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

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

As a side-note: I'VE HIT MY GOODREADS CHALLENGE!!!!!

That aside, this was a fun book - I read it as part of an office book club, I don't think I'd have come across it otherwise but I'm glad I did. I enjoyed how twisty and turny it was, there were so many twists that I think it'd be practically impossible to predict all of them. I do feel like there were some parts that were unexplored, for example I feel like
Dee's death
didn't really do that character justice - although it was fun to talk about that particular character with the rest of the book club, as we all had some very different views. It was also really fun to talk about the SNAKES, and the symbolism they may or may not have had... Regarding the portrayal of
DID
, it does sound like the author did her best to research and create an accurate portrayal. I really don't know enough to comment, although I tend to be wary of books that
use mental illness as a plot twist
. It did also frustrate me that, at the end,
it felt like Ted's attachment issues and trauma were quite easily resolved
- I wish it could be that damn easy in real life!!

Overall it was probably a 3.5 for me - interestingly, as a book club we gave it an average of 3.78! I definitely really liked talking about it in book club, and it added a lot to my experience of the book.
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