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A review by julia11
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
3.0
I wanted to love this book. It had all the ingredients but it just wasn't it for me.
Ted lives in the last house on Needless St with his cat Olivia and occasionally his daughter, Lauren. Ted suffers from (mulitple) mental health issues as well as a touch of alcoholism. He eventually gets a new neighbor, Dee, who is looking for her sister who went missing years earlier. Ted's life continues spiraling out of control while under the suspicious watch of Dee.
Honestly, the first 60-70% of this book is the most confusing thing I've ever read. And while it is all nicely tied together towards the end, I just don't think it made up for the confusion at the beginning- I never knew what time frame we were in, and I mean.. there was a religious cat as a narrator.. so there's that. If I wasn't reading this with a book club, I think it would have been a DNF for me simply because I felt so lost. However, the way Ward tied everything up and had it all come together was very clever and well done which is what makes it 3 stars for me. She did so much research on mental health conditions and it shows. Overall, this book wasn't for me, but if you're someone who can deal with the confusion- knowing there's a payoff eventually- have at it!
Ted lives in the last house on Needless St with his cat Olivia and occasionally his daughter, Lauren. Ted suffers from (mulitple) mental health issues as well as a touch of alcoholism. He eventually gets a new neighbor, Dee, who is looking for her sister who went missing years earlier. Ted's life continues spiraling out of control while under the suspicious watch of Dee.
Honestly, the first 60-70% of this book is the most confusing thing I've ever read. And while it is all nicely tied together towards the end, I just don't think it made up for the confusion at the beginning- I never knew what time frame we were in, and I mean.. there was a religious cat as a narrator.. so there's that. If I wasn't reading this with a book club, I think it would have been a DNF for me simply because I felt so lost. However, the way Ward tied everything up and had it all come together was very clever and well done which is what makes it 3 stars for me. She did so much research on mental health conditions and it shows. Overall, this book wasn't for me, but if you're someone who can deal with the confusion- knowing there's a payoff eventually- have at it!