Eve's Rib gave me 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' but-make-it-witchy kind of vibes.

While the concept had potential, the execution fell flat. The writing and characters, especially the teen daughter's perspective, are a little one-dimensional and clichéd.

Despite its shortcomings, I read through, intrigued by the magical chaos even when the creepiness felt trite.

I wasn't a fan of the animal violence and depictions of child death, although the blurb does forewarn about the death part. The epilogue did manage to surprise me!

I was very excited for this one but ultimately, it fell a bit flat for me. I enjoyed the creepiness coming from the daughter and the mother’s relationships with her, but, to me, it seemed to be taking its time with getting the plot out, which made it a bit arduous to read.

Eve's Rib is a haunting and dark disturbing thriller. It involves witchcraft and is tantalising and scary. Horror filled.

Reading 'Eve's Rib' felt like diving into a world that was part Gillian Flynn (think a mix of 'Gone Girl' and 'Sharp Objects') with a healthy dose of magic a la 'Practical Magic". All around it was an enjoyable read. I appreciated that we got to see the POV from each of the family members as they navigate the days leading up to the climactic events of the story. O'Cinneide manages to keep the reader guessing by giving just enough of each character's story without over-doing it. Though I do think the Big Bad is predictable, it was still fun to read as all the chess pieces were maneuvered about the board. As for the epilogue, I feel 50/50 about it. It was one last nice twist to end the book on, but a part of me liked the way things had concluded beforehand.

I really enjoyed this story. It was a good mix of the speculative with eerie domestic suspense. Most of the time, I was wondering what was going on, and the author did a good job with the interspersing of all three POVs and Abbey's journal entries to keep me guessing. The characters were well-fleshed out, and I enjoyed the progression of the plot. The only place where it fell apart for me was at the climax when the 'villain' was revealed. I feel like that could've been set up better, and it was almost a race to end, but otherwise. a very good read!

I loved this book! I love fantasy fiction and i love magic and witchcraft. This felt like a really modern version with a domestic setting rather than a castle, or a forest, or wands and dragons. Really dark at points, i loved the realistic portrayal of the difficulties of mother-daughter relationships and the tension that can exist in that love or expectation, only this time with the underlying fear of the consequences of the mother’s decision. Really unique, dealing with magic and yet still seemed believable and ‘real’. A great read!

4ish stars

This story was creepy, suspenseful, and dramatic in turns. It had fun magic realism elements to it, and I appreciated the Canadian setting/context (small but frequent references to Ontario-specific things made me smile). I definitely felt like I was playing the “is she evil or just seriously unlucky?” game when it came to the daughter character. As it turns out, kind of both (but WHY do evil characters always have to hurt animals?? Seriously, I don’t need those descriptions. Ugh). I also wasn’t a huge fan of the big dramatic ending (I don’t know why, but it didn’t quite seem to fit the way I wanted it to), although the absolute final scene was good. All in all, it was a pretty good one.

This was so creepy! I loved the writing and the atmosphere that was developed in this one! It left me lost for words at times and I need to find someone to discuss this with asap!

Eve's Rib follows our main character Eve and the aftermath of the tragedy of the death of her son. The story is spent learning what happened and why Eve's eldest daughter Abbey is acting.. so very strange. This book is told from three different POV's: Eve's, Abbey's, and Richard (Eve's husband). We learn that Eve, a young witch, asked the "Ragman" for help after a string of hopeless fertility issues and was finally able to conceive, Abbey.

While this book gives a taste of the supernatural, this is not really what I was expecting when I requested this book. I was expecting more creepy child and less infidelity. I think it was a little too much of a slow burn for me in terms of a thriller novel and caused me to get a little detached. While I very much enjoyed O'Cinneide's writing, especially with three unreliable narrators, this one just wasn't for me personally. I will still be checking out the author's other work though - both in past and future publishing.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one. I struggled to like the characters and then felt quite confused at the ending.

I was looking forward to it after reading the description but don’t think it was what I expected!

Thank you to #NetGalley and #DundurnPress for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TW: child death, fertility issues & miscarriage, infidelity, bullying, suicide, death and violence to animals

I was really excited to read this book because of the cover and the synopsys, but I didn't enjoy it. I didn't care about any of the characters, it was too slow-paced for me, there's magic but there isn't at the same time... I honestly didn't like it at all.

Well, I stayed up until 1 am to finish this book, so take of that what you will.

The bad guy was not a surprise. The author's choice of narrator really lulls you into the characters, building them out (Abbey is still a brat that needs striaghtening out). And then the last scene happens, and you have to rethink just how reliable that damn narrator is, and how much of the book should be taken at word.

Well written, wonderful!

I really loved O’Cinneide’s previous book PETRA’S GHOST, but unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me. I can’t even really explain why, but I just found that I didn’t connect to the main characters and found it a bit of a slog to get through. The “witchy” bit also seemed a bit forced to me and put me off. I ended up conceding that we just didn’t click and DNF’d. Maybe I’ll try again at a later time, sometimes it’s just a matter of reading mood and frame of mind.

I usually love a good “bad seed” book, and I had hoped this was going to be one of those really screwed-up and mind-warping mommy issues horror novels I've loved in the past. Sadly, this was not meant to be, as “Eve’s Rib” just turned out to be for the most part just very slow and boring.

I kind of got the gist of what O’Cinneide was trying to put out there with this book, and I appreciated the effort, but the book wasn’t scary, and it certainly never reached the level of horror for me. I didn’t understand a lot of what was in the book had to be put in there, as it felt like filler material, and some of the writing was not only sloppy, but downright off-putting in both description and phrasing.

I’m finding it hard to put into words just how to more fully describe this book other than I’m sad it didn’t fulfill the potential of the plot and that with more work and editing this book could’ve been a better creature than it currently is.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for granting me access to this title. Due to personal policy, this review will not be posted to any social media or bookseller website because of the 3 star or under rating.

File Under: Occult Horror/Thriller/Psychological Thriller/Horror/Occult Fiction/Just Not For Me

While I enjoyed parts of this book, I did not enjoy it as a whole. I don’t particularly care for a slow burn and this was more than that. In my opinion it moved at a snails pace. I felt like there wasn’t enough character development for me to connect with any of the characters. I had hopes for this one. It just fell a bit short.

Eve's Rib by C.S. O'Cinnede is a family drama with a dark side and a hint of the paranormal.
Eve is a modern day witch who has lost her mojo following the death of her son in tragic circumstances. It is all that she can do to protect the only child she has left, her daughter Abbey, and even though she can see her marriage disintegrating around her she seems unable to do anything to save it. Eve's deepest secret is that she turned to the Ragman, a practitioner of dark magic, to help her conceive Abbey and now she is worried that all the bad things happening to her family is the price she must pay for that choice. She also fears that Abbey is harbouring a darkness of her own and worries that her daughter may be a danger to those around her, but at the same time she is desperate to protect her from the consequences of her actions.
This is a twisting , turning narrative told from three (unreliable) perspectives - Eve's. her husband Richard's and Abbey's, and it is up to the reader to decide which , if any , of the versions they believe. As the book unfolds and more bad things keep happening to those who thwart Abbey in any way while Eve desperately tries to believe the best of her and defend her , it seems clear that there is more to this teenager than meets the eye.
This was a real page turner of a book, I raced through the twists and turns desperate to see how the story unfolded. I really enjoy an unreliable narrator and in this book I was spoiled for choice. None of the characters were particularly likeable but I will say that Abbey in all her brattish self centred glory was my favourite. I will also say that I felt the paranormal aspects of the story could have been expanded a little more, I would have learned to know more about the Ragman and his powers for example, but it felt like this aspect of the story was a garnish while the meat of the book was a more standard domestic thriller.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This book is B.O.R.I.N.G. The slowest of all slow burns with very little payout.

When I read the synopsis of a possible psychopathic daughter I was so intrigued, and it is partly about that, but more so it's about an unfaithful couple, which is a well worn trope and this one isn't even particularly well done. All the characters in this book are despicable and I couldn't have cared less about anyone. Abby the daughter is so crass, so annoying, so unappealing that she couldn't even pull off being an interesting psychopath. I honestly wanted to punch her in her smug little face the entire time I was reading this. This book also has magic and spells and those types of things are just too fantastical to ever work for me. So, unfortunately for me, the book was a big letdown. Bummer. 2 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for my complimentary copy.

Eve’s Rib || CS O’Cinneide
Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Eve’s Rib is a domestic noir story with elements of supernatural, family drama and mystery woven throughout. Told from three alternating perspectives; Eve’s, her husband Richards and their teenager daughter, Abbey. Through these narratives we get a glimpse inside at each character’s thoughts, motivations and secrets. Eighteen years prior to the start of the story, Eve, a witch called on the “Ragman” a dangerous entity when she was desperate to conceive a child. Now she lives with her husband and daughter where they are still recovering from the traumatic death of their youngest child. What follows is part-family drama about trauma, grief and relationship and part supernatural eerily mystery as strange things keep happening to anyone who gets in Abbey’s way.

This is my first book by this author. I enjoyed the deep themes and relationships between the characters. The supernatural elements gave this one a unique twist and depth making it more than just a family drama. The pacing felt slow-medium, however this wasn’t a bad thing allowing us to really get a detailed sense of this complex family with more than a few secrets going on. It was hard to decide whose perspective I enjoyed more as they all added something different and each had their own secrets, motivations making you unsure who to trust.

Overall, this was a fantastic and enjoyable read. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this novel.

Overall the thriller aspect of this was good. Normally I’m one to LOVE a witchy/thriller mash up, but the witchy parts of this one just felt a bit out of place. **spoiler** The last twist at the very end was a shocker in the sense that you get the o oriel twist and then assume the daughter isn’t as bad as you think and then BOOM.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a book I really, really wanted to like but unfortunately it just didn’t live up to my expectations. It was written incredibly well, and the character development was superb, but the plot just didn’t engage me. I‘ll still check out other work by the same author though. This one sadly just wasn’t for me.