Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

161 reviews

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

killmoore_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

I'm without words.

Best book I have read all year, and in the top 5 for all time. I cannot express how much I loved this book. 

It will make you feel all the things, drop you on your skull and do it all over again. 10/10 will be recommending to anyone who enjoys the genre.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Stalking, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Torture

goblintales's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Confinement, Death of parent, Mental illness, Child abuse, Torture, Physical abuse, Suicide, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

peoplecallmeteresa's review against another edition

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Violence, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

hxlleann's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal cruelty

ivy123's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This novel has multiple layers and is impossible to describe without spoiling anything. Overall this blends genres between horror, thriller and at times contemporary. Rather than bring focused on scares it centres around greif, regret and the comsequences of trauma. 

Although not what i would usually read I would highly recommend to others to give it a try as i really appreciate how it was written. The authors note as mentioned in other reviews is a must read after you have finished. At times it did seem like too many reveals at once rather than one big reveal but overall a well written and thought provoking book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, and Mental illness

Minor: Pedophilia

doomluz's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense 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

I was confused by the cat's perspective and figured early on that it had to be an alter for a character with DID. I didn't get the other twists until later on. This was sad, but interesting and felt like a respectful take on DID. I liked the writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Torture, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Suicide

Moderate: Kidnapping, Stalking, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, and Animal death