Little Eve, originally released in the UK in 2018 but being rereleased now, is a gothic horror book.

I keep reading books from this author just waiting to be wowed like I was with The Last House On Needless Street. Unfortunately, this one just did not do it for me. The writing is beautiful and very atmospheric. But there’s just something about cults that instantly has my mind wandering. It just doesn’t hold my interest.

The narration of the audio was fabulous though! I could feel the emotion of the characters and could vivdly picture the creepy setting of the story. It’s just a shame that the story itself was a bit too slow for me and the first 25% actually had me a bit confused.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Tor/Forge, and the author for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow this book was delightfully creepy and I enjoyed every single minute of it. It kept me on my toes!

The #audiobook by #catrionaward called #LittleEve will leave goosebumps on your skin and your lamp on when it gets dark

If you want the horror atmosphere that Shirley Jackson captured that few do , this #book is for you ! #review #bookreview

(Please keep on an eye on her tags as I plan on other posts- amazing writer ..amazing story teller )

So, unfortunately, I think maybe Catriona Ward's books just aren't for me. I have no idea what I just listened to. I normally like creepy books. Especially if the setting is Scotland and bonus points if there’s a cult. This sounded really good. All the boxes checked. But, I’m just confused. I was confused from the very beginning and never really got straightened out. It was very atmospheric and the descriptive setting was amazing. But the characters? I don’t even know for sure which character was actually which character - they seemed to just swap names randomly. Or were they actually always just one person? I don’t even know. I felt similarly confused when reading The Last House on Needless Street, but everyone else loved both books, so…here I am, just lost. I think if you like her other books you’ll probably like this one? It’s getting tons of rave reviews, so I think I’m just an outlier. I did alternate between the e-book and the audiobook and often found myself re-reading / re-listening to different chapters to try to make sense of things, but it just didn't work for me. The narrator of the audiobook was great, I thought, and I did have some favorite characters. I also think Ward is very imaginative and creative. 3 stars - for imagination, atmosphere, descriptions of setting.

LITTLE EVE
Catriona Ward

I really struggled initially to get into LITTLE EVE. I tried reading an ebook copy but I could not get into a reading rhythm and kept picking it up and putting it back down.

So I requested an audiobook copy to see if that format would help me get into the story.

It did not.

The entirety of my reading experience felt trying. I recommend you look up content warnings if that’s something you do or even if you normally don’t. There is a lot that happens to the characters in the book that may be triggering to readers.

That was not the problem though.

The very first problem I came across was the way this book is written. Ward highlights a lot of people, places, and things and it’s difficult to tell what is important and what can be filtered out. There is an excess of pointed information.

Or at least that’s what it feels like. And it feels like that because a lot of what’s written is indecipherable.

There are descriptions that are metaphors. Turns of phrases, creatures, and places I’m unfamiliar with. No sentence is clear and says what it means. Everything has a few meanings and I got stuck repeatedly in that muddy water.

It felt like work!

If we look at the characters they are constructed haphazardly in fragments. It is entirely up to you how the picture of your character comes out all Ward is doing is giving you the paint.

And for almost every reason I've stated as making it difficult is exactly why I liked it.

There are more than a few things that I liked in fact.

There are little Easter Eggs embedded within the text. Little treats to consume that help to keep your attention. It's structured like a sequence of parables and the text feels otherworldly. Almost written in a different language.

If you've never read Ward I don't suggest you start here. This book is not for everyone but if you are already a fan of Ward and her creativity, you will enjoy this book and these exploits.

Overall, I liked LITTLE EVE but did not love it. It felt arduous at times, and a little rough around the edges.

LITTLE EVE...⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire for the advanced copies!

Little Eve is out now!

I have heard nothing but good things about Ward's books so I was very excited to get early access to this. From the get-go the novel is so atmospheric and intriguing, albeit dark. I didn't want to do anything until I finished this story. I will absolutely be getting a physical copy! Thank you for early access.

First, let me start by saying this book will not be for everyone. It is a gothic thriller and has way too many triggers to even list.

Second let me say it is a masterpiece for those who can push through.

The story takes place in Scotland so naturally the narrator has a very thick accent. She has a beautiful voice and is an amazing narrator but I found myself very distracted at the beginning. I quite honestly didn’t think I was going to be able to get into it. I am so glad I pushed through! This was an absolutely amazing book. I got sucked Into the storylines. The scenery was so creepy and the characters were even stranger. A murder in the first few pages! I should have known it was going to be a wild ride.

Young Eve lives on the island of Altnaharra off the battered coast of Scotland. She lives there with her “Uncle”, his snake Hercules, Dinah, and other “orphaned” children. The Adder is coming from the sea to rid the world of the impure and Uncle is there to care for them and guide them into becoming the purest form. Eve will stop at nothing to become the chosen one.

Five bodies are found on the island and only one of them is alive. Each one missing an eye. Dinah is the only survivor and Eve is missing. What horrible secrets does the island hold and who killed the members of this small cult?

This book literally gave me the creeps and the twist at the end was prefect. A perfect read for the spooky season. Little Eve is out now!

I really like Catriona Ward's other works, but I couldn't get into this one. There was too much description at the beginning with little pointing toward the plot. I may have been expecting a lot since I loved Needless Street, but this one definitely did have more of the Sundial vibes, and I wasn't a huge fan of that one either.

This dark and haunting, gothic novel is the second one I've read by this author. It took me a little while to settle into the flow of the story, but once I did, I found the storyline to be delightfully twisted and clever.

The setting for this story is Altnaharra, off the Scottish coast. It centers around what appears at first to be a small family headed by their uncle. After you learn more, it becomes clear that they are in fact a type of cult instead with the man who calls himself "uncle" as the leader. They believe that their group alone knows what is right and proper and that all others are impure. They prepare themselves continually for the end of time. As the story progresses, you see how confused and delusional they were.

The story is told in alternating timelines and from two different viewpoints. It helps to give the reader the appropriate snippets of information at just the right time. I really enjoyed how the author developed the characters and gave insight into their thought processes. It's interesting and heartbreaking to see how others can be brainwashed so completely.

One thing I've learned about this author is that she writes books that are inventive and very much "outside the box."

AUDIOBOOK: I also tried to listen the the audio version as well but struggled with it. With this story, it was simply too difficult for me to follow it without actually physically reading the book itself. I liked the accents employed in the narration, but just couldn't follow the story well enough. I'm sure it will probably work well for others, it just didn't for me. For this reason, I'm still going to give the narration 4 stars because I didn't find it to be a bad one, I think it was a matter of personal opinion and I won't bring the review down based on my opinion. 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Super bleak and dark gothic setting was perfect for this time of year. This was a surprisingly fast paced read as well. A great spooky season book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Macmillan audio for sending me an audiobook arc of this title.

I wanted to like this one way more than I did. It's a good story it was just way too slow and the cult part of the book I didn't feel was fleshed out enough.


Narration by Carolyn Bonnyman was good if a bit slow, I think people who speed books up will speed this one up.

This one was a miss for me.

3 stars

I received this book from the publisher Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of Little Eve. The book is spooky and atmospheric. It’s a slow burn.

How does Catriona Ward continue to write such amazing dark twisted stories? This one was another winner. Set on a remote isle off of the coast of Scotland young Eve is willing to do anything her “uncle” asks of her. She and her sisters blindly follow his rules and strange beliefs. A brutal murder uncovers secrets and leads the reader on a journey full of twists and surprises that you will not expect.

Like her other books it is best to just dive in to the story and hold on for an unforgettable story that you cannot put down. There are not many authors out there that can deliver a consistent stream of psychological horror like Catriona Ward can. I will read anything she writes!!

The narrator was excellent, loved the accent !! Definitely added to the story

4.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley #LittleEve #CatrionaWard

Wow! My first Catriona Ward book! This is a mesmerizing gothic creepy tale that takes place on an isolated island in 1921. The setting was fantastic, very creepy, dark and I finished this book in one sitting. I don’t want to give too much away but there were a couple of moments where I yelled in frustration due to what I could pick up on what was going on. I had to finish this book in one sitting because I had to find out how this story ended.
I did buy a physical copy of this book but I also listened to the audiobook as well. The narrator of this book is fantastic!!
Thank you netgalley for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This is a DNF for me. I could not get into the story and the narrator was very difficult to understand.

"It is a lonely thing to be a monster "

"Kindness is a physical thing."

Little Eve by the remarkable horror thriller author Catriona Ward is a dark, often bleak, gothic tale of the harm one can do to a child's mind.

Taking place right before WWI on a small island off the coast of Scotland, Little Eve is about a clan, (read as cult) run by "Uncle" who believes the world is ending when the Adder is seen and whoever receives its power will be the new leader. Little Eve will do anything for this power.

This creepy story starts with an horrendous massacre with Dinah, Little Eve's best friend, brutalized and blinded in one eye, the sole survivor besides Eve, who is nowhere to be found and is now the sole suspect. As we learn how we got here and the ending is revealed I was shook to my core.

Narrator Carolyn Bonnyman with her Scottish lilt made this a perfect atmospheric tale. Parts dragged with mundane details but I now realize the everyday moments demonstrated how the absurd behavior of "Uncle" was normal to Little Eve.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publishers via #netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Having read and enjoyed ‘The Last House on Needless Street’ and ‘Sundial,’ I was super excited to dive into this one.

Unfortunately, I could not finish this. I made it 38% before stopping. I was so confused the whole time reading this. I could not connect to any of the characters, and the story didn’t hold my interest. This is a character-driven story, and the pacing felt very slow.

Although this book may not have been my favorite Ward book, I look forward to reading her future books.

Catriona Ward is a master of horror fiction and I’ve enjoyed some of her books but this did not hit the mark for me. The narrator’s voice kind of lulled along so that my mind would drift off when I was listening to it. The gothic atmosphere was well-portrayed but I had a lot of trouble keeping the plot straight. I think this might’ve been better for me in print form.

I received both a print and audio ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own. This book was re-released on October 11, 2022 however it was previously published in 2019. It has one several awards and I can see why. It its very atmospheric and pretty dark. I would recommend looking up trigger warnings before reading. I didn't think it was particularly scary, but it is disturbing. This definitely includes child abuse and what I would consider grooming, there is also animal harm and body harm. Eve and her "siblings" are taken in by a man who kind of runs a cult that worships an entity of the sea, so there is also cult worship behavior.

This book was tough to listen to on audio because of the disjointed timeline. I often found myself referring to the print ARC because I felt like I missed something. The storyline is confusing because of the way the timeline jumps around to keep the reader in the dark prior to the reveal. I thought the reveal was creative and it took me a good bit of the book to figure out what was happening. I did eventually figure out most of what was going on but the final reveal was actually pretty good. This has some pretty decent twists and turns. I thought the alternating POVs worked well with the alternating timeline and thought the author did a good job bringing everything back together in the end to wrap things up.

I thought the world building in this was great! Ward's descriptions of Altnaharra and Eve's visions really put you into the setting. This was also very atmospheric, if you enjoy gothic style horror/thriller novels this is a good one to pick up. My only real complaint was the confusing nature of the timeline. I found it really hard to keep track of what was happening alternating between Eve and Dinah's perspectives and the large jumps in time between the different chapters. I don't think that would have been quite a big an issue had I read the book in print, but it was harder to keep track on audio. I'm thankful I had both the audio and the print arcs to reference when reading so I could keep track of what was going on. In the end I enjoyed this dark and twisty book. I don't think this is going to be for everyone given the uncomfortable subject that unfolds as Eve grows up and more information regarding the murder of her family comes to light.

Overall, I this is a good read if you are looking for a dark and twisty tale as we enter the spooky season.

I loved the opportunity to read this earlier work after reading The Last House on Needless Street and Sundial. There are some similarities, but this is very much its own thing. Loved the strong sense of setting and atmosphere, in particular.