Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

157 reviews

pvp_niki's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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: Torture, Suicide, Child death, Child abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Emotional abuse

chris_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Mental illness, Confinement, Dysphoria, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Stalking

Moderate: Death, Blood, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Gore, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Minor: Torture, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Animal death

livlamentloathe's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.5

I’m so mad at how much I liked this book in the end. I spent the first 75% on the verge of DNFing. I didn’t care for the characters and I was fed up with parts of the plot but the way it unravels is annoying well written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Death, Child abuse, Murder, Child death, Stalking, Alcoholism, and Self harm

jareadforfilth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow… All I can say is WOW. This book blew my freakin mind, it begins (and remains) so dark throughout, but the twists in here flip everything you think you know on its head… and then does it again and I never saw it coming. The way this book shook me can not be overstated. I remember being 100 pages from the end like how can there be more?!? But when I tell you those last 100 pages annihilated me in the most satisfying of ways?!

the way I was lowkey rooting for Dee and BEGGING for Ted’s downfall and the safe return of Lulu only for everything to be reversed was WILD!! And it is so true what Ward says: this is a story about survival. When we find out Olivia is a personality within Lauren I gagged, but when we found out they were both within Ted?!? GIRL!!!!! AND THEN THAT DEE BASICALLY LET HER SISTER DIE?!? AND SHE WAS KILLED BY SNAKES AND SO WAS DEE?!?!?!? Not only the justice of that moment but the POETRY in it, I can’t even. And I’m so so soooo happy that Ted is finally given an opportunity to move forward. What a horrible hard life, it breaks your heart.

This book is incredible, for horror fans it is a MUST.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Gore, and Kidnapping

lady_valhella'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It is dark and twisted. I would not say terrifying in the way It was terrifying. I would say more like if you have mommy issues then yes it’s terrifying. It is definitely a master class into the darker side of humanity and the lasting effects  that nature can have on all parties in and around the life of one sick f@cker. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Grief, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Suicide attempt, Violence, Abandonment, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Murder

jesssicawho's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Child death, Grief, Torture, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

cait_henry56's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

I just finished the audiobook and there are no words I can find to describe how this book made me feel. I need to buy a physical copy, but until then I know this book has lodged itself into my heart and brain. It's incredibly dark, however, so read the trigger warnings before starting. But my god, what a beautiful pain to experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Grief, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

kt2e56's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

Without a doubt the most disturbing and distressing book I think I’ve ever read. I couldn’t put it down. Every time I thought I knew what was going on I then hoped I was wrong because “that would too horrible.” Definitely recommend for anyone who likes horror. This really crawls under your skin and stays there. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

lilias's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.25

I absolutely hated the first 50 or so pages of this book, and I almost quit reading it, which I almost never do. But somewhere around that 50th page, I started to want to know what was going to happen and how it would unfold. Then, maybe 50 pages after that, I realized I did not want to stop reading and that I would finish this book before the day was over. 

The first 50 or so pages of this book just seemed full of misplaced whimsy and weirdness. I don’t like it when something, a book or a film, goes out of its way to be weird just for the sake of being weird. But nothing grabs my attention like a mystery. And when little reveals started to peel away the silly veneer that was, when it came down to it, author Catronia Ward speaking in (infuriating) riddles, I was hooked. I wish I had been so invested in the entire book, but, still, this was a really good reading experience for me, overall.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Body shaming, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, Suicide, Death of parent, and Self harm

kassiebee's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

3.75

A Pleasant and Not-So-Pleasant Surprise

i went into this book not knowing a thing- not even the synopsis. i saw the creepy cover (with the cat) and i thought “this looks spooky…lets do it”.

as i read the first few chapters, i was  fully expecting a mysterious, killer-catching, revenge having, story. until the

D.I.D implications started. i caught on pretty fast, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. I was intrigued but, I’m not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed too. the mystery of Girl with Popsicle really got me in the mood to figure out how, when, and where Ted pulled this all off. and SO excited to read a thrilling escape by Lauren and Olivia. I didn’t care if it didn’t make sense that Lauren could understand cats. (a flaw on my part)

 BUT… after my excitement wore off, and changed my expectations… i was glad (accepted) where the story was going. As i read on, i found myself intrigued by the explanation of it all. it all really, really made sense. And i enjoyed it. i LOVED how Ward was able to make me feel icky about Ted at the beginning, to making me happy for him in the end. love that.

All in all, the slow reveal of Ted’s psyche for us to figure out was fun- you can tell that Ward did her homework.

Now on to what I didn’t like…

Dee, Dee, Dee… had so much potential. i didn’t care for her. i appreciated and understood her role in the story, but her death did not affect me as much as I hoped/should have. and bug man?? that incident in the bar/store was just bizarre, how he was just kinda left there and not really mentioned again. that’s a bookish pet peeve of mine ‘‘v.v …

Lastly , unpopular opinion, but i did not enjoy Olivia’s chapters …. oops. i found myself rushing through them to get to Lauren and Ted, even Dee. It took a while for her chapters to get interesting even though they had really important tidbits and clues. love this cute gay cat but i just idk…

would i re-read? nah
am i glad i did? yeah 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, Death, Self harm, Child death, Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Addiction

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Murder, Torture, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Homophobia

Minor: Religious bigotry and Abandonment