Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

320 reviews

theublein's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

This book was super confusing and chaotic to follow until the end when everything was tied up very neatly. I typically can see twists of a mystery coming but this story had me guessing till the very end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Torture, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Grief, Physical abuse, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty

rabidmerk's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Minor: Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, and Death

duke_elligos's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Death of parent and Child death

zeldazonks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

It got to a certain point when I was listening to this, that I thought I had it figured out but I was still curious enough to finish and see how everything played out. Well, more fool me, because this book took me completely by surprise on 2 or 3 occasions. Towards the end it was quite tough to get through, so check trigger warnings.

I will also say that I'm not 100% convinced about the mental health representation/portrayal in this. While in the afterword the author does clarify more about the disorder and the research they did into it, the fact of the matter is that you are led to believe a very specific narrative about Ted through most of the novel and while the book does catch you off guard, and challenge the preconceived notions you have about predators and good vs bad people, I just don't think the book carries it off well enough to completely avoid perpetuating stereotypes or harm. This was interesting and quite unique, but I think it almost undermines it's own point in how obviously you're walked down the garden path for the majority of the book. I respect the bold choices - the pov of a cat for example, and

I think I'll be mulling over this one for a little bit, but I don't know that it managed to fully pull off what it was trying to do. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Child death, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Animal death, Torture, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Death, Confinement, and Blood

alex_olive's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Death and Child death

manda2512's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Child death, Murder, Suicide, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

amessina3399's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I'm not someone who likes to throw around 5-star ratings for books, but this book was certainly the exception. This book is most certainly my favorite to date. I laughed, I cried, I'm about to go to the store and purchase a copy to have forever.

It took me about 25% of the book before I really got into it, and the only thing that kept me was the other reviews saying how great it was, so I trusted. And I am SO glad I did.

There are tons of twists and turns in this book, and it navigates these shifts with a nail-biting grace. It's horrific, it's bittersweet, and the characters are INCREDIBLY lovable. I usually don't re-read books, but I am excited to go back and read this one again to catch all the juicy little details I missed the first time around. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Child death, Suicide attempt, Grief, and Child abuse

Moderate: Vomit, Blood, and Murder

xkwright's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, Child death, Alcohol, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

mithridatic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Kidnapping

beynotce's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

olivia the cat is the greatest heroine of modern literature, and I will not be taking questions at this time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide and Animal death