I so so so so love Catriona Ward’s books and was super intrigued by LITTLE EVE’s concept but couldn’t seem to get into the book. I would definitely try rereading it again in the future though!

DNF @ 26%. I wanted to love this because I absolutely loved THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET but found this incredibly boring. I don’t care to know what happens at the end. It was incredibly ominous and I found the opening chapter intriguing, but after that it felt extremely repetitive and without much forward motion.

Little Eve was originally published in the UK back in 2018. It is being re-printed and will be available in the US for the first time.

In Little Eve we follow a family that’s isolated itself off of the coast of Scotland. They worship what they call “the Adder “ and they believe the world will soon come to an end.

The atmosphere is dark and gothic. The story opens up with a pretty gruesome scene. A butcher discovers the family murdered with the exception of Dinah and Eve. Dinah is missing an eye and Eve is suspected of killing everyone.

We follow the family back in time to explore their family dynamics, and their manipulation at the hands of their uncle.

The book ultimately didn’t work for me. I can’t precisely pinpoint what was missing. It might be that Catriona Ward’s writing style doesn’t quite work for me. The writing felt very repetitive and dense at some points.

Thank you to netgalley for a copy of this arc in exchange for a review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The perfect chilly, spooky read! I loved the setting, it is well-developed and a perfect fit with the story. The characters are all fascinating and I became invested in each one. The pace of the story is fast enough to keep you reading, but slows down at certain points to effectively build suspense. Highly recommend for any reader wanting a dark thrill!

Faith, Family and a lot of twists will keep you involved with this one.
Oh that monster.
You can't lose with Catriona Ward

This book took me quite some time to read. It was engaging enough to keep me coming back to try to finish it.
I found it difficult to follow at various points, as what was real and what was poetic prose.
“Somewhere beyond the sea, somewhere waiting for me...”
A gothic, dramatic mystery drenched in wickedness.
I’m a fan of Catriona Ward and her writing. This one is a bit different than what I’ve read of hers, thus far.
I received an advanced reading copy in exchange for an unbiased opinion.
Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity.

Outside of the village of Loyal is an island called Altnaharra, an island that is home to a strange group of individuals who believe that they can bring about the end of the world and be rebirthed from the sea. The leader of this group is Uncle, with his snake Hercules beside him. Claiming that that the Adder is coming and one of them will inherit it’s powers, Uncle is trying to see who from their numbers will be granted this distinction, and Eve is convinced it will be her, and is willing to do almost anything to make it so. When a ceremony goes deathly wrong the secrets of Altnaharra and the people who live there will be uncovered and no one will be left unscathed. 

What a deliciously twisted novel! I love how Ward started the novel with the end. It was vague enough to leave the reader knowing next to nothing while giving just enough to grab my interests and make me want to read in order to find out how everything ended up how it did. There are a lot of characters but they were pretty easy to keep straight. The symbolism throughout is so meaningful and powerful, adding to the twistedness of the narrative. I liked that there were multiple points of view used to tell the story; I felt it added to my understanding of some of the characters. While I had some correct suspicions about things early on there were still plenty of surprises along the way.

Little Eve is only the third book I’ve read by Catriona Ward, but she’s quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. She just doesn’t disappoint. Her books are simply incredible. They have everything I want from a horror novel: incredibly unique storylines, creepy, and absolutely dripping with atmosphere. Her newest release isn’t technically her newest book, it’s actually her second novel, only it’s now getting a release here in the states. I hesitate to even try to tell you what it’s about for fear of giving anything away, and maybe it’s just me but I’ll say there were times when this creepy tale of a family/cult living off the coast of Scotland gave me an almost Lovecraftian vibe, and it kept me enthralled from start to finish. I can’t wait to see where she takes us next. I’d like to thank Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for allowing me a chance to read and review an eARC of Little Eve.

Read if you like: historical thrillers/mysteries.
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This book was super creepy and interesting. It is about a group of people (a cult) in early 20th Century Scotland in a castle and waiting for the end of the world.
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I liked the opposing perspectives and I guessed the mystery at the end, which never happens. The beginning and the end were very engaging, but I felt that the middle seemed to drag a bit.

An atmospheric historical horror with all the best twists brought by Catriona Ward. Chilling, heart-wrenching, and beautiful through the very last word.

2.5 stars

This is a gothic, historical fiction novel involving a patriarchal cult, dreary weather, lots of ocean metaphors, and confusing timelines. We are following a few main characters who are in a cult led by a man they call “Uncle”. They are isolated from society behind a gate in a castle in a remote part of Scotland. On a daily basis, they are subjected to weird rituals and are essentially starved to be ready for the arrival of “The Alder”. The plot itself can be quite difficult to understand, but the book starts off with a ritual-based tragedy where most of the cult is murdered, and we go back through time to find out what happened and led up to the event. Most of the plot is very repetitive and confusing through different rituals and sad events that happen to those in the cult. The narrative blended the minutiae of their days until the plot just felt like a blur of low-level cult rituals and sad, gloomy, Scotland weather.

I can see that Ward is a talented writer, however, her writing is difficult for me to get through and get behind, which is why this took me over a month from start to finish. She weaves beautiful sentences, but it’s hard for me to picture, and takes a lot of brainpower to understand her style as well as the plot. The fact that this book isn’t even a full 300 pages, yet it felt like a 600 page book, says a lot. I also felt so disconnected from the characters with this kind of writing style, and I could never get invested into the narrative, even though I love how Ward’s mind works.

**Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Netgalley for an eARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review**

TW: https://bit.ly/3USKxll

I have read and loved every one of Catriona Ward’s books, and this edition is a republishing of her first novel, Little Eve. You can see the progression of her books and while this is the least favorite of mine, I did enjoy it overall. There is a lot going on in the beginning and a few characters to sort through, which makes it difficult when doing a book via audio, which I did, but by the end it started coming together and that is why I was glad I pushed through and finished. I loved the world of Altnaharra that Ward created, which is set in Scotland, and you will always have me with a cult based plot. This is a very dark and twisted plot, so be warned about that but again, it kind of goes hand in hand with cults and with Catriona’s mind if you’ve read her other works. She is an auto-buy/auto-read author for me and I cannot wait to see what she writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the digital galley to review.

3.5/5

I'm pretty sure I said this about The Last House on Needless Street, but I'll say it again for this one - this book was a trip.

Little Eve begins at the end - with a cultish ritualistic murder and the perpetrator on the loose. But reading the events that lead up to that really did a great job at flipping what I thought I knew about the situation on its head. Ward clearly likes to play with perspective and identity in her books, and I think she does it well. Bouncing back in forth in time as well as between Eve and Dinah made the mystery really itch my brain and I was desperately trying to puzzle it out the entire time.

I will say, if you don't like snakes - do not read this book. It is not for you. A large part of the cult's belief system revolves around a giant snake-like deity and there are real snakes that the characters interact with and are harmed by. There are also instances of self harm, abuse (verbal and physical), and body horror, so if any of those things make you squeamish I would recommend avoiding this book.

Overall I enjoyed this read, but it didn't quite break my brain in the same way The Last House on Needless Street did. Cults also aren't typically what I reach for in my reads, so this one wasn't as suited for me as some other horror novels are.

A historical thriller featuring a cult and hints of supernatural elements. I honestly have no idea what happened in this book. I know that it has unreliable narrators on purpose, but my goodness what a chore to read.

Ward's work is a slow burn, gothic horror that is completely worthy of all hype! Multiple narratives deftly fill in the events of 1921 around a murder and the twist is not what I expected. So glad this work has now been published in America!
A quick read, that I think readers of horror, mystery, historical fiction, gothic gloom, and slow burn unexpected plot twists will enjoy this work by Catriona Ward.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the dARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

This book scared the bejesus out of me. Creepy atmosphere and a complete immersion of this terrifying world ensured that I wasn’t reading this alone at night. I was impressed with her style of writing and how fast paced it was. Truly scary!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I loved this book. Loved it, loved it, loved it. It was creepy, raw, horrific, heart-rending, everything. Catriona Ward cemented her place as one of my favorite authors with Little Eve. I think she might be one of the best modern authors I've read.
Little Even starts quickly with a spooky, cultish atmosphere and just keeps spiraling down the rabbithole of madness (in a good way). It's horrific, but it's so humanizing, too.
I only give five stars to books that I think everyone should read, so I definitely recommend Little Eve to all adult readers.

Catriona Ward has become one of my favourite authors this year and this book did not disappoint. It was so creepy and clever. I flew through reading it and Ward just had this way of writing a thriller that has you so hooked and wanting more. I truly enjoyed this and look forward to reading more of her books as they are published!

I will read anything Catriona Ward writes. I LOVED Last House on Needless Street and survived reading Sundial, even though the only way I made it through all of the animal stuff was because I knew Ward would make it worth the angst (do whatever you want to the people but leave the animals alone... aaagh). Only for her would I put myself through that.

Little Eve was creepy and culty and atmospheric and dark. Beautiful writing, twists and turns galore, and set in one of the most sinister environments I've ever read. This is a must-read for existing fans of Ward's work and a wonderful starting point for her new readers.

October was a rough month!! I DNF'd this book. Not for any particular reason but I just wasn't feeling it at this time. May potentially revisit.