Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

66 reviews

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

jennay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Suicide, Child abuse, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Murder, Confinement, Blood, and Medical content

Minor: Self harm, Torture, Child death, and Animal cruelty

keen'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Grief, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Violence, Child abuse, Confinement, and Torture

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Pedophilia

Minor: Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide attempt

caelainnnn's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Death, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Abandonment, Blood, Murder, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, and Physical abuse

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

3.75

This is the first time ever that I’ve read a LOT of other reviews before deciding on my final feelings. I went into this blind, because that seemed to be the recommendation and also my preference with most books anyways. I was expecting horror/thriller/possibly speculative fiction? And I don’t think it’s any of those, which perhaps leads to me feeling a little disappointed. If I had to assign a genre I guess would call it psychological mystery. It’s a very slow build, and there are very few horror or thriller elements here. I guessed the “big twist” about 3 chapters in, but the final reveal I did not expect. 

After reading more reviews from people i follow, it seems like it is widely agreed that going in blind was definitely best, and i agree, and that most of the 5 star reviews I see are upon SECOND read. Which makes a lot of sense. I would probably give this 3.75… it is REALLY hard to talk about this without spoilers. Up until the last few chapters, I had some serious qualms with the representation here and how it could be damaging. I fear that because of the way it’s written, this could be triggering and people would not understand the full story or even finish it, so even though I can retract my claws (pun intended) I think the damage can still be done. I will attempt a second read at some point and see if my feelings change. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Blood, Self harm, Drug use, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, and Suicide attempt

chelsearae87's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Abandonment, Animal death, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Murder, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Emotional abuse

danyels_denouements's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Not what I expected but wow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Suicide

Minor: Alcoholism

amberk032's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Murder, Child abuse, Abandonment, and Adult/minor relationship

chloseencounter's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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

4.0

This book began in a way that I thought I knew exactly where it was going to go but flipped so I could’ve never predicted what would happen. When you intake so much horror it can all start to feel similar and I’m impressed with what this story accomplished. I was drawn in by the POV of a cat but enjoyed this read more than I could’ve ever anticipated. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Violence, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts