Reviews with content warning for Vomit - The Last House on Needless Street

Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

46 reviews

j_squaredd's review

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.5

This isn’t a 3.5 because it’s fine to good but because I don’t know whether to rate it a one or a five. This is a deeply strange book. I usually like deeply strange books, but this one leaves me ambivalent. I couldn’t put it down, though.

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hillarydanielle's review against another edition

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Loved the cat’s character, hilarious concept. A few hard to read scenes concerning animal death and abuse.
Would recommend for fans of I’m think of Ending Things. You will be confused as hell but you’ll keep reading on the edge of your seat to find out what’s happened, what’s going on, and what will happen next. If you haven’t read the author’s note after finishing the book I highly suggest it.
Was a bit disappointed that the big reveal surrounded a character with DID, similar to my disappointment with I’m Thinking of Ending Things. However the author did a fantastic job, I was constantly second guessing who each character really was, and was unsure if the cat and Lauren were in fact both girls, both cats, or a single entity. The way the author played with time also had me very confused and I was constantly waiting for a reveal that these things were all happening at different points in time. Especially with the mentioning of “the green boys” I was hoping for a more out-there ending. Overall some scenes were very hard to read from Olivia’s birth story to constant abuse flashbacks and the fact that Olivia was constantly starved by Ted’s neglect. The chest freezer was an absolute nightmare, the thought of boys decomposing and turning green in the attic, and the Misery imagery of broken feet. I was absolutely sucked in and while I think the author did a great job at what she set out to do, I was a bit disappointed in the end.

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hollowspine's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-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

3.5

A discordant jarring story for fans of Stephen King, unreliable narrators and multiple horrifying twists. It is an uncomfortable story and meant to be so, no looking away from abuse or shying away from the results of mental and physical trauma.

Truthfully I wasn't too surprised by the multiple twists in the story and had some guesses from the very beginning of the book that turned out to be true in the end, so that wasn't why I kept going through the book. I kept going because I wanted to find out if the characters made it through to the end, and if so, what would be indicated in the story as coming after.

I was pleased by the end, without giving anything away, it felt like there was further action coming for the characters, it wasn't an abrupt end once all the pieces were put in place and the reader figured out the full horror of everything that was hinted at before. But...I just didn't find the story enjoyable, I wasn't craving to listen to it (despite the great narration) and when I finished I was honestly relieved. It didn't bring up subjects that I wanted to examine further or give me anymore insight that helped me to understand ACEs (adverse childhood experiences).

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