Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

64 reviews

stardustvein's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Murder

bowlingforboots's review against another edition

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Abandonment, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

suchsweetsorrow89's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

wow. just wow. going into this book blind, i was in for a whirlwind. i thought i knew what the twist would be, and to some extent i was correct, but i was proven wrong again and again. ward has an absolutely brilliant way of stringing the story along and tying together all lose ends in ways that are partly scary, partly going to make you feel weird, but are ways that are complex and imaginative. but most of all, ward details this book in a way that is simply there, right before our very eyes from the beginning that makes it incredibly unique while also functioning on one of the most basic aspects of the horror classics that makes it so moving and just downright incredible. the afterward is incredibly powerful and, to some extent, left me very emotional (granted, i get emotional pretty easily, so that might not have been her intention). the twists and turns in the book will challenge everything you know about the story and it's overall message in ways that will forever remain impactful.

the one thing i really want to flag for those who have read the book is that i think ward put so much time into researching the effects of DID in ways that must be praised and celebrated. she took so much care into not making this one of those classic horror stories that come off offensive to actually craft a narrative that everyone can relate to at it's basic level: though we all seemingly strive for the good, sometimes the path of memory, acceptance, and forgiveness does not look linear for all, and that sometimes the very key to forgive ourselves and begin to live life and survive again looks like doing just that again and again and learning to celebrate and be angry at sometimes and just lean in. and that is perhaps the most beautiful message to put in a horror book especially.

as an avid nerd of the classics and dabbles into what defines the monstrous, this book borrows from so much of these classic authors and hallmark texts and really extracts the themes that make them work (i.e. religion, alienation, body horror, gender constructions, growing up, sexuality, the transcendental spaces of the woods and water, even down to the classic 'haunted house' trope, and so much more) while also developing an entirely unique product in the end that makes me happy i decided to pick up this horror book (as someone who doesn't really read horror) and makes me even more excited to see both what ward and other contemporary horror writers will do in the future. highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Child death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Trafficking, Torture, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Medical content, Gore, Domestic abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Body shaming

suicide and suicide attempt

linlinlin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

4.0

A classic style, modern American horror/thriller novel that I almost put down in disgust at the first big twist. Keep reading though! (unless you're the kind of person who should probably avoid the horror section altogether) This is so cleverly written and had me flipping back and forth to figure things out; probably deserves to be read at least twice. 

I have a loved one with DID so I was FURIOUS at the plot twist, ra ra I'm so sick of horror writers depicting mentally ill people as serial killers and villains etc when they're subject to so much violence. I'm really glad I stuck with it. My loved one didn't read it so I don't know what the DID perspective on it is, but I was really pleasantly surprised by the happy ending for Ted and the efforts to depict DID reasonably and accurately by Ward. A lot of the contents around DID was stuff I already knew but worth reading if you don't.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, and Body shaming

Minor: Homophobia and Suicide attempt

The content warnings are gnarly but there's a lot of context for most of the worst of it that ameliorates it

niceonehros's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

While much of the content is troubling, disturbing, and hard, this book was worth the discomfort. I don't want to give anything away, but do make sure you read the Afterword.

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Violence, Death of parent, Animal death, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Suicide, Kidnapping, Torture, and Medical trauma

Minor: Abandonment

sinisterbeard's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Suicide, Mental illness, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Torture, Death, Child death, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Addiction

squisheebee_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

If you find yourself drawn to Ted and empathizing with him, trust your gut. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Stalking, Torture, Child abuse, Child death, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Abandonment, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Animal cruelty

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

this book is like nothing i have ever read before. i went into it blind and would recommend everyone does the same (except for content warnings if you need to) for the best reading experience. a lot of reviews had spoilers in them, even if they did not mean to. this writing was so incredibly immersive, the characters were incredibly well-rounded, and the narration was like nothing i have ever experienced. everyone needs to read this. if you have already read this and are looking for something similar, Ian Reid is the closest comparison i can make. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Abandonment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

lu555's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I don't know how to find the right word to describe my opinion on this book tbh. It's incredible! I loved everything about it. It was so interesting to see the story come together in front of my eyes I was intrigued from the beginning and even though I was speculating all the time I was still idk shocked/impressed by the depth of this book. it's not only a great story but also very moving and much deeper than you'd expect. I love that you just never know what to trust in this book. the writing style from different perspectives is usually not my favorite but it worked perfectly for this story. It's definitely my favorite book of 2023 so far and I immediately ordered another one of catriona wards books!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Death

Moderate: Suicide and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia and Violence