Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

93 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

kshertz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I don’t really know what to even rate this book. Or what I read. Or if I liked it. The book is one big mind fuck. You can never guess what’s going to happen. Then you’re mad about all the tricks the author is playing on you. But you’re kind of like, “yeah that was a good one.” So who knows? Try it out if you want something unlike anything else you’ve read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

kate_m's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

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

b_lownds127's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

5.0

I devoured this. I think is best to go into it knowing nothing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

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

themaddbeanie's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

0.5

Readers will be like, "What a crazy twist!" when the author lies to you for 250 pages and then decides to tell you the truth at the end.
Yeah, someone's mental illness is not your horror story. You can't just steal a real disorder and turn it into a "freak show" for others to gawk at. Disrespectful

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit

I feel like this could potentially be very upsetting for people with certain mental illnesses or those who have experienced abuse.

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