elliotvanz 's review for:

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

1.5

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Imagine taking Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, or Faulkner's Sound and the Fury, and sticking them in a blender with Stephen King and Gillian Flynn. This book takes the unreliable narrator to new heights and distorts reality into a pretzel. The pacing flies along, and feels akin to chasing someone through very dark woods with a dim flashlight, the plot revealed in snatches of perfect clarity in between long heart-stopping moments of blindness. A character study, as well as a suspense novel, Ward uses language to tease her readers along the path all the way to the twisty conclusion. If you're a fan of thrillers this one will not disappoint.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Blood, Murder