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A review by justagirlwithabook
Little Eve by Catriona Ward
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Off the battered coast of Scotland is a little island known as Altnaharra. Here lives a small group of individuals, maybe even a bit of a family, who are fairly private and have minimal contact with the townspeople on the mainland. It's been a while since they've been seen or heard from, and it's quickly discovered why. Their bodies are discovered in a strange configuration, bird-ridden, their right eyes taken from their sockets. But one is missing. What horror happened here? The story goes much deeper than what the surface suggests: sacred ceremonies, powers gained, the end of the world, but also betrayal, family, and sacrifice.
What I loved:
- I love that Cat Ward continues to "do it again." This is everything I love in a horror novel! Horror and suspense, cultish themes, solid twists, a good heap of the gothic, and multiple POVs (one in the past moving forward along the timeline leading to the big reveals, and one in the present after all is said and done).
- I loved the characters. The villain(s) were exactly that, and I readily cheered for those who were vulnerable that they would come out on top strong conquerors. There were characters to connect to, love, and root for, and other characters to hate and wish for their demise.
- Cat's writing style is fantastic. She has a very unique voice that seems to separate her from mainstream horror novelists, and her stories never seem to lack that 'extra' element, that something special that puts the story in a level above the usual. She expertly weaves storylines in a tapestry that isn't so convoluted that the reader would get lost, but that is complex enough that we spend much of the novel working to unweave her tale (in the best sense) and find little nuggets of twists and reveals along the way. And just when you think you've got it all figured out, you missed a thread.
- Cat knows how to build up a tense, gothic atmosphere. Things aren't right immediately, and we all know it, even before anything is revealed. And things continue to not feel right, because she continues to shows us that things are off. I love when tension builds in horror novel like this - that looming sense of feeling a little bit smothered and choked by the gloom and the wrongness, but not too much ... just enough. Just enough of the eerie and the wrong that we can't stop reading until we find out what that tap is behind the door, or what that itch is that needs to be scratched. And even when we think we've discovered it, something else comes creeping up behind.
What I didn't love:
- I love being able to write these kind of reviews where I get to this part and can say confidently, "There wasn't really anything I didn't love," and that's that.
Overall:
All of the stars. I. Love. Catriona Ward. She has turned into an autobuy/autoread author for me, 100%. The first book I read of hers was The Last House on Needless Street, and oh, what an instant fan I became! Then came Sundial, which was entirely different but oh, so good. And here we are with Little Eve, another entirely different read but that, in every way, delivers on suspense, gothic horror, and cultish vibes. I read this one for the first time in August of 2021 (UK edition published by Gollancz), but it's being published now in the States by Tor Nightfire and so I just HAD to revisit it. Put Cat Ward on your auto-buy list. I loved this story, the characters, the way it was all woven together and delivered, and that it was such a great reading experience. It's a book I'll be passing off to every friend that can handle it!
A huge thank you, as always, to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for the e-ARC! This one publishes from Tor Nightfire on October 11, 2022!
What I loved:
- I love that Cat Ward continues to "do it again." This is everything I love in a horror novel! Horror and suspense, cultish themes, solid twists, a good heap of the gothic, and multiple POVs (one in the past moving forward along the timeline leading to the big reveals, and one in the present after all is said and done).
- I loved the characters. The villain(s) were exactly that, and I readily cheered for those who were vulnerable that they would come out on top strong conquerors. There were characters to connect to, love, and root for, and other characters to hate and wish for their demise.
- Cat's writing style is fantastic. She has a very unique voice that seems to separate her from mainstream horror novelists, and her stories never seem to lack that 'extra' element, that something special that puts the story in a level above the usual. She expertly weaves storylines in a tapestry that isn't so convoluted that the reader would get lost, but that is complex enough that we spend much of the novel working to unweave her tale (in the best sense) and find little nuggets of twists and reveals along the way. And just when you think you've got it all figured out, you missed a thread.
- Cat knows how to build up a tense, gothic atmosphere. Things aren't right immediately, and we all know it, even before anything is revealed. And things continue to not feel right, because she continues to shows us that things are off. I love when tension builds in horror novel like this - that looming sense of feeling a little bit smothered and choked by the gloom and the wrongness, but not too much ... just enough. Just enough of the eerie and the wrong that we can't stop reading until we find out what that tap is behind the door, or what that itch is that needs to be scratched. And even when we think we've discovered it, something else comes creeping up behind.
What I didn't love:
- I love being able to write these kind of reviews where I get to this part and can say confidently, "There wasn't really anything I didn't love," and that's that.
Overall:
All of the stars. I. Love. Catriona Ward. She has turned into an autobuy/autoread author for me, 100%. The first book I read of hers was The Last House on Needless Street, and oh, what an instant fan I became! Then came Sundial, which was entirely different but oh, so good. And here we are with Little Eve, another entirely different read but that, in every way, delivers on suspense, gothic horror, and cultish vibes. I read this one for the first time in August of 2021 (UK edition published by Gollancz), but it's being published now in the States by Tor Nightfire and so I just HAD to revisit it. Put Cat Ward on your auto-buy list. I loved this story, the characters, the way it was all woven together and delivered, and that it was such a great reading experience. It's a book I'll be passing off to every friend that can handle it!
A huge thank you, as always, to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for the e-ARC! This one publishes from Tor Nightfire on October 11, 2022!