LITTLE EVE is a backlist title being rereleased through Tor Nightfire and I am so happy they did. Isolation horror or psychological horror or better yet, cult horror, is a trope I can never get enough of. I enjoyed everything from the gothic Scotland setting to the brilliant characterization (and there are some terrible people in the Adder family). And like everything with Ward, she keeps you in suspense until the mystery is revealed. I cannot wait to read her next book, LOOKING GLASS SOUND (sadly we have to wait until April 2023).

Sisters Eve and Dinah are youthful members of a cult, led by a man known only as "Uncle," living in an old stone castle on a remote island off the coast of Scotland. Uncle promises his wards, his followers, all young girls, that the future holds something profound, something they've never seen before. One of the girls will inherit tremendous powers and Eve is willing to do anything to be the chosen one.
But even on a remote island in Scotland, just after the war to end all wars, a cult with young girl followers catches the eyes of the law. Chief Inspector Christopher Black investigates a brutal murder, which derails a sacred ceremony on the island, and he desperately wants to get Eve away from Uncle's control. But no matter how bad things get, Eve is devoted to Uncle and his teachings.

It is quite appropriate that this was a Shirley Jackson Award winner (2019) because this feels so much like a Shirley Jackson book - it is a dark, Gothic horror novel, heavy on character.

Author Catriona Ward plays fast and loose with time here and it's important to pay attention to the date at the beginning of a chapter. We bounce around a bit but rest assured, the story does come together.

I especially appreciated the character of Inspector Black. He seemed the most complex character. While the focus is on Eve, she doesn't seem to be in control of her own actions through most of the book and her wants and desires seem pretty straight-forward. Black on the other hand is highly conflicted. He is suspicious of Eve, but he also wants to get her out of her situation (being in a cult), but he also knows he has no direct action he can take other than trying to convince her it's in her best interest - which is typically not enough to get someone out of a cult.

There are layers of horror here, sometimes subtle, sometimes in your face, but overall it definitely has a gothic horror feel to it, and as I've already mentioned, it sings of Shirley Jackson.

Author Catriona Ward notes that while this is only just being published by her current publisher, she actually wrote and had this published in 2018 (it received the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel in 2018), making this her first novel. I've now read two books by Ward and she is definitely an author to seek out.

Looking for a good book? Little Eve by Catriona Ward is solid, spine-tingling, Gothic horror and worth reading if you like a little shiver in your reading.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I see the name Catriona Ward on a book and I am there. Ultimately this was not my favorite of hers, but it was still one of the best reads of 2022. She does not miss! A perfect period Gothic chiller.

What a fantastically creepy story this was! I'm not typically a fan of gothic horror, but I could not help but to love this book, mostly because the character of Uncle is so darkly memorable. It was captivated and could not put this book down. I highly recommend this to fans of Gothic horror. You cannot go wrong with anything written by Catriona Ward.

Thank you to NetGalley, Catriona Ward, and Tor Nightfire for the opportunity to read this marvellous book in exchange for this honest review.

This was to horrory for me. i am not a huge horror fan and should have read the description better before requesting this one.

This was creepy! Which is to be expected from Catriona Ward, in this gothic historical, blood soaked tale set in 1917-1921 Ireland. Ward opens the story in 1921 when the local butcher brings his delivery to Altnaharra house, and discovers everyone dead, murdered, except for one girl, Dinah.

Ward takes us back to 1917, and tells us through Eve's eyes how Eve and Dinah, orphans, were taken In at Altnaharra house by “Uncle”, who uses a variety of bizarre rituals, isolation from the outside world, and physical, mental and sexual abuse to prepare the group for the time when they bring the world to an end, so.....death cult.

Uncle ensures that even though things are pretty bizarre and frankly awful in the house, to all outward appearances the people of Altnaharra House are relatively normal, so no one ever decides to ask any probing questions.

Except for Chief Inspector Christopher Black, who becomes interested in the goings on in Altnaharra House, and specifically in Eve's wellbeing. Eve is both fascinated and repelled by the possibilities he and the outside world represent...though this doesn't last long, and eventually, we end up in 1921, and all the dead bodies.

To reiterate, this was creepy! And chilling, and nightmarish, thanks to awful Uncle and his horrible cult, and how downtrodden and brainwashed everyone in Altnaharra were. Catriona Ward plays with reality and has the reader constantly questioning what is actually happening, as Eve's understanding of people and events around her are fractured and twisted, thanks to Uncle.

Eve is incredibly compelling, nonetheless, and I found the story impossible to put down, even with its oppressive situation and the certainty that everything ends in murder.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Eve has been raised on the island of Altnaharra, her Uncle the Adder in a cultish religion that predicts the end of the world by giant serpent. For Eve and her family, it’s very real, and Eve would do anything to inherit the Adder’s power. When Chief Inspector Black arrives to investigate a murder in the nearby town, he puts doubt in Eve’s heart for the first time. When their sacred ceremony goes badly wrong, her sister Dinah is the only one left standing to tell the story. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Macmillan-Tor/Forge. Trigger warnings: character/family death, drowning, rape, pedophilia, child abuse/abusive households (graphic, on-page), cults, eye horror, body horror, starvation, severe injury, violence, drugging, manipulation, snakes, sexism, guilt, strong religious themes.

I realized a while back that I was hardly ever making use of two stars in my reviews, instead lumping most books into three stars for various reasons, so I decided to change my strategy a little. When I finish a book, I ask myself the simple question, “Did you enjoy it?” If the answer is “No,” then it’s not a three-star book, no matter how well-written it might be. I didn’t enjoy this book. It is well-written. My rating is a reflection of my enjoyment, not necessarily its goodness, so take that with a grain of salt.

Ward is excellent at layering mysteries so that we think we know what’s going on, only for her to pull the rug out from under us at the end and show us what we should have been looking at all along. The answers were there, but with a little sleight of hand, she managed to misdirect us into looking somewhere else. I enjoyed that aspect of the novel and, indeed, the mystery of what happened and how it happened was one of few things that kept me going throughout the novel. The discrepancies in the past and present accounts were an itch in my brain. I had to know who was lying.

But goddamn, is it hard to read. I don’t enjoy historical novels, and I don’t enjoy novels about cults, and Little Eve is both. The thing about cults is that they only make sense from the inside, so any outsider (like the reader) is going to look at it and go: that is batshit crazy, why are you staying? And since I’m on the outside, I could never shake that question as I was reading. It’s not that Ward doesn’t do a good job of putting us in Eve’s mindset, because she does. It’s completely understandable why she thinks and acts the way she does, having such limited experience with the outside world.

But wow, that’s a lot of abuse for a lot of pages, and it’s an absolute drag to get through her chapters with her family. Her conversations with Chief Inspector Black were the only reprieve, and I couldn’t summon a lot of feelings for any of the other characters besides horror or pity, depending. Black is a breath of fresh air, and I enjoyed his Sherlock Holmes-style appeals to reason, and all the little cracks he puts in Eve’s belief in her family’s magic. The novel does an expert job in walking the line between real or not-real, and for once, the answers are as satisfying as the questions. I’ll never be tempted to pick it up again though.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

“It is a lonely thing to be a monster.”

Reading Little Eve reminded me that I shouldn’t ever put off reading a Catriona Ward novel as long as I did this one.

I went into this one mostly blind. I think I read the synopsis once a while before reading. I think that’s the way to go into this one because it made events even more surprising.

I was so focused on the characters and the setting that I didn’t always stop to think where this was going. It was a slow burn that really sucks you into this world that’s dark, gothic, and incredibly unsettling. You’re really kept guessing when it comes to where the story is going and what this group believes.

There were a lot of emotions that surfaced throughout. It was hard not to feel nervous at Eve’s progression and Uncle’s teachings or angry at the treatment Eve and others received.

I recommend listening to this on audio as the narrator was amazing and it’s a really bingeable read. Even if you can guess one of the twists coming, there are still plenty more that will shock you and leave you thinking about Little Eve long after you’ve finished.

As with past Catriona Ward novels, this book scared the pants off me. I don't read a lot of horror but her stories intrigue me so I requested it. This is a gothic horror and does not disappoint. The setting and pace are really good. I could not put this book down! But I have to say that I wanted it to end because I didn't think I could take much more of it. LOL! Recommend!

I tried so incredibly hard to keep going and enjoy this. I am a huge Catriona Ward fan and this being a piece she felt so close to her home and her heart meant I really knew it would be special. I don’t think it was a bad plot or anything like that I just think it wasn’t for me. I can appreciate the story and see why it’s a piece to be praised. Ward’s writing is beautiful and atmospheric. She paints this haunting and gothic piece that is hard to not believe. It is dark because if there is one thing about this author it’s that she does not hold back when it comes to redefining the line. As a horror fan that is one of the main things that keeps me coming back to her work.
Thank you NetGalley for the copy for a review!

I’m really disappointed to say that I couldn’t get into this read. I tried several times because I had heard so many great things about this author and this read. I absolutely love dark, gothic narratives but found my thoughts wandering every time I tried to immerse myself in this story. I will try again at another time as I know the premise has great potential. It just wasn’t right for me at this point in time.

I wish I could read Little Eve again for the first time. Little Eve was excellent, a real page-turner. Little Eve was fast-paced, engaging, and suspenseful. Everything about Little Eve was beautifully complex. Little Eve kept me spellbound, and I was compelled to keep reading. I was blown away by the author’s ability to write such phenomenal scenes.

I had no idea what to expect opening this book, but I loved it! The writing and story was mesmerizing and I read this in one sitting.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this eARC in exchange for a honest review. **Please check trigger warnings before reading this book.**

I believe Catriona Ward just became an instant-buy author for me. This is the first book I've read by her, and it blew me away. I highly recommend this smart, gothic and atmospheric cult horror(-ish) story.

We follow Dinah and Eve's perspectives throughout the story set in the early 1900s, while learning about their life in the cult and who might have committed the murders in the beginning of the story. You are also taken on a journey of the human psyche. Questions apart from the main plot arise - like how well can one's subconscious pick up on details we don't think we notice? How can isolation and starvation effect the mind?

My only critique is that I wish that the dialogue reflected that this took place in Scotland. Although minor, and clearly the author's choice, it wasn't consistent. Jamie's dialogue was written with a bit of a brogue and Scottish verbiage, while none of the other characters did. I feel like it would've helped the setting a bit more.

-multiple pov
-murder mystery/whodunnit
-cult/religious abuse
-gothic Scottish backdrop
-not what it seems

**Potential spoiler**
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-unreliable narrator

Man, I have read a lot of books surrounding cults and men lording over women but this one is haunting. Eve lives on an island with Uncle and her family of sisters & one brother where they are preparing for the emergence of an eldritch being from the sea. Of course as our tale unfolds and horrific truths beging to be brought to light Eve finds herself lost and desperate to help her family. The author gives us few chapters that alternate characters/timelines that allow the reader to piece more together without spoiling big reveals. I didn't see the massive reveal coming, perhaps because I was so invested in how everything played out with certain characters or simply because this author is a master at what she does. I totally get why she won awards for Little Eve and look forward to seeing what she has to offer us in the future.

I highly recommend sticking with this one; the beginning is a bit confusing with the chosen narrative style. Once you get half way through, it makes more sense. As the mystery unravels I found myself becoming more and more engrossed.

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Little Eve was weird and a story style that I don't enjoy reading. The description gave off a different vibe than what I encountered while reading.

Wow! What did I just read? Catriona Ward is the new master of horror storytelling.

These characters, the brutal murder and the police detective were everything for this book and I really enjoyed until the very last page.

Well Ward once again has delivered a book that will stay on your mind after finishing. This previously released book about a family on a seculded island waiting for "The Adder" to come starts out with a devastating crime. The story of how and why it happens is then slowly told to us over the years with people in the nearby village being involved. I enjoyed many things about this book from the story of what is family, faith vs. truth and the repurcussions of violence.

I will say this was a hard book for me to read again, much like Sundial the violence is shocking and upsetting. So much of this book found me hesistant to go on but the ending truly does pull the whole story together. Eve and all of the side characters like her family are portrayed in a way that makes you care about them but also be frustrated by them, well except for one major figure. Eve herself is a fascinating character that angers you, confuses you and then breaks your heart. I loved reading her POV much more than her sister.

I wouldn't reccomend this story for those who don't like period pieces as it made the plot feel much slower for me and even more confusing than the story is, especially with all of the different characters and religious symbolism. I would reccomend Sundial more as I have not read her other books but think that Sundial was better balanced than this story. Highly reccomend looking up content warnings for this one.

Ward’s popularity soared after The Last House on Needless Street, positioning her as an exciting newcomer to the crowded horror genre. Given her rise in followers, Tor Nightfire has recently re-released some of the author’s earlier efforts in the U.S. Little Eve is her second book, and in her prologue, Ward admits that it was a challenge to corral her thoughts into a cohesive work. The reader may experience a similar sense of distress, in this case due to the plot’s sinister slow build, jaw-dropping reveals and wince-inducing violence. Eve’s story unfolds within two timelines taking place between 1917 and the 1920’s. The misguided and confused young woman describes a childhood of adoration and obedience for her “Uncle,” despite suffering from his continual abuse. Secondary characters consist primarily of fellow captives, and all are voluntarily marooned together on an isolated tidal island in Scotland. From Eve’s deluded perspective, the reader is left to piece together the cult-like belief system that has been constructed to control and manipulate them. Eve’s story is heartbreaking and grotesque, at times so extreme that it stretches plausibility. It is a testament to Ward’s talent that the reader willingly accepts these conditions, mirroring how her characters bow to the illusions around them. Little Eve is a disturbing read and probably not for the squeamish, but the novel is rewarding for those who are able succumb to its twisted chaos.

Thanks to the author, Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.