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A review by evekcarroll
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I am instantly drawn to Stephen King's blurbing, tagging this book as 'exciting' and think that coming from the king (quite literally) of horror that I should devour this book. Or hope that it devours me with a grisly murder plot and a shocking twist. Unfortunately that hope was misplaced; I found the plot predictable and unsatisfying. The darkness in this book just did not satiate my hunger- maybe that says more about me!
I think thrillers should be read blindly (I read the blurb, and I'll be honest say that this may have contributed to my overall disappointment). But briefly, the general set up for this book is that a girl with a popiscle disappeared years ago and the case has remained cold. It is a peculiar and sad case that leads us to Needless Street through the eyes of Ted, a murder suspect. As readers, we linger in several minds throughout this book, that of Ted and his cat (yes, there is a perspective of a cat) and Dee, a determined woman seeking to avenge her sister.
Indeed, this book is twisted and dark. I mean exploring the world through the eyes of an alleged murderer is an unsettling experience, and did make for a distrubing atmosphere throughout. But I think the perspective of the cat is where the light shines in this book. This is more imaginative than the plot itself in my opinion. I do think that the author makes each character distinctive and they all have their unique voices. However, I struggled through Ted's chapters as I just couldn't make sense of what was going on, and perhaps that was the goal, and I guess it was judging where the plot went, but it was so confusing at times that I just felt bored.
The writing is accessible and descriptive at times, it was not hard to picture scenes. But I just think the plot could have been more fleshed out. It isn't unusual to read thrillers dedicated to missing children and and creepy old men who are unrealistically hunted by family of the missing. There just wasn't a wow factor, or shock, that thrillers so desperately need in order to stand out. The twist (if you can even call it that) was predictable. Yes, seeds were planted early on in the book, but I would argue they were not seeds but flowers already in bloom, it was that obvious to me. When all was revealed, I found myself counting how many pages were left in the hopes that there was more to come. There wasn't. Thrillers shouldn't be like that.
I will give the book some credit from the perspective that it offers an interesting exploration of mental health. But definitely be warned that this may be extremely triggering.
I think I have read too many thrillers like this, and I think thrillers need to thrill, as it didn't thrill me I have to rate this low. I think this would suffice as a good starting point for people looking to get into reading adult thrillers.
I think thrillers should be read blindly (I read the blurb, and I'll be honest say that this may have contributed to my overall disappointment). But briefly, the general set up for this book is that a girl with a popiscle disappeared years ago and the case has remained cold. It is a peculiar and sad case that leads us to Needless Street through the eyes of Ted, a murder suspect. As readers, we linger in several minds throughout this book, that of Ted and his cat (yes, there is a perspective of a cat) and Dee, a determined woman seeking to avenge her sister.
Indeed, this book is twisted and dark. I mean exploring the world through the eyes of an alleged murderer is an unsettling experience, and did make for a distrubing atmosphere throughout. But I think the perspective of the cat is where the light shines in this book. This is more imaginative than the plot itself in my opinion. I do think that the author makes each character distinctive and they all have their unique voices. However, I struggled through Ted's chapters as I just couldn't make sense of what was going on, and perhaps that was the goal, and I guess it was judging where the plot went, but it was so confusing at times that I just felt bored.
The writing is accessible and descriptive at times, it was not hard to picture scenes. But I just think the plot could have been more fleshed out. It isn't unusual to read thrillers dedicated to missing children and and creepy old men who are unrealistically hunted by family of the missing. There just wasn't a wow factor, or shock, that thrillers so desperately need in order to stand out. The twist (if you can even call it that) was predictable. Yes, seeds were planted early on in the book, but I would argue they were not seeds but flowers already in bloom, it was that obvious to me. When all was revealed, I found myself counting how many pages were left in the hopes that there was more to come. There wasn't. Thrillers shouldn't be like that.
I will give the book some credit from the perspective that it offers an interesting exploration of mental health. But definitely be warned that this may be extremely triggering.
I think I have read too many thrillers like this, and I think thrillers need to thrill, as it didn't thrill me I have to rate this low. I think this would suffice as a good starting point for people looking to get into reading adult thrillers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Child abuse, Self harm, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Blood