I felt like this was a bit more of mystery/thriller than a horror but it definitely had strong gothic elements. You don't now who or what to trust which makes the twists hit harder. Definitely different than her other novels to me, but strong elements. Gothic thriller/horrors typically lend to an unreliable narrator as the characters seem to crumble in the same way as the setting. This book was an excellent addition to that canon.

Little Eve by Catriona Ward
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This is the story of Eve. She lives on Altnaharra Isle with the rest of her people on the coast of Scotland. They keep to themselves on the Isle and wait for the end of the world. Until the day the bodies are discovered.
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What I liked:
-This book had a great creepy factor to it. There was an ominous vibe to the whole thing that worked very well here.
-I loved the past and present POVs. We have Eve’s POV for the past and Dinah’s for the present and it was great to see them slowly cast light on the whole picture.
-I was trying to guess how the whole thing would end and was getting it wrong left and right! I really liked how it ended though.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ That’s all I’ll say about it to avoid spoilers. If you love creepy and unsettling stories then you’ll enjoy this one.

Little Eve tells the story of a clan (i.e. cult) who have secluded themselves on a remote isle off the Scottish coast and who hope to bring about the end and subsequent rebirth of the world. Almost all of the members are young and susceptible girls who are entranced by an older man called the Uncle. He tests his flock, brainwashes and makes them dependent upon him all in the hopes that one of them will receive great powers from the Adder. Eventually they land on the radar of an inspector who refuses to let them go on as they always have, putting everything in jeopardy.

It was primarily told from the perspectives of Dinah and Eve with shifts in time to before the sacrifice (murder?) and after. I'll admit that cult novels are hit or miss with me. Plenty of the characters were unlikable and I didn't really connect with any of them. I didn't particularly enjoy the pacing of this one...it was a slow burn gothic novel where not much was revealed until the very end if you managed to keep with it until then.

Rating 3 stars.

Special thanks to @netgalley for the electronic ARC of Little Eve for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

Catriona Ward has done it again! I was thoroughly impressed with the writing style as well as the character development. 10/10 would recommend to a friend!

Catriona Ward is an absolute master at creating a dark and chilling atmosphere! I actually shivered while reading parts of this book! "Little Eve" has everything I want from a spooky read; a crumbling castle in an isolated location, a stone circle, a cult with some really bizarre beliefs and whose members are preparing for the end of the world, mass murder...and a twist I did NOT see coming! This book is gothic horror at its best; it is very disturbing but I couldn't put it down! It is a creative and gruesome tale; perfect for Spooky Season.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this fabulous book in exchange for my honest review.

Catriona Ward does it again. I truly loved The Last House on Needless Street and Sundial, so I had high hopes for Little Eve…and boy did she deliver 🤌🏻

I’ve probably mentioned it before, but her books are not for everyone. They’re weird, gothic, atmospheric, eerie, dark, and did I mention weird? Reader be warned ☠️

But if this *is* the right book for you, I hope you get as swept up in the world, secrets, and rituals of Altnaharra as I did 🌊

There were some truly excellent twists that had me excitedly flipping back to hints I didn’t initially pick up on, jaw on the floor. Some very vivid, horrifying imagery. And cult vibes if you’re looking for that this October 🙌🏻

Little Eve comes out in the US today, 10/11. Big thanks to @macmillanusa @tornightfire and @netgalley for the chance to read and review the ARC!

"𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 - 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕. 𝑴𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒚, 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒔, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒅."

I know I'm late to the party with Catriona Ward; I've been meaning to read Sundial and Needless Street, and when I saw her latest, a re-issue of a book first published in 2018, on NetGalley, I knew it'd be a great place to start.

I love any Gothic type story that has an isolated setting, which this does in leaps and bounds. There is a reference to detective fiction (Agatha Christie in particular) and the detective featured in the story is much like Poirot: ruthless to the search for the truth, in this case what happens on Altnaharra. The opening chapter is full of suspense as Jamie discovers the five bodies, and the narration flips back and forth from past to present. This is the year of the "cult book," and this one seems particularly gruesome in places with references to snakes (my biggest fear!), the removal of eyes, the death of a horse, and the fact that the "Uncle" takes advantage of lost children. I found Eve's narration hard to follow at times, jumping around in places. However that does add to the overall confusion of what is truly happening and puts doubt in the reader's mind, adding to the atmosphere.

Little Eve is a Gothic story of the need for belonging, belief, truth, and memory. If you like historical fiction and mysterious cult families, this will be for you. I've heard Ward's writing branches in a different direction for her last two releases, and I am excited to see more from her! Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the ARC!

Very mixed feelings on this one, and I strongly suggest you check content warnings before reading if you might need them. Little Eve is somewhat of a gothic horror set in Scotland in the 1920's and 1930's. It begins with a ritualistic murder and then goes back to unpack the history of this sort of cult led by a man who adopted young children and was incredibly abusive to them. I was not anticipating how much abuse of children was going to be in this book and I very nearly didn't finish it.

While there are moments that are atmospheric, creepy, and evocative, I didn't feel the author handled the topics in the book with enough care. Various kinds of abuse are used to horrify the reader, or even used as twists. I've read books that are in this genre and tackle these issues, but do it in a way that is unpacking the horror and trauma rather than simply exploiting the victims. This did not effectively do that and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Given things I've heard about Wards other books, I'm not sure she's the author for me even if her actual writing is pretty good. Note that I found the audiobook a bit hard to follow at times and ended up switching back and forth between audio and e-book to follow everything. I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Content warnings for this book include graphic physical, psychological, and spiritual abuse on page, including of young children. This includes starvation, gaslighting, mutilation, drugging, ritualistic bleeding and more. Grooming (on page), repeated references to sexual abuse of adults and young children (not depicted on page), graphic childbirth, stillbirth, forced removal of an infant from their mother, murder, grief.... there's a lot.

I finished this darkly Gothic thriller in only two spellbound sittings, a small miracle given how my days are packed with myriad interruptions. The narrative was so absorbing that I managed to fend off almost all other demands on my time until I could finish that last, atmospheric page.

Little Eve is the somewhat derisive nickname given to Evelyn, one of the foundlings who lives on the isle of Altnaharra, connected to mainland Scotland and the village of Loyal by a gated causeway that’s exposed only at low tide. Uncle, a former soldier who returned from India some decades earlier, is the head of their household, and is attended to by Alice Seddington and Nora Marr. Together the three adults take in unwanted children and raise them on the remote island. The four children – Dinah, Abel, Evelyn herself and Elizabeth – go to school in Loyal until the shocking murder of their schoolteacher.

An inspector from Inverness is summoned to investigate and finds his curiosity piqued by the half-feral children of the island just as much as by the slaying, which seems pretty open and shut. Inspector Christopher Black takes an especial interest in quiet Evelyn, who claims to have the gift of second sight. He’s disbelieving, telling her:

QUOTE
“I do not think you a liar,” Christopher Black says gently. “I can see that you believe in your gift. Do you know what autosuggestion is? A man named Emile Coue discovered it. It is used to treat shell shock. One resolves to believe a certain thing–<i>I am not in pain</i>, or perhaps, <i>I can read minds</i>--and the body obeys.

“You can read people–the tiny tics and tells. The skills of a confidence trickster. That, and a wee, mental sleight of hand. I can see that it would be possible for you to believe in your own magic.[“]
END QUOTE

Unsurprisingly, Evelyn refuses to believe in this or in anything else Inspector Black has to tell her, especially since his words are so completely at odds with how she’s been raised. Evelyn knows that there’s something special about herself, and that she and her family are destined for great and miraculous things.

After the scrutiny that the murder brings, the islanders of Altnaharra decide to keep to themselves, communicating with the village only through notes posted on their gate. This goes on for years, until the local butcher comes to make a delivery one morning and discovers the gate unlocked and the portcullis half-raised. Assuming that the inhabitants of the rundown castle want him to bring his heavy delivery inside, he obliges… only to find scenes of carnage that have him running back to the village, calling for the authorities.

Fast-forward several years more and Dinah, the only survivor of the massacre, is still trying to come to terms with her upbringing on the island. She wants to make as normal and loving as possible a life as she can for herself and her new family, but the secrets of Altnaharra keep haunting her, urging her to write confessional letters even as she tries to suppress her memories of murderous Evelyn, the girl who destroyed everything.

For Evelyn had a taste for violence, turned inward until a schoolyard brawl showed her the power of inflicting harm on others:

QUOTE
I have blood under my nails and a handful of yellow hair. Shedding my own blood was one thing–this is different. No wonder Uncle keeps this power for himself. It is wonderful. I do not know how long we have been fighting. We are all deep in a world of heavy breath and colour and flesh on flesh.
END QUOTE

Written in hypnotic prose, the story moves back and forth in time between our two viewpoint narrators, Dinah and Evelyn, as the mysteries and terrors of both Altnaharra and its lingering aftermath finally come to light. It’s a tale of trauma and loss and healing wrapped in a fascinating puzzle box of a novel, with deeply satisfying revelations and resolutions. Little wonder that it won the Shirley Jackson Award despite not being released in the United States until now. American readers of Gothic thrillers should not miss snapping this up now that it’s locally available.

A bit of a slower burn than this author's other works, but very full of dread!

I liked reading about the cult and their strange rituals, but it was a bit hard to wrap my brain into the setting of 1910. There's also a timeline in the 20's , so it got a little confusing.

I will say Catriona Ward knows how to do "shock and awe" very well and the end of Little Eve left me feeling gobsmacked.

There was a lot going on in this one and I'm still not entirely sure what to make of it. The story goes back and forth between what's happening following the deaths of the Bearing's family as well as the events leading up to it.

I loved the gothic atmosphere and the culty vibes of this story. There were lots of twists and turns that left me feeling like I had just woken up from a fever dream and unsure of what really happened.

This one fell somewhere between The Last House on Needless Street (which I loved) and Sundial (which left me wanting more) but overall it was a good story that I feel I'll enjoy much more as a re-read.

If you're looking for an atmospheric thriller that will keep you guessing, I'd recommend checking this one out.

Little Eve is a wonderfully eerie and atmospheric story set in the perfect setting on the coast of Scotland. It has very cultish vibes and one of the most interesting main characters I have read in a while in Evelyn or Eve. Catriona Ward’s writing is beautifully poetic and really makes you feel like you are there with this cult family on the island of Altnaharra.

The Adder is truly a villainous character as head of a cult where he isolates the young people under his care and turns them against one another. The story starts off with a bang describing the murders that the rest of the story will culminate in, but everything may not be what it seems.

I highly recommend this one to anyone that appreciates a spooky story with substance but also beautiful prose. It is certainly a slower burn story with not a lot of “outright horror.” But it so well done, and this solidifies my love of Ward’s work!

I've been reading through Catriona Ward's backlist all year, and I've grown to really love her writing. I haven't found a single book so far that I haven't really enjoyed reading. The streak continues here! In this creepy cult tale, a “family” of individuals live on a mysterious Scottish isle set into the sea, living with their own beliefs and rituals that set them apart from the mainland people. When a local man suddenly finds all but one of them dead, the story unfolds as to what lead to that tragic day through the alternating perspectives of the lone survivor and the supposed perpetrator, Dinah and Little Eve, This is set in the early 1900s in Scotland, and although it takes me a while to acclimate to novels that are set around that time period (not usually something I’m into), I got used to it really fast once the narrative starting picking up speed. It’s incredibly atmospheric, especially the isle of Altnaharra which has a big gate and a land bridge that occasionally floods by the surrounding sea. It seems like a very wet, gray island and the practices of Uncle and the others living there are much darker than the atmosphere. The last third of this novel really moves, and I was tearing through it to see how it all wraps up. If you like thrillers heavy on atmosphere, cult stories, or gothic feeling mysteries you will love this book. I know I sure did.

this was definitely atmospheric—but also circuitous and ultimately underwhelming.

little eve is the third book i've read by catriona ward this year, and for the third time i'm left to mull over my ambivalent feelings. like the house on needless street and sundial, things are not what they initially seem in little eve—which definitely had me intrigued. the book opens with a man stumbling upon a series of brutal, ritualistic murders that have taken place on altnaharra, a desolate isle off the coast of scotland that served as home for a ragtag "family" (read: cult). yet with each subsequent chapter, things become more and more muddled; why do we jump between the years leading up to the murder, and then many years later? were there paranormal influences on altnaharra? how does a disgraced chief inspector come into play?

as the book bounced between different perspectives and years, i found myself increasingly uninterested in the unfolding events. for one, the cult felt weirdly... bland? (a sentence i never thought i'd write!) and what i mean by this is that it's so archetypal—a patriarch exerting his so-called power over women and children by peddling vague doomsday prophecies and gaslighting the shit out of their realities. but honestly, that's whatever—i wasn't here for the cult. i was here to forge an emotional connection with the characters, which unfortunately never happened for me. besides the fact that none of the characters were particular standouts, i got so lost in tedious descriptions of the minutiae of their lives that each chapter blurred into the next without much of an emotional impact left on me. by the time i reached the big "reveal" at the end of the book, i was already feeling so detached from the characters that i found the climax incredibly underwhelming.

tldr; little eve had promise but flatlined for me fairly early on; i didn't feel connected to any characters or their stakes, and the lore was too underdeveloped for me to get real chills.

many thanks to netgalley and tor nightfire for this ARC in exchange for an honest review~

4.5 stars!

Catriona Ward has quickly become one of those authors that I will automatically buy anything from her. Her writing style is unusual and almost unsettling with the story she creates around her characters. She continuously finds ways to tell the tales that keep you guessing from beginning to end. Even if you are able to guess the twists within the story, you will want to know the how and that is the most impactful things about her writing style.

About the story:

Little Eve is a cult plot about a "family" that lives on an island and when a local man, Jaime, stumbles across the entire family murdered but Dinah and Eve, whom is missing. What happened to this solitary family and who or what caused such a horrific sight. The storyline jumps around from past to present to allow the reader to know what happened on the island leading up to the murders and what happens after the death of the family. This story will make you feel the anxiety, fear, needs, and so much more alongside the characters.

I will say this book slowed down a bit for me around the 200 page mark which is why I gave it a 4.5 instead of a 5, but resolution to the book made up for the slow moments.

I fully recommend this book if you enjoy dark gothic type novels that leave you wondering throughout the story.
Trigger warnings: animal abuse, self-harm, abuse, bodily harm, rape, cult

Hating the Darkness, Afraid of the Light

I consider Catriona Ward a favorite, a heavyweight among horror authors. She's extremely talented, her stories are unusual and mysterious, and she constructs her complex fiction with subtlety and finesse. She didn't disappoint with this book.

Little Eve contains disturbing subject matter. The many triggers within it have left me with lasting bruises. Soul-crushing dread, like an unbreakable cable, winds through the story and tightly binds four children and two young women to a strange, lone man. Part wise prophet and part stern prophet, he rules them with an iron hand and teaches what is for their own good. They live on an isolated hill overlooking the ocean, but it might as well be another world.

I found it easy to root for many of the characters and to vehemently detest others. Exchanging past for present and one point of view for another is revealing, yet obscuring. It's a long, dark journey into the light, but who survives? More than anything, I cared about that.

Thank you to Catriona Ward, Tor Nightfire, and NetGalley for the pleasure of reading a free advance reader's copy. I offer my review with enthusiasm but am under no obligation to do so.

I am grateful for the invite to review Little Eve by Catriona Ward. This is the top rec I can give for readers looking for a twisty dark gothic tale now or any time. This is the perfect stormy night book for readers who don't mind a intense story (and if you have read this author before then you know her style!). I admit to struggling with this author's House On..., it wasn't for me, but this book worked for me I think because of the attention to family, the progression of Eve's story, and the setting, which was a character in itself.
I know fans of this author will love this one, it won't disappoint, but I also recommend it to readers who are new to this author or who didn't like other works... this one might still work for you. Strong writing, intense twists and slow burn gothic style, and a fascinating plot that brings a reader along for a solid horror scare.

I wouldn't consider myself a fan, but I bet this is going to be a very popular book among people who enjoy horror and cults despite the fact that less time was spent on both themes than on the peculiar narrative device of telling the story two steps forward, one step back.

Atmospheric, yet droning.

Little Eve is told through alternating perspectives of protagonists Dinah & Eve. Our protagonists are part of a mysterious family, raised on the blustering island of Altnaharra, located off the coast of Scotland. The clan praises the Adder, a powerful snake-being said to bring imminent rebirth to the soon-to-be destroyed world.

After a threatening storm passes through in 1921, we discover a ritualistic tragedy of cult horror. We look back to the 1910s to see where suffering began.

Little Eve exudes a blustering coldness, eeriness and fear that is akin to gothic fiction, which is unfortunately the only part of this tale that I enjoyed. This piece was oversaturated with violence and unfavorable acts, yet ineffectively described for a horror audience.

The storyline alluded to conclusions but was ultimately confusing. Events in this book were written in a way that felt unexplained, rushed and unclear as to what was happening. If the conclusions were met with less ambiguity, the piece would have been more effective, and wholly more worthwhile.

Little eve is for fans of darker historical fiction, bleak settings and bizarre family rituals.

I strongly feel that readers who enjoy historical fiction will like Little Eve! And vice versa.

Regrettably for me, this novel feels like a period piece wearing a Halloween costume.

2/5.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for an eARC of Little Eve in exchange for an honest review.

Little Eve is a truly beautiful, yet disturbing story. The book itself is very descriptive, and as a result the pacing is quite slow, particularly in the beginning. Told in multiple timelines, the author is stretching our ability to understand what’s happening, which reflects the inner turmoil that the different characters are experiencing at times in the book. Even the sentence structure feels quite disjointed at times, inflicting upon the reader confusion, distrust in the narration, and a general sense of disease.

The book has a meticulously cultivated sense of foreboding, punctuated by truly disturbing scenes and revelations. While the writing style is fabulous, and some of the key plot points are equal parts shocking and fascinating, I still felt like the plotline trudged along a little too slowly. I think it was in part due to the metaphors stacked upon metaphors, making the book itself a much slower read than the other novel I read by this author (The Last House on Needless Street). At one point, I made a note that the plot is saturated with description and beautiful prose, and in this case, I thought it was too much of a good thing.

All this said, whether or not you enjoy this book truly depends on what type of a reader you are, and what you’re expecting from this story. If I put my readers’ advisory hat on, this book is for those who read for language and setting, then characters. While the plot has good twists, those who prefer a fast-paced, twisty thriller won’t be as satisfied.

The end of the book has some truly thought-provoking discussion questions for book clubs and reader groups to ponder.