A review by expertbooksmuggler
Little Eve by Catriona Ward

mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

“Can we hold such an act within us, without being irrevocably changed?” 

 

If you’ve read The Last House on Needless Street, you know that Catriona Ward is apt at delivering well written and fantastically confusing stories. Little Eve is no different. 

 

This book has a hazy, gothic quality to it that really helps you dig in to the meat of the story as we see the world through the eyes of brainwashed cult members who are awaiting the Adder and the inheritance of powers that comes with him. 

 

Little Eve is sometimes gruesome, always sad, and shrouded in mystery. If you enjoy an unreliable narrator and things that are not as they seem- this is the book for you. 

 

We primarily experience Eve and Dinah’s points of view- both are young women living under the heavy fist of their Uncle. And as we alternate between POVs and past and present timelines, we slowly discover the secrets of the Adder alongside them. 

 

“He keeps you starved, half-dead with exhaustion, always vying for his attention. That place is the very edge of the world, Evelyn, and you have been taken to the edge of what a person can stand, or be.” 

 

I really enjoyed reading this book and went with 5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.