3.5 out of 5 stars

I absolutely love Carolyn Bonnyman's accent and could listen to it all day every day. I will definitely look for books narrated by Carolyn in the future. The only downside to the accent is that the maximum speed I could listen to was 1.5x, any faster and I couldn't understand what was being said.

This book is told in alternating POVs and I enjoy this style of writing, as I like seeing the story unfold from different perspectives. We start this book near the end of the story and then we jump back and forth in time to tell the story of how we go to everyone dying. This was a little confusing at times; overall the story was twisty and I would read more books from Catriona Ward in the future.

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. I will say if you are going to check this one out, I'd recommend the audiobook because the narration by Carolyn Bonnyman was well done.

Rating 3 stars.

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

Unfortunately I didn't connect with this one.

The narrator was so musical and lovely, but I often found myself spacing out or just listening like it was music and lost track of the plot several times.

I think it will work great or historical fans but for me it didn't really click unfortunately.

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.

Little Eve by Catriona Ward is weird. Is it weird in a good way or in a bad way? I'm still trying to decide, and maybe that's what makes it a great book, when you're still puzzling and pondering over it days after finishing. Did I think about giving this one up more than once? Yes. Did I finish? Also yes, because although this book made me sometimes uncomfortable and squeamish, it also compelled me to know what happened, how it all resolved. It took me out of my comfort zone, which was maybe the point all along.

Thanks for the opportunity to review!

Link to 10/11/22 Instagram post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjldxzYL8ek/

If you like gothic atmospheric stories this one is great! It was a tad slow, it's more a horror mystery than a thriller. I enjoyed the creepy and culty vibe. The narration by Carolyn Bonnyman was great and really contributed to the mood of the book. Thank you so much MacMillan Audio for the ARC of this one.

Dear Little Eve,
Man, Catriona Ward is the absolute best at telling stories where I cannot figure out what the heck is going on! I spent the whole time I listened to you, doubting every word out of Eve's mouth, and then questioning what her sister was saying! I love books that are split time lines connected by a place or object and I love unreliable narrators and you really delivered on both. You were dark and suspenseful with unpredictable twists and turns, and i loved the Scottish narrator, as well. She helped bring atmosphere and darkness to Eve's story. You left a lingering shadow of questions for me, but it was about how the story started, about Uncle and how he became so twisted. Any kind of religious crazy is undeniably frightening, and Uncle was certainly that.

Little Eve was amazing. It had darkness, gothic vibes, and mystery on who could be trusted.
I loved what each character brought to the story and how they were written.
It was clever and well thought out.

I just could not get over how well written every part was. The plot the people the settle. Gold!

I really enjoyed the narrator, but I think I preferred the parts I read myself.

This was actually Ward's second novel but was made available this year. I had a bit of trouble with this one. Very interesting story, however, because it took place on a Scottish isle, I was having a bit of an issue with the language. The narrator was wonderful, though. Totally my misunderstanding. But the way the story sort of drifted back and forth between characters and time periods, I was a bit confused.
The story of Eve and Dinah is told in 1917 and 1921. The girls are part of cult, run by Uncle, on the Scottish isle of Altnaharra. There is a murder mystery to the story and a lot of things aren't explained (or don't make any sense) until you get to the end of the story.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this arc.*

I liked this book! I was eager to read this book since I really enjoyed the last two books that I read by this author. Now that I have finished this book, Catriona Ward has earned a spot on my list of must-read authors. It did take me a minute to really get into this book but once I did, I was hooked. I loved the creepy atmosphere and couldn’t wait to see what was really going on.

Eve lives in a castle with her “Uncle” and other members of their group. They lead an isolated life and her “Uncle” has all of the power in the cult that they live in. We learn early on in the book that this was not going to have a happy ending and I was anxious to see how everything would play out. As much as I wanted to be amazed by some of the things that happened on this small Scottish island, I know that cults can be just as cruel in the real world. Eve, Dinah, and the rest of the characters have known nothing else but this life so they don’t question the way things are.

I listened to the audiobook and thought that Carolyn Bonnyman did a great job with the story. I loved the voices that she used for the cast of characters. I thought that the accent that she used was perfect and added a lot to the story. I thought that her delivery of this story really helped to bring the somewhat creepy atmosphere to life. I do believe that her narration added to my overall enjoyment of this story.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a very well-done story that had all of the twists and turns that I had hoped to find. The more that I read, the harder I found it was to set this book aside. I cannot wait to read more of Catriona Ward’s work.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Tor Nightfire/Macmillan Audio.

I was riveted by this book from start to finish, which is a relief considering I didn’t like the two previous books from this author. This book though… this was enticing and revolting alike, in the best way!

With any books with a cult-like or belief-based (in the case where people are getting brainwashed and blindsided) plot, I have these dueling feelings running through me… pure disgust and anger at the naivety of those people getting duped (while still understanding that this is the manipulator’s doing, and many times cannot be helped) and my absolute compulsion to know more. This book completely fit that bill and there wasn’t a moment of this book that I wasn’t totally enthralled.

We go on a journey back and forth beginning in 1917 with Dinah and Eve and their life in the castle on the isle of Altnaharra, though don’t let the castle persuade you to think they live a life of luxury… They, along with a handful of other orphans, live with “Uncle” a man who has taught them all about the ways that man’s Christian God is bad and the great Adder in the sea is the real creature of worship. And one of their few will inherit his great powers.

The ways in which we see these children vie for both Uncle’s affection and for the Adder to come for them is bizarre, but no one more so than Eve. And the way this story unfolds kept me on the edge of my seat, turning pager after page all day long.

Thanks for the nightmares.

This was an amazing production! I was so impressed with the narrator. It is a very moody and twisty book full of all of our worst nightmares.
I will never recover from the eyeball stuff.
It has a some moments of hope as well.

I definitely recommend it

Maybe it's me because I just don't think Catriona Ward is for me. This is my third book and the stories she writes just work for me. At least compared to The House on Needless Street, I did not actively dislike it. Instead I simply felt different. I never connected with the characters or their stories which made it hard to get invested in the narrative.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review.

First line: My heart is a dark passage, lined with ranks of gleaming jars.

Summary: On the island of Altnaharra is a community of people who rarely leave the island. They follow their own rules and live in hopes of the coming of the Adder who will choose one of them to take on its powers. Eve has spent her whole life here and is willing to do what she needs to gain distinction. But then one day a detective shows up who starts making Eve question what is happening on the island.

My Thoughts: So much build up for very little reward. The beginning is slow moving and I nearly gave up on the story. Maybe it had to do with the narrator. I had to speed the tracks up to 1.75 or 2 to get the story moving along. I never really connected with the characters and I felt like the story is similar to others I have read. The cover though was superb. Very eerie.

Little Eve truly is a disturbing novel that creeps into the back of your brain, sinks its claws in and doesn't let go. Once again, Catriona Ward creates this gothic, spooky atmosphere that is so, so easy to devour.

This was a very creepy atmospheric novel. I felt it had a slow start and was a bit confusing at times. It was a true gothic story and the setting helped contribute to the unsettling feeling I got while reading/listening to this. I enjoyed the detective POV as I like a good investigative story. Overall it was not really for me sadly but I can see how someone who loves gothic horror would love this story.

I think the narrator did a great job with this and gave the story a lot of emotion. She made me want to keep listening to know what the next move would be and I feel that's the mark of a great narrator.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for my audio ARC of this book.

After thoroughly enjoying the brutal and twisting plot of Sundial, I was eager to pick up Little Eve. The book focuses on two young orphaned girls in a cult run by a man known as "Uncle." They continually perform bizarre, purifying rituals to prepare for the end of the world, and Eve has high hopes she will inherit mysterious powers.

There's a lot going on in this book, and I really enjoyed the dark, coastal Scottish setting that felt like another character in itself. Little Eve explores what comes from a life lived within a cult, and the story goes through a set of twists and turns that the writer is so great at developing. Despite all of that, the book did occasionally feel a little bit slow and dense. The story takes place beginning in 1917 through the early 1920s, but it carried on the vibe of being written in the 1800s. It does add to the gothic atmosphere, but it was tougher for me to get through.

However, I'm sure this is a book that will be a big hit with horror and suspense fans.

This Edwardian Gothic takes place on a remote Scottish island, where a man known as “Uncle”, lives with a small group of women and children in a crumbling castle. This strange little cult is ostracized by the community, as they gleefully prepare for the end of the world. The story begins with a terrifying scene, when bodies are discovered at the castle, the victims obviously killed in ritualistic fashion and then moves backward in time to explain what happened and how. Ward doesn’t write books for the faint of heart and this one is a doozy that takes on misogyny and cult psychology

This one is sadly going to be a DNF for me. I am obsessed with Catriona Wards newer works, and I think she is undeniably a phenomenal author. Gothic /historical fiction often doesn't work for me and I just think that's the case here. I'm sure that this book will find its audience though and I will gladly pick up all new work by Ward!

I have loved Ward's other two works so I was expecting to adore this one just as much but I simply didn't. I felt like compared to her first two this one just didn't stand out.
I will say I am not a big fan of religion in book so this very much may just be a me thing. Fhe story was a solid idea and the setting was very creepy. I just couldn't get into the story no matter how hard I tried.