Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

233 reviews

alba_marie's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

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: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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

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

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

suvissiin's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

3.75

This book was a really tense, yet very interesting read. The author is smart in her way of writing

because in the beginning, I was sure that at least Lauren was just a figment of Ted’s imagination. But the more the story progressed the more I was
convinced that he’s actually Lulu’s kidnapper.

The way the writing instills atmosphere of Ted is just sucking you in, with the unrealiability of his narration, the changing of his surroundings, and the way he and the other characters see the world in different ways. Even though I enjoyed this thriller, there were some parts of it that were so unbelievable that it broke my immersion. And most of the unbelievability came funnily enough fron Dee’s character.

like moving right next to him was already a stretch, but the ability to watch him constantly, how she even found about him etc. Especially the way Lulu died, Dee’s death, even the way Trevor appeared just seemed very haphazard and way too convenient for a book with so much insight and hidden stories

I appreciate that the author did so much research on the topic, but for me personally it just fell a bit from great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, and Kidnapping

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

Minor: Pedophilia

doomluz's review

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

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