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A review by thecriticalreader
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

The Run-Down: Despite its good intentions and creativity, The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward problematically appropriates a highly misunderstood mental illness for the sake of a twisty plot. 
 
Review: 
As several other reviewers have noted, if you have any knowledge of Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D.), you will likely guess the main plot twist of this book almost immediately. It follows a mentally unwell young man, Ted, who at one point was the main suspect in the disappearance of a child at a nearby lake. Ted spends most of his time drinking, walking in the woods, and caring for his mysterious and violent daughter, Lauren. We also get perspectives from his religious cat, Olivia, who views it as her divine mandate to protect Ted. The sister of the child who disappeared tracks Ted down because she suspects he is holding her sister captive. If all that sounds confusing, it’s because it is—Ward intentionally muddles the water so that the reader questions what is real and what isn’t. It doesn’t take much, however, to piece together that Olivia and Lauren are “alters,” or fragments of Ted’s self that exist because of his dissociative identity disorder. Ward manages to throw in half a dozen other twists at the end to shake things up, but the core of the story centers around the disorder and how it makes Ted appear suspicious and monstrous. 
 
I will grant that despite the predictability, there is real creativity in how Ward handles the complex unreliable narration this story requires. Not many people would think to add a religious feline character to an otherwise standard true-crime thriller. I will also grant that Ward intended the story to honor people with D.I.D. and work against the extremely misinformed depictions of this disorder that often occur in the media. Her author’s note says as much, and you can see how she subverts expectations by juxtaposing the misunderstood protagonist (an overweight, extremely mentally ill homosexual man) with the monstrous villain (a beautiful, charming heterosexual woman). None of this excuses turning a mental illness into a creative writing project. How much hubris do you have to have to stumble across a YouTube video about a rare mental disorder, do your own “research” on the disorder, and decide you will “raise awareness” for people with the disorder by turning it into a crime thriller that you will sell for fame and profit? 
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