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chloermadsen's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Self harm, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
mommarex1221's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
I knew from the first few chapters that what Ward had created was masterfully written, even if I questioned what exactly it was that I was reading. This book will stick with me.
Triggers galore. Explore at your own risk, some may be considered spoilers.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
alybark's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, and Mental illness
Moderate: Medical content and Medical trauma
tati_jurisic's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Stalking, and Gaslighting
whatathymeitwas's review against another edition
- 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
The blurb is very correct. Initially, you think you know what's going on here. Then a couple more times you maybe shift that around some and have an AH-HA! moment, and you think about the blurb, and you tell yourself oh boy they almost got me there. And that's when it changes on you again and you realize you did not in fact have a clue.
It was the second or third little shift that made me think I'd hate this. I had a terrible feeling it was going in a direction that was shocking for the sake of being shocking, and for whatever reason it made me angry. I'm not sure why, because this book is very well written, well fleshed out, with really lifelike characters for the most part. I guess maybe that was the issue, I couldn't reconcile why in the middle of all that, suddenly it would be taking a hard left turn into shock territory somewhat unnecessarily.
I'm happy to say that didn't happen, and I was shook by the time I realized what was really going on and how things linked together, in ways I was completely misled from considering. Color me surprised.
This book is so much more than I thought it was at that point, and it's completely different than what I expected at any point other than the very end. Definitely looking forward to Sundial now.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
kbergsten's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
libraryofdoe's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
The premise is that a woman moves to a street where the man who she believes abducted her younger sister 11 years ago lives. The novel is both about that and absolutely not about that (I know, frustrating when you’re trying to decide whether to read it). I definitely advise reading the trigger warnings and going in somewhat prepared. If you like mental health rep, unreliable narrators and horror that makes you think, this is for you.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia
mgordon3118's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Blood, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
archaicrobin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Because the narrative is so chaotic it was a hard one for me to get into, but once I got a groove going I wanted to keep reading so everything would finally be explained!
This book does deal with child severe child abuse and severe mental illness, so if that is triggering or upsetting I’d say take that in to consideration before picking it up. With that in mind however, I felt like the author did an excellent job portraying and researching the particular mental illness discussed in the book and she even has a bibliography at the end listing all her resources. I’ve read so many books where mental illness is misrepresented or thrown in as a horror trope for shock value, and it was refreshing to see Catriona Ward show respect and care with this concept.
I enjoyed this one a lot but it wasn’t quite a 5 star for me. Definitely worth checking out if you’re into thrillers that toe the horror line!
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Medical content, and Death of parent
rorikae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The story centers on the titular house and its inhabitants, which include a man dealing with flashbacks to his past, a young girl who rides around on her bike, and a cat that reads the Bible. A neighbor moves in trying to solve a years old mystery that she thinks those in the house may be involved in. The more that the story pries into the mystery at its heart, the more the expected story begins to unravel.
Ward does an exceptional job of building expectations and then slowly unwinding them. Every time that I thought that I understood exactly what was happening, further pieces began to be revealed that would turn my understanding on its head. This is an incredibly hard story due to the subject matter. There are strong content warnings for child abuse, murder, and mental illness. I encourage anyone interested in this book to look those up so that you will be prepared going in.
One of the strongest parts of this story is how Ward creates complicated characters but makes you care deeply for them despite their flaws. Every character has their own issues that they are dealing with and Ward explores these in-depth. I think in another writer's hands this story could be very harmful but Ward does a great job of making these characters feel fully fleshed out.
I will say that I expected this story to have more of a speculative slant than it does. In some stories, this may have dampened my experience but Ward did such a good job with the story that it was thoroughly enjoyable even though it was different than my expectations.
I am interested in what Ward will write next as I have a lot of confidence in her storytelling abilities.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis