Review by grizzlysnack - The Last House on Needless Street

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grizzlysnack 's review for:

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

2.5

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This story is wholeheartedly interesting, but the genre you signed up for is the genre you get with a twist.
If you’re willing to have a shift in the tone of this novel, then read this. The pages live up to the blurb!

I will state, as someone who lives in the Western Lowlands of Washington State (presumably where Ted lives—near Auburn WA), there are no rattlesnakes in this region. It’s too cold, even in a summer heatwave. It's never consistently hot for longer than 7 consecutive days. The Columbia Plateau or Okanogan Highlands is where you’ll find them. It threw me out of the immersion. I understand that was a minuscule worry from the author, but it was disappointing that wasn’t common knowledge for Catriona Ward.

It makes the character of Dee linger and fluff the pages. Her death seems as though she’s going through a psychotic break and commits suicide, even though her arm is explicitly described as being bitten by a rattlesnake in the middle of the night while she’s trying to catch up to Ted. Ted even acknowledges Dee had a snake bite, so Dee’s character seems useless in my eyes.

Content Warnings