#little eve

[myhikari21things]

Read of Little Eve by Catriona Ward (2018) (265pgs)

[brightbeautifulthings]

Little Eve by Catriona Ward

"'Right and wrong--they are just words. When we are standing in the dark, holding a flaming poker, there is only one thing to consider and that is ourselves. Can we hold such an act within us, without being irrevocably changed?'"

Year Read: 2022

Rating: 2/5

About: Eve has been raised on the island of Altnaharra, her Uncle the Adder in a cultish religion that predicts the end of the world by giant serpent. For Eve and her family, it's very real, and Eve would do anything to inherit the Adder's power. When Chief Inspector Black arrives to investigate a murder in the nearby town, he puts doubt in Eve's heart for the first time. When their sacred ceremony goes badly wrong, her sister Dinah is the only one left standing to tell the story. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Macmillan-Tor/Forge. Trigger warnings: character/family death, drowning, rape, pedophilia, child abuse/abusive households (graphic, on-page), cults, eye horror, body horror, starvation, severe injury, violence, drugging, manipulation, snakes, sexism, guilt, strong religious themes.

Thoughts: I realized a while back that I was hardly ever making use of two stars in my reviews, instead lumping most books into three stars for various reasons, so I decided to change my strategy a little. When I finish a book, I ask myself the simple question, "Did you enjoy it?" If the answer is "No," then it's not a three-star book, no matter how well-written it might be. I didn't enjoy this book. It is well-written. My rating is a reflection of my enjoyment, not necessarily its goodness, so take that with a grain of salt.

Ward is excellent at layering mysteries so that we think we know what's going on, only for her to pull the rug out from under us at the end and show us what we should have been looking at all along. The answers were there, but with a little sleight of hand, she managed to misdirect us into looking somewhere else. I enjoyed that aspect of the novel and, indeed, the mystery of what happened and how it happened was one of few things that kept me going throughout the novel. The discrepancies in the past and present accounts were an itch in my brain. I had to know who was lying.

But goddamn, is it hard to read. I don't enjoy historical novels, and I don't enjoy novels about cults, and Little Eve is both. The thing about cults is that they only make sense from the inside, so any outsider (like the reader) is going to look at it and go: that is batshit crazy, why are you staying? And since I'm on the outside, I could never shake that question as I was reading. It's not that Ward doesn't do a good job of putting us in Eve's mindset, because she does. It's completely understandable why she thinks and acts the way she does, having such limited experience with the outside world.

But wow, that's a lot of abuse for a lot of pages, and it's an absolute drag to get through her chapters with her family. Her conversations with Chief Inspector Black were the only reprieve, and I couldn't summon a lot of feelings for any of the other characters besides horror or pity, depending. Black is a breath of fresh air, and I enjoyed his Sherlock Holmes-style appeals to reason, and all the little cracks he puts in Eve's belief in her family's magic. The novel does an expert job in walking the line between real or not-real, and for once, the answers are as satisfying as the questions. I’ll never be tempted to pick it up again though.

[first--lines]

My heart is a dark passage, lined with ranks of gleaming jars. In each one something floats. The past, preserved as if in spirit. Here is the scent of grass and the sea, here the creak of wheels on a rough path, here a bright yellow gull's beak. The sensation of blood drying on my cheek in the wind. Abel crying for his mother, Uncle's hand on me. Silver on a white collarbone. The knowledge of loss, which comes like a blow to the heart or the stomach. It does not reach your mind until later.

  —  Little Eve (Catriona Ward)

[oracleofmadness]

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!!

This is so much more than what I was expecting even though my expectations were pretty high because I loved The Last House on Needless Street by this author.

After reading the author's note at the beginning and upon finishing this unsettling gothic horror, I feel like this is somewhat the author's horror love letter to Scotland... if there can be such a thing. I say that because I felt like much of this story represented different aspects to Scottish folklore so I have a hard time imagining this taking place anywhere else and having the same effect.

The story begins with a local butcher finding the "family" at Altnaharra dead except for one survivor. The story is continued in segments between Eve and Dinah leading up to that day. The father figure, "uncle", kept the children and young women in thrall with this very chilling religion that also included the Adder, a role the "uncle" would take on. Through starvation and mind games he had control until the spell was broken.

This is so twisted, super dark and absolutely chilling. Not to mention that I simply could not stop reading!

Out October 11, 2022!

Content Warnings for Sexual assault, abuse, fanaticism, gore, violence, suicide

[goryfluff]

Nautilus expedition live streams (+ their commentary) 2020 / 2021 / 2022

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: Little Eve by Catriona Ward

Author: Catriona WardPublisher: Tor NightfireReleased: October 11, 2022Received: NetGalleyWarnings: Rape, pedophilia, self-harm, child abuse/neglect, animal death, miscarriage Catriona Ward’s horror novels are always SO heavy hitting. Therefore, I try not to miss one – even when they touch upon heavier subjects that I generally try to avoid. Enter Little Eve, her latest terrifying read. We’ve…

[sailorsleepymoon]

I read a book called Little Eve by Catriona award yesterday and like. Man. The characters in it are so enthralling to me. It’s a VERY heavy read, there’s a reason some people call it horror or gothic lit, and it has one of the most poignant and realistic depictions of a cult I’ve ever seen in fiction. I think that’s part of what makes the characters so effective.

Eve and Dinah’s relationship especially is so interesting and melancholy to me. They have so much love for each other, even if they can’t say it or express it, and when things are bad they always sink back into each other. It’s especially heartbreaking because Dinah always longs for more and Eve doesn’t really, she just wants the people she loves to be with her. It makes watching the mystery unfold, knowing they can’t both escape all the while, all the more heartbreaking and melancholy because their care for each other is so palpable

[aslaughterofonesown]

Little Eve Brings Big Thrills

Hillary curled up with a book with snakes and exploding eyeballs and we cannot stress how good the book must be if she powered through that.

[fiction-quotes]

I am filled with memory.

  —  Little Eve (Catriona Ward)

[beingfictional]

Little Eve

Little Eve review @NetGalley #NetGalley #LittleEve #CatrionaWard #books #reading #horror #horrorbooks @Catrionaward

Title: Little Eve Author: Catriona Ward Genre: horror Thank you, NetGalley, for this book. This book is the third of Catriona Ward’s that I’ve gotten from NetGalley. The Last House on Needless Street was one of the best I read in 2021. And Sundial was delightfully disturbing. So, when I saw she had a new book out, I knew I had to read it. And wow, was this one excellent. Last House is still…

[artofdoubt]

» KILLING EVE (2018-2022)

[marthanothing]

I make my mind a rock, my body still earth.

[maskrosfe]

Although they later made it more and more like the christian modern christmas, the first idea of Hearth’s Warming Eve as a supstitute to christmas in G4 My little Pony was so lovely to me. A holiday celebrating friendship and togetherness, based on the historical legend of mythical wind spirits freezing the hearts and bodies of those who hated and fought eachother without compassion or love for one another, nearly dooming all of pony kind to certain death. The symbol of a heart burning within those who decided to see and like eachother instead saving everyone’s life… it’s so sweet :’( + the grounding of the holiday as one spent primarely with friends instead of family was also kind of baller to me! Well and… I saw a good excuse to draw Pinkie Pie with cute items all around her <3

[backjustforberena]

Corlys and Rhaenys at their daughter's wake, with their grandchildren. DO NOT REPOST.

[goryfluff]

Googly-eyed Stubby Squid | Nautilus Live + their commentary

[literarysiren]

Catriona Ward is a master in sneaking up on you and twisting some of the most intricately woven plot I've ever experienced until you no longer know who to trust. There's no one out there doing it quite like her, and every review opportunity or reading experience is the most delightfully horrifying thing. In Last House on Needless Street, you'll find yourself sympathizing with the unexpected virtually despite yourself, until your heart is left bleeding in your own hands.

In Little Eve, memories are twisted into myth and reality and back again. In both, you're absorbed in a Gothic sense of dread and heartache.