I was really excited about this book after reading Last House on Needless Street. Unfortunately this one fell a little flat for me. I felt it had a lot of potential when reading the synopsis but felt the plot was slow and slightly scattered. It just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Little Eve by Catriona Ward is an atmospheric horror novel that is being published in the US for the first time! The story revolves around Eve, who lives with her terrifying uncle in a home of neglect. Her uncle leads a cult-like family of orphans and believes that the end of the world is coming to an isle off the coast of Scotland. When Chief Inspector Black arrives, Eve is taken in by the kind stranger. Is this the start of a new life for Eve? Or is the horror just beginning?

Here is a captivating excerpt from the opening chapter, which is from Dinah's perspective:

"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.
She is there, too, of course. Evelyn. Somewhere along the rows, behind glass, she floats in the dim air. I do not seek her out. My survival depends on that."

Overall, Little Eve is a creepy horror novel that will appeal to fans of Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House or its sequel series. One highlight of this book is the silent terror that occurs in the book's setting. If I had to complain about 1 thing, I would say that there isn't as much action as in the author's newer books, like Sundial. That is completely understandable though, since this book was written before Sundial. I'm sure many readers will appreciate the atmospheric horror in this book. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes in October!

This is an gothic story which is not a light read but when I paid attention, could keep track of who and sort of why. Little Eve joins a mis-fit family on a mysterious island.. the story is engrossing and all encompassing.

When I received this ARC from NetGalley and saw that it had won the Shirley Jackson Award I knew I was in for a treat. This novel blew me away. a five star read for sure. Little Eve is a terrifyingly beautiful tale about a group of characters living under the thumb of their "uncle" in castle on a remote island. This is a very disturbing, but intoxicating tale that grabs the reader and will not relent. All is not as it seems and it slowly becomes apparent that there is something very sinister going on in Altnaharra.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4775903390

Little Eve tells the story of a family of orphaned children raised by their charismatic uncle who tries to shield them from the outside world. As the story unfolds, their idyllic island home starts to feel more like a cult-like compound with their uncle as an unhinged leader with outlandish beliefs. This is a beautifully written book that brings the seaside location and characters to life.

I got this free from Netgalley because it's being published in America for the first time this October. It won the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel.

This is a dark, gothic story complete with everything that you could want: a cult, a castle, constant storms, and atmosphere up the wazoo. Girls in white dresses. Couple of murders. It's all there. Good bit of mystery as well.

I really liked it.

Review Copy

Catriona Ward's first book LITTLE EVE is a soon to be released in America Gothic psychological thriller that gave her her writing beginning. Replace the word "psychological" with "those people are batsh*t nuts" and you have the story in a nutshell.

It was FANTASTIC!

Another place, another time, people are the same, aren't they? Always there, always taking advantage. And Ward's crating of the story was perfection. Once you figured out what was who and where was what, she took a turn. And then another.

Scotland will never be the same.

Add this to your tbr now.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the eARC.
Well, this is one book I can honestly say I was totally confused by. The first chapter was promising, but after that I got lost. It's as if my brain shut down and couldn't comprehend what was coming at it. After reading reviews and learning the book got 2 awards I was looking forward to it, but couldn't finish it. Sorry!

Written with a similar grit as Sundial, Catriona Ward gives us a new haunting tale. told mostly through the naive and innocent eyes of Eve, a young girl who grows up in a strange family on their own little island. However, her interactions with the ‘impure’ folk of the nearby town throw her worldview into turmoil as she separates fact from fiction. There is a reason the family does not speak of the past. And she uncovers those layers with twists and turns. Not everything is as it seems.

Little Eve takes place on an island called Altnaharra. It is a secluded island that is home to a family. Uncle is the leader and he has with him Alice, Nora, Abel, Dinah, Eve, and Elizabeth. They have a guy from town, Jamie, deliver some goods to them, but what he stumbles on is a mystery of death. This book takes you through how this family operates and how they came to their death.

Thank you netgalley and Tor-Nightfire for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

My opinion: ooooooof. I wanted to love this book. It has a beautiful cover and it sounds like it could be a great book. Ultimately though, it was just super confusing. Sometimes I didn't know who was talking in the book and the timeline jumps around quite a bit. I did enjoy the last 20% of the book though.

My favorite character is Eve. So smart. She figures out what is going on at the island and who she can and can't trust(sometimes a little too late). I won't give the ending away, but Eve is so clever. The author does a great job at covering her tracks to keep the ultimate twist til the end...if you can get there.

I give this one a 2.5 star. It was just too confusing of a read.

Little Eve takes place on a small peninsula off the Scottish coast, Altnaharra, home to a strange group led by a man the inhabitants call Uncle. The group (cult?) is small, consisting of Uncle, two women and four children, and who believe that the world will be remade by a great snake coming out of the sea. Catriona Ward takes this setting and just runs with it, creating a marvelous novel of dread and horror.

This is the first novel I’ve read by the author, and I must say that she certainly has writing chops. Her ability to conjure up the bleak scenery of Altnahara is masterful. The plotting was well done, leaving the reader off kilter and scratching their heads while still being able to maintain their interest. The characters, especially Eve and Dinah, come to life, Uncle is portrayed through the eyes of the children, and I know that I was breathlessly waiting to see if they’d ever understand how evil he was.

An outstanding novel.

My thanks to Tor Books and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book.

Bizarre! A strange secluded cult, a snake,a murder, some seals and thr Scottish coast...what is not to love in this dark Gothic tale?

As much as I LOVE LOVE LOVE The Last House on Needless Street, and Sundial, I was just bored with this one.

I was able to stomach the split narrative in the others, but this one was just moving much too slowly

Wow. I absolutely loved this book! It was just the perfect amount of creepy and thrilling, and it kept me hooked the entire time.

This one was a no for me. It took me a long time to get into it and I almost put it down several times, but I chugged along.

I wondered if it was just me as many folks seemed to like this book. But, I couldn't really connect to the characters and the plot was, at times, very confused. I wasn't always certain whose voice I was reading. Something was just missing for me.

I'm a lover of horror, but maybe not this type of horror.

Little Eve is a gothic tale that is evocative and darkly disturbing. A family full of secrets and strange rituals, what binds them together and also what makes them fall apart.

This story slowly draws you in, like a spider to its' web. As you watch in deadly fascination it weaves it's delicate pattern entrancing you as the fullness and beauty of the pattern emerges. Catriona Ward is a fantastic storyteller and remains true to her nature of providing some of the most surprising twists in her writing. Little Eve has some great twists and turns, it is a dark story, but scattered ever so slightly are a few beams of light here and there.

Overall a really engrossing and captivating horrror story that may throw you into the sea to sleep with the fishes and whatever else lays in wait in the dark waters surrounding Altnaharra.

Extraordinary! Wow really! Great story and also amazing writing! I just blow away! Definitely a must read!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from his book but I ended up really loving it. It’s an apocalyptic book that’s extremely interesting and easy to read. It read extremely fast and I really loved the plot.

4.5 stars
Ive never read a Catriona Ward book before, but I think this one just made me a fan! This was a fun and dark twisty gothic horror. It hit the spot perfectly! I’ll definitely be adding a physical copy to my library, especially since release day is my birthday!

Another exciting and creative read by Catriona Ward!! This gothic tale of horror is saturated with rich scenery and poetic prose. CW's writing style is almost lyrical and beautiful, despite the content being so disturbing. It can also be extremely confusing at times, but always leaves you with a nice surprise when everything finally clicks. Like all of her other books, Little Eve is full of contradictions and will totally mess with your mind so be prepared!

On the dismal Scottish isle of Altnaharra, a castle looms high on the hilltop. Isolated and alone. Deserted by centuries of landowners out of fear. It is the perfect place for Uncle and his acquired family to avoid the impure world while they await the final days of reckoning. Little Eve (Evelyn) and Dinah are two of the children led by Uncle and they will be the ones narrating this story. Told in their alternating POVs, they will lead us down the path to destruction.

Catriona Ward does weird to perfection!! Fans of her other novels will definitely sink their teeth into this book. My only criticism of this novel is that most of the chapters were very long. I prefer to have more stopping points, but that's just me.

Thank you to the author, Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for allowing me to preview this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.