Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

14 reviews

misty_muskrat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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A mystery/horror where the D.I.D. system is the victim/survivor and is not only completely innocent, but  gains a hopeful ending and a supportive friend.
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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment and Alcoholism

moraofthestory's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Self harm, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Death

Moderate: Blood and Bullying

elliotvanz's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

1.5

Imagine taking Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, or Faulkner's Sound and the Fury, and sticking them in a blender with Stephen King and Gillian Flynn. This book takes the unreliable narrator to new heights and distorts reality into a pretzel. The pacing flies along, and feels akin to chasing someone through very dark woods with a dim flashlight, the plot revealed in snatches of perfect clarity in between long heart-stopping moments of blindness. A character study, as well as a suspense novel, Ward uses language to tease her readers along the path all the way to the twisty conclusion. If you're a fan of thrillers this one will not disappoint.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child death, and Torture

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Self harm

sorcha_rosa's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

I found this impossible to rate because of it's subject matter. I understood what she was trying to do with this story, but I'm not sure this was the best way to do it? I would be interested in what own-voices reviewers would have to say about this one.

I think this needs to be written by someone with DID, or an own-voices perspective. I understand that she was trying to use our own biases against us and show us that this main character was actually not a murderer but in fact the victim. However, I'm not sure that that was the best way to show us a character with DID. It came across as someone being like, 'oh yeah, they're not a psychopathic murderer, they just have DID.' which might not be the best representation, even if they have this redeemable arch at the end? I don't know, I need to hear someone own-voices reviewers as I said. As someone who is neurodiveregent though, I wouldn't want this type of story written about me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Stalking