Beautiful literary gothic horror that kept me on my toes until the very end. Excellent setting, wonderful complex characters, gorgeous writing.

I have read every Catriona Ward book now and I would say that this one isn't my favorite. Ward is a master at winding and weaving stories and this one is no different. However, I didn't feel as invested in these characters and this story. I kept reading because I needed to know what happened and to be honest I didn't see the end coming. But unlike Sundial and The Last House on Needless Street this story just didn't hit me in the gut, and that's okay. I didn't regret reading this book, but I don't know if I would read it again.

Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher, for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review! I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

Well, the only thing I will say about this book is ... there is a reason why this one was not a hit in its first print. I was bored out of my mind. Also, I read the ebook and listened to the audiobook and the narrator killed the book for me. Most of the time, she whispered and overall didn't put any emotion into her reading.

Catriona's books just work for me, I really love her descriptive writing style, and the way she creates such an eerie atmosphere in her stories, this one included. The story itself kept me on the edge of my seat, she is a master at suspense. I also really enjoyed the resolution, and loved that I was so invested in the story, I wasn't ready for the ending, so it caught me in the best surprise! Loved this one.

I am officially such a fan of Catriona Ward! She writes the most atmospheric, weird stories. Little Eve was the perfect combination of creepy cult, slow burn and quasi-supernatural. It could be quite brutal but also soft, because there was real connection between some of the characters in this manufactured “family.” I enjoyed all of the timelines and POVs and thought they blended well.

This book just wasn't for me. I had a had time with the historical aspect and was confused at times. Definitely a different style than her other books.

I couldn't put it down and I didn't want to. This book lived up to every ounce of hype that I had experienced for it. This book is beautifully written; a gripping storyline with strong characters. It ticked all the boxes of my expectations. I would definitely recommend it to others.

3.5 stars. The beginning of the book was boring the middle was confusing and the end was okay. At times it was hard to follow as we kept jumping through times. There were also many many times when the audiobook didn't match up with the physical book which means the narrator was probably given an ARC to record from. Just some nitpicky stuff.

I read this in one sitting. This kept me interested to the very end-with themes of motherhood, isolation, horror, and cults and the sense of dread throughout the entire read. The main narrator is unreliable- the gothic creepiness that seeps in - and the overwhelming gloom that you can follow with one of the main characters. I thought I knew how it would all end-the author completely flipped what I thought, and I was amazed by the ending!

I highly recommend this one to any horror fan who likes twists, turns, and a more complex storyline.


I received a copy of this book through Netgalley; however, my opinions are my own. Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this!

I fell in love with Catriona Ward in 2017 when I read her novel Rawblood. I was blown away by the gothic and dramatic beauty of her writing and plots. I also enjoyed her 2021 novel The Last House on Needless Street, although it didn't quite pull on my heartstrings in the same way. Little Eve is an earlier novel of hers, now republished, and it felt like a return to the Ward of Rawblood for me. So of course I enjoyed it. Thanks to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My apologies for the delay in reviewing.

Gothic fiction is entirely reliant on atmosphere. Perhaps this seems like too strong a statement, but there is nothing worse than a technically Gothic novel which doesn't truly lean into the genre. Little Eve fully leans into it and nothing is more emblematic of that than its setting. The first thing that drew me to the novel was the idea of Altnaharra, a windswept island off the coast of Scotland. This felt like the perfect setting for a Gothic novel and it truly was. Catriona Ward brings this setting to live, shaping the island into a character of its own. It is home, but it is also danger. It nurtures but it also hurts. I could picture it, from its crags to its berry fields, to its walkway which gets cut off by the tides, to the gate without a wall. If Altnaharra didn't come alive this way, Little Eve would be a lesser book. With Ward's skill, however, the setting and ambiance are perfectly formed for her plot and characters to take shape.

Eve and Dinah are two young women, part of a small tight-knit community on the distant Scottish island Altnaharra. They await the coming of the Adder, who will bring the flood and bring about a new world. But the strain of awaiting the end, along with their twisted relationship with those outside of Altnaharra and the conflicting loyalties on the island, causes ever more tension until everything comes to a head during a fateful, final ceremony on New Year's Eve. Little Eve presents us with the perspective of both women, showing us the aftermath through Dinah and the led-up through Eve. It is an excellent wat of building up tension and preparing the reader for twists and turns. Little Eve has a strong vibe which dominates most of the novel. By that I mean that as a reader the plot sometimes came second to me over the images and ideas Ward was creating and working with.

Catriona Ward is a stunning writer. She has an impeccable eye for the detail that will have you invest, for the moment that shifts your perception of a character, for the seeming side plotline that will become rapidly relevant. I absolutely got lost in the world she created in Little Eve. The moment I closed my eyes I could picture Altnaharra, imagine the ceremonies, and feel the biting rain and wind. I also really liked her characterisation of Eve and Dinah, even if the latter is a little vaguer than the formers. Eve is the undeniable main character of Little Eve, as the title suggests, and following her from wide-eyed faithful to ever more questioning adult represented the major thrust of the novel. At times I did kind of lose track of some of the plot, felt a little confused by the different details and themes running through it, but Ward's writing always kept me engaged and intrigued. I adore Ward's more actively Gothic-leaning works and I can't wait to read more of these in the future.

I was gripped by the world Ward created in Little Eve. While I occasionally got a little lost in the details, it is nonetheless a great Gothic read, full of strong imagery.

Genre: horror, literary/historical fiction

I don't read a lot of horror, but I enjoy books about cults, so I thought I'd give this one a try. Unfortunately, it wasn't a match. This book is beautifully atmospheric, but the text is confusing and it's hard to understand what is going on. I liked the big reveal, but it felt like too long of a journey to get there. I think readers who love atmospheric horror will enjoy this one more than I did!

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I will admit, this caught my attention because it's by Catriona Ward, who also wrote, Last House on Needless Street and I have been hearing nothing but good things about that, so naturally I had to read this. Man, if this is what she delivers then all the hype for Needless Street will meet my expectations. The rugged setting of the Scottish landscape is one of my favorite locations for a good, gothic thriller so I loved every moment of this. Super fast-paced and the twists are so good. It'll keep you guessing until the very end.

If you read the authors note you'll understand why this feels different from her other novels. Not in a bad way but she definitely found a different groove in later works but this backlist title is worth a read.

I really love the way that Ward does her narratives and I was very excited to read this after reading Sundial and The Last House on Needless Street. You can definitely tell that this was written before those two books, but overall I think that it was still well done and there were parts that kept me guessing until the story wrapped up. I love Ward as a writer and I can't wait to see her continue to grow.

a backlist title from Ward being republished - I loved her writing but this is definitely significantly different from her Tor titles. I struggled to connect with the historical aspect of the book

Ward has easily become one of my new favorite horror authors. Her stories always feel so fun and inventive!

This was convoluted and hard to get through. I could not finish the story as the story just kept going in circles without much propelling it forward. I liked her other books so I am disappointed.

Thank you to @tornightfire and @macmillan.audio for these #gifted copies.

Disturbingly dark and twisted. Look no further for a horrifyingly traumatic spooky season read. This is the stuff of nightmares.

I’ve come to expect Ward’s books to be masterfully convoluted and steeped in confusion. A mind bending journey through the ominous, if you will.

And this one is no different but to the point that I’m not sure if it was brilliantly executed or total madness and chaos.

Set on an isle off the coast of Scotland, this sinister tale of family and abuse wreaks of true horror. Told through multiple pov, none of which were particularly likeable, I was never quite sure if any could be trusted.

While the atmosphere is strong and the writing is intricately detailed, the content is hard to swallow. Violence. Religion. Domination. Not only is it the stuff of true terror, it actually gave me nightmares.

So why did I continue on? Because as dark as it was, it was also compelling. I couldn’t look away. I needed to know.

I can’t say that I’m sure I feel any more clear after finishing this one. But the amount of time I’ve spent thinking “WHAT did I just read?!” tells me that it was a worthy journey anyway.

I think it’s fair to note that though this book is a new release in the US, it was actually written prior to The House on Needless Street or Sundial. In my assessment, Ward’s writing only gets stronger with time (Sundial is my favorite of hers.), and I’ll be the first to grab her next release.

Shout out to @thats.one.for.the.books and @bookmarked.by.becky
I always enjoy our discussions, but I don’t think I could've managed this book without them! Trust me, you’ll want to read this one with a friend(s).

I partnered the physical and audio copies of this book, and it created a complete experience. With such a complex story, I found the print version necessary for annotation. But the narration by Carolyn Bonnyman was so nuanced and well executed that it shouldn’t be missed.

𝙼𝚢 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝙳𝙽𝙵 𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚐𝚎 173 (66% 𝚘𝚗 𝚎𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜)
——
Ok so y’all must be wondering why I DNFed at 66%. Well, for one thing, I was hosting a buddy read so I really wanted to have the book read, but also, Catriona is like *THE* favorite author of mine. So imagine my sadness when I had to torture myself through this book. I loved, no, adored 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗢𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 and I loved 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗹. But nah dawg, this book completely missed the mark for me.

On a more positive note, I appreciated the cultish world that the author created in the castle of Altnaharra on an isle of the same name in the early 1900s. I could also appreciate how a cult leader manipulates young children to the point of no return, even when an outsider tries to reason them with the obvious. But this is where it ended for me.

The pace of the story and the style of writing, I could not cherish. I also think on a subconscious level, I could not understand how responsible adults such as law enforcement did not treat the situation adequately even though I am fully aware that this was a different era and these things very much still take place to this day. I also think with this book, I have discovered that I can only read so much about children being constantly abused. And finally, there just seemed too much going on with too many characters that I was simply losing focus.
I’m still going to continue reading anything Catriona Ward writes, and I realize this book is one of her earlier works. Unfortunately, I just cannot recommend this one.
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It has become an unmovable fact that I LOVE everything and anything that Catriona Ward writes and I am happily the top of her fan club.

Little Eve was absolutely a departure from some of her other writing, but it is no less incredible. It took all of two chapters for me to be fully immersed in the voice and the world of this book, and to be completely transfixed by the story. At the heart of this book is a story about a cult (which I am always here for), but the writing of the book feels almost like a fairy-tale. A manipulative and ruthless leader who does everything in his power to keep his group following his word, isolated, brainwashed and adoring to him. A young girl who sees herself as the one true heir to his power and her unrelenting desire to possess it.

The characters are somehow abstract enough that you are hungry to learn more, and real enough that you are hoping against hope for them (despite knowing their fates early in the story).

This is a story that is intense, deeply atmospheric, terrifying, brutal and I stayed glued to the pages from start to finish. I couldn't get enough of this story and I would kill to see it adapted to screen. No spoilers, because you deserve to enjoy this one going in blind, but trust me when I say this is worth being on your TBR.