The Last House on Needless Street

The Last House on Needless Street will disturb you, and surprise you. If you think you have it figured out, you most likely have no clue.

Ted lives with his cat Olivia in a ramshackle home. Sometimes Ted's young daughter Lauren visits. Something isn't right in the home, and something isn't quite right with Ted.

Dee is haunted by her sister Lulu's disappearance. She went missing years ago on a family trip to the beach. Dee is desperate to find out what happened to Lauren, hoping she's still alive. Dee moves to Needless Street and soon discovers that not everything is as it seems.

It's difficult to say too much without major spoilers but I will say that Catriona Ward is an amazing storyteller. I was absolutely immersed into the book. It's truly disturbing and if I'm going to be honest, sad. You will think you have it figured out hundreds of times, only to discover the haunting, shocking truth. It's definitely different and any fan of horror should read this book. Also, The Afterword is a must read. It shows exactly why Catriona decided to write this story.

I really want to say more but it's difficult without spoiling the entire plot.

A story that seems very familiar. There is a missing girl, a weird man in a boarded up house who regularly looses hours if not days he can't remember, and the sister of the missing girl still on the search years later.

But then there's also a talking cat and this is where things got a bit more interesting.

The story is small in scope, taking place only with a handful of characters and locations, which makes it very easy too read and it flows great.

The atmosphere throughout is very tense and the slow dripping of new information keeps the mystery interesting.

That is until at a certain point the “unreliable narrator” trope is getting a bit too much and it became pretty clear where the story will be going. There was a lot of drag in the third act and some chapters blended together because the characters kept repeating the same stuff again and again.

In the end it was enjoyable enough because it took some turns away from the usual tropes.

I will probably simmer on this book and come back with some more coherent thoughts but right off the bat I do have this to say.

1. I flew through this book. Ward wrote in such a way that had me wanting to stay up way too late to finish.

2. The twist was... lackluster for me. Even if it went on the track that I was expecting it would still be completely unexpected and feel fresh. Possibly being shelved in my brain as one of those weird books. Instead it went more towards traditional tropes when it comes to thrillers. I know we can't reinvent the wheel HOWEVER it feels like a cope out to use the 'it's all in their head' trope.

I DNFed this one the first time I picked it up. Not sure why I decided to revisit it but at this point I need to come to terms with the fact that I really don't vibe with Ward's writing style. This was way too long for me and by the time the “twist” arrived I no longer really cared because I wanted it to be over.
No rating, it's really just not for me.

I started reading this and almost put it down but then a few chapters in it grabbed me.

The book morphs quite a bit until I couldn't put it down. The book is told in four people's point of view. Ted (main adult in story), Olivia (the cat), Lauren (a child) and Dee (adult who lost her sister). I really enjoyed this back and forth in perspectives. You are always getting part of the story but never the whole story until the last few chapters.

I will be looking for more books by this author.

Oh. My. God. This was absolutely terrifying and at the level of a Gone Girl and The Girl On The Train. I couldn't let go of this book and absolutely devoured it. The way the story is built is incredible and really superbly crafted, it made me go through a whole range of emotions. And the end was absolutely masterful! For anyone looking for a thrill I couldn't recommend this book more.

3.5 rounded up to 4

For the most part of this book, I was perplexed. “What's going on? What am I even reading?” But by the halfway mark, the author very cleverly revealed certain aspects of the story. I will say if you can get past the strange first half and multi POV narrative, you may not only guess the twist but also like the book. At the end of it all, I think I liked the way the author handled certain real life issues.

Rating: 4.9 leaves out of 5Characters: 5/5 Cover: 4.5/5Story: 5/5Writing: 5/5Genre: Horror/Thriller/MysteryType: AudiobookWorth?: YesHated Disliked It Was Okay Liked Really Liked Loved FavoritedWow... okay so... for a good chunk of the book I was pretty meh about it. It was a slow burn but pretty atmospheric. I don't want to give too much away because going in blindly is what you need to do. I gave it 5 stars because... wow.

Well, I feel like it would've been a better story for me if I hadn't remembered the plot from The Ward (unfortunately, an Amber Heard movie). As soon as we learned about Lauren and Olivia, I knew it was the same situation so nothing surprised me after that.

The stream-of-consciousness writing style made this so dense and slow to read and for the first time, I got the audiobook because I just couldn't sit through it anymore. Not only was the slow, detailed narration making it miserable to read through, the audiobook was just barely tolerable on 3 X speed.

The only reason I sat through it was because I hoped I hadn't figured out the final twist. Sure enough, I did. Not only that but man, did it drag. Like, get to the point. I knew all this 100 pages ago.

What. A. Wild. Ride. This book was such a surprise to me. While reading thrillers/horror as regularly as I do, I'm not always super shocked by the big twist. However, this one had me. This one will have you wondering what is going on and then when you get to the twist, there's more following.

I started this book all kinds of confused. I had read a few vague reviews and of course the blurb and my brain immediately tried to make sense of what was going on and what the “secrets” were. I have a bad tendency to try to learn the twists as soon as I start reading the first page. I think this added to my confusion. After getting a ways through the first half I finally decided to stop trying and to just embrace the story. I think that is when I started to truly enjoy it. The way the characters are woven together and each have their own story that adds to twists throughout the book was so beautifully done. It's hard to not have empathy for all of the characters, including the ones that are the “bad” characters. I thought this book had a lot of heart and did a great job at addressing the different ways trauma and pain can manifest. It's not something you see put out there that often. I listened to this on audio and thought the narrators did a great job.

Thank you Netgalley and

Brilliant! It's very difficult to give a synopsis or even a review of this book for fear of spoiling it, but I'll simply say that this book is genuinely full of twists and turns. It's creepy, thrilling, and more! Probably the best book I've read this year so far. Amazing! Mysterious, creepy, and intriguing. 5/5 Stars, READ IT!