldn’t put it down! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

this book is like nothing i have ever read before. i went into it blind and would recommend everyone does the same (except for content warnings if you need to) for the best reading experience. a lot of reviews had spoilers in them, even if they did not mean to. this writing was so incredibly immersive, the characters were incredibly well-rounded, and the narration was like nothing i have ever experienced. everyone needs to read this. if you have already read this and are looking for something similar, Ian Reid is the closest comparison i can make. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

theimposter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

kellan_writes's review against another edition

dark hopeful tense slow-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

It's hard to really say much about this book without giving spoilers.  So I will say this, it is a page turner, dark and yet hopeful, and in the end it's the story of a teenaged girl who's not allowed out of the house, not after last time, the man who drinks too much in front of his tv and tries to ignore the gaps in his memories, and a cat who loves to read the bible, and what they do when someone moves into the last empty house on Needless Street.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, and Blood

hunkydory's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

maverax42's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book keeps you guessing and unsure of what is true and real until the very end. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting

lana72905's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Holy. Crap. This book is a Rollercoaster of what the hecks and what is going on. It was amazing. I loved this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Suicide, and Torture

illtakethenightshiftx's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.0

I’m not sure if I can give a summary of this book without spoiling the whole plot, so I won’t. 

Wow. This was a story I wasn’t expecting. I felt intense sadness experiencing this story and I’m still wrestling with whether I actually enjoyed this book or not. There some “wait…what?!” moments that totally stopped me in my tracks, but, for me, the feeling I felt the most while listening was sadness and varying degrees of hollowness. The story felt a little disjointed at times because of the changing narrator points of view, but it may have also been because I listened to it over the course of a week and a half or so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Confinement

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This is the first time ever that I’ve read a LOT of other reviews before deciding on my final feelings. I went into this blind, because that seemed to be the recommendation and also my preference with most books anyways. I was expecting horror/thriller/possibly speculative fiction? And I don’t think it’s any of those, which perhaps leads to me feeling a little disappointed. If I had to assign a genre I guess would call it psychological mystery. It’s a very slow build, and there are very few horror or thriller elements here. I guessed the “big twist” about 3 chapters in, but the final reveal I did not expect. 

After reading more reviews from people i follow, it seems like it is widely agreed that going in blind was definitely best, and i agree, and that most of the 5 star reviews I see are upon SECOND read. Which makes a lot of sense. I would probably give this 3.75… it is REALLY hard to talk about this without spoilers. Up until the last few chapters, I had some serious qualms with the representation here and how it could be damaging. I fear that because of the way it’s written, this could be triggering and people would not understand the full story or even finish it, so even though I can retract my claws (pun intended) I think the damage can still be done. I will attempt a second read at some point and see if my feelings change. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

chelsearae87's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol