Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

46 reviews

misophorism's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I can't really put my thoughts about this into words without spoilers.  Broad strokes: Catriona Ward is a very talented writer with excellent prose and a perfect grasp of structure and pacing. If you are looking for a dark thriller, you should check it out. My issues with this book in no way reflect on her literary talent, which is obviously immense, but rather personal preference. 

Spoilers:

I do not like the twist, which is the reason for my mid-score rating. Before I arrived at the twist, I would've likely given this book 4/4.25 stars. The memories were engaging, the tension between Dee and Ted was skull-shattering, and the pace was perfect. I found the prose in Olivia's sections somewhat grating at first, a bit too quirky for my liking, but it was easily forgiven. But the twist in this book is twofold: one, Dee is much more responsible for Lulu's death than the first half intimates, and two, Ted has not killed anyone, and was the victim the entire time. After spending so long in his head, with very unsettling narration that does heavily hint that he has harmed someone, it is hard for me to be satisfied with that twist. Looking back over the book, I think the Dee twist works much better, but at the same time, I'm not crazy about that one either.

 

This is why I said it comes down to my personal preferences: the twist in this instance is one I don't think I would like in a story no matter how well it was written or who wrote it. This type of story element just isn't my style. I was immensely invested when I believed that Lauren was Lulu, who had been kidnapped and developed D.I.D. herself and that Dee was on her way to save her, but instead Dee dies and Ted is the victim the entire time. And while this is, when looking at the memories of his mother leading up to that reveal, quite believable, it's hard for me to countenance as a reader solely because I just plain don't like it as a twist. A review at the beginning of the book said that Shirley Jackson, my personal favorite novelist, may have to concede to this book, and unfortunately, I have to disagree here.

In a technical/mechanical sense, this book is flawless. My gripes have more to do with me than it. Nevertheless, I'm eager to read more of Catriona's work.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Vomit

atiek's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Physical abuse, Animal death, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Torture, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Vomit

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

tiffanielle's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Self harm, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Suicide, Child death, Death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Mental illness, Vomit, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicidal thoughts

kyralynn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Vomit, Torture, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

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.

forkontheleft's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Blood

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Vomit

ommageden's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Story's bones were great and up to about 3/4 of the way through the book really gripped me. However some events happen that make the story both hard to follow, as well as slow down the pace of the story dramatically which really made me have to power through. 

It was a good library read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit

winlei's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Ever wanted to read a book that would make you physically ill??? Well, have I got the book for you! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Vomit and Stalking

retrogirl20's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a journey! While horror is normally not my genre of interest, the description of this book got me. I had no idea what the next twist and turn would be, which marks a good book in my opinion. This was hard to read due to the content it tackles but this book was absolutely amazing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Murder, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit