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A review by travelseatsreads
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
From the very first page of this book an incredible building sense of unease began crawling up my skin. I think it’s one of the few books to ever give me that physical goose-bump reaction. The initial disjointed train of thought of Ted and the sinister uneasiness that went with it gripped me and did not let me go. Straight away I knew there was something seriously off and that this was going to be a chilling bumpy ride.
It's told from multiple POV’s and every single one of them worked flawlessly and are central to the evolving storyline. Olivia the cat (yes there’s chapters from a cat) was sublime, she literally purred from the pages and her clever wit and queenish attitude was magical. Lauren was also a fantastic character that carried that sinister element so perfectly, one minute sweetness and light but then bang the hairs on the back of my neck would stand up.
It’s hard to review TLHONS without spoiling it. Honestly, the magic of this book is the journey of reading it and discovering all the hidden underlying quirks, characters and even your own prejudice.
I did not want to put this down for a second so I switched between my physical copy and my kindle so that I could grab it every second I had spare. This book is phenomenally well written and I had an immediate connection with every single character, albeit a negative one at times. It’s a long time since I was so invested in a story and felt completely compelled to find out what happened to everyone in it. This book will stay with me for a long time and is one of very few that I may actually go back and reread at some point.
Please DM me if you’ve read it and want to discuss the plot, I just don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure.
It's told from multiple POV’s and every single one of them worked flawlessly and are central to the evolving storyline. Olivia the cat (yes there’s chapters from a cat) was sublime, she literally purred from the pages and her clever wit and queenish attitude was magical. Lauren was also a fantastic character that carried that sinister element so perfectly, one minute sweetness and light but then bang the hairs on the back of my neck would stand up.
It’s hard to review TLHONS without spoiling it. Honestly, the magic of this book is the journey of reading it and discovering all the hidden underlying quirks, characters and even your own prejudice.
I did not want to put this down for a second so I switched between my physical copy and my kindle so that I could grab it every second I had spare. This book is phenomenally well written and I had an immediate connection with every single character, albeit a negative one at times. It’s a long time since I was so invested in a story and felt completely compelled to find out what happened to everyone in it. This book will stay with me for a long time and is one of very few that I may actually go back and reread at some point.
Please DM me if you’ve read it and want to discuss the plot, I just don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Death of parent