This book totally hit the right vein with me. It was so unpredictable and I haven't read anything like that in a long time. I can't even describe the book without giving away spoilers, so just know what you think isn't necessarily what you know. There are mulitiple POV's including the views of things that aren't really human. If you like to go into books blind and be taken for a ride, please check out The Last House on Needless Street.

I wanted to love this book so so so so much. However, that was not the case 😩

I want to state the author does a great job of doing her research on the characters (I’ll leave it at that, non-spoilery). But I think that’s an important point to make.

For me, I enjoy trying to figure out the endings of books and if I DO guess them - it’s never a letdown, but more like an “aha! I did it!” However there was just no way to do that with this book (and yes the blurb does say that) but I really hated it. I felt.. IDK, tricked the entire damn book. Most of the reveals we’re not surprising and the rest couldn’t have possibly been guessed.

If you’re not an overthinker like myself - you’ll probably enjoy it. For me, however, it’s 2 stars.

Wow. I just put this book down and just. Wow. There aren’t many books that leave me speechless but this golden piece of work has done just that. I honestly can’t explain the true brilliance and intensity and just dazzle this book holds. This book won’t be for everyone. You have to truly open your mind and gear up for a hell of a rollercoaster. It’s psychological it’s thrilling it’s horrific it’s clever it’s different it’s just pure GENIUS.

Don’t read anymore reviews. Don’t read into the story line. Go in blind to truly revel in the story and it’s mastermind Catriona Ward. If there is a book to be read this year this is it!

Amazing.

There are sites at the end for all the psychology homework that had to be done to write this book. Although this is fiction I am so glad that the author took the time to do full research. I feel like the research made a decent story absolutely phenomenal.

There were parts I was able to figure out, as a psychological thriller lover, and a lover of puzzles. But there are still some very decent twists that I did not see coming. Absolutely enthralling. I was glued to my book even though I have read a third of what I normally read this year. Nothing seems to hit the right reading spots. This was completely different from beginning to end.

My only wish, that this was longer. I loved every word

Bravo and a round of applause to Catriona Ward!!! 👏👏👏

As I'm sure you have heard the less said is better with this one so I am going to keep this short and sweet.

We hear from 4 points of view. Ted a loner that lives on Needless Street, his cat Olivia, his daughter Lauren, and Dee whose little sister was kidnapped while vacationing at a lake that is close to Needless Street a decade before.

Let me start by saying that this book has a brilliant marketing campaign and a blurb vague enough to intrigue and allure readers. It sure did intrigue me. I even love both covers that I have seen for this book. Imagine my disappointment when I was declined by both NetGalley and Edelweiss. Meanwhile all my lucky and cool friends were getting copies while I was sitting here saying what the heck, why not me??? So, in a moment of weakness, I wrote to Tor Publicity explaining my woes and the kind Anna Mertz sent me a widget to download! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Anna! 💗

(NetGalley: Why when you decline someone a book then decide to make it a "read now" for EVERYONE the declined person who showed early interest still has no access to the title? The injustice is real and a bit infuriating!)

While I was super intrigued I was also nervous and approached the book with a bit of trepidation. My concern: Olivia the cat's point of view. Can I suspend disbelief enough to go along with this? Turns out I can. I loved hearing from Olivia.

The real genius here though is Ward herself. She doesn't let you get your bearings. When I tell you I was clueless almost the entire time...well, I ain't kidding. I couldn't grasp what was happening but it wasn't in a bad way it was in a "I must get to the bottom of this way." As my friend and fellow reviewer, Karen, wrote in her review: "it starts to break your whole damn brain" and that is EXACTLY what it felt like. Again, in the best way possible.

I'm going to leave it at that. Do I recommend this? YOU BET I DO!!! 5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Anna Merz @ Macmillan-Tor/Forge for my copy!

One of the best books I've read in 2021! While this isn't classic horror, it definitely has elements befitting the genre. File this under "the human mind is the most terrifying thing of all."

As I was reading this one, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. And even as I finished it, I was still undecided. But after thinking on it for a couple of days, I realized just how good of a story it really was. There’s a lot going on. A story of abuse, both physical and mental. A story of mental illness, both known and unknown. And a story of missing children. It wasn’t perfect by any means. It was a rambling story at times with too many plot turns. And I wasn’t thrilled by how some of the loose ends were conveniently wrapped up. Still, a good read!

This book starts off as a curious jigsaw puzzle being doled out in increments. All the pieces are blank, but as the story progresses the colors start getting filled in by one of the many unreliable narrators. The image shifts from chapter to chapter, teasing you with hints of what it could be once it's completed before changing into something altogether different.

If this kind of rollercoaster in the dark style story sounds exciting then you'll enjoy this book. Some of the twists might hit you like a ton of bricks while others might make you wrinkle your nose.

The first major reveal was fantastic, but as the twists and turns pile up on each other I felt that the story collapsed under their weight. Some pieces were well developed and others seemed to be tacked on without any real substance or reason for their inclusion.

I must say, this author is doing interesting things and trying to work well outside of the box. For that alone, I will continue to read their books because I know that they'll soon hit the perfect sweet spot of experience, skill, and idea which will birth a genre destroying masterpiece.

This book took me by surprise. I’ve read so many mysteries and crime thrillers, that I assumed this book would follow a very familiar outline. Nope. I was taken on a ride that involves twists and turns, where I literally set the book down and asked out loud, “What! Where is this going?” But I promise...in a good way. The author, Catriona Ward, added so much to this story by presenting the perspectives from different characters: from Ted, a reclusive odd adult, to the now adult sister of the missing girl. to the child victim Lauren, to a Bible reading cat! I have to say that this is one of the most unique reads I have ever had the pleasure of reading. If you are a person who tends to view mysteries in black and white predictable plots...hold your hat because this author and he atmospheric, compassionate and at times downright chilling descriptions will take you on a ride into the world of gray. Catriona Ward has simply expanded the mystery and horror genres.

First, thank you to the publishers at Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Netgalley for this e-ARC of The Last House on Needless Street.

I have no words for this amazing story. Just, wow. Absolutely incredible! What you believe is one story just warps into something completely different and unimaginable. Full of psychological drama and twists and turns, this will surely be one of fall’s most unputdownable reads!

Told from the perspective of many different characters, The Last House on Needless Street mainly revolves around Ted, a sheltered man in his late twenties/early thirties. The long ago suspect in the case of a missing girl, Ted still lives in fear of others, living in the house at the end of the street with boarded up windows and constant weariness of strangers. What or who is Ted hiding in his house?

Dee, the older sister of the missing girl, Lulu, ends up moving to the area after all these years, and is determined to find her sister and exact revenge on her kidnapper and/or killer. As I said earlier though, the book is nothing like what it seems. It’s even scarier than you might have originally have imagined.

I highly, highly recommend picking up a copy of The Last House on Needless Street, releasing September 28, just in time for a spooky Halloween read!

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley.

I was on the edge of my seat for the duration of this novel. It reads breathlessly and urges you onward with its dark hints and secrets. The leads provided would pull you in different directions that cause one’s brain to run the gamut of speculation. It sometimes caused a bit of confusion, but the writing always reassured that soon, you would understand. And it delivered.

The story is told from the perspectives of Ted (our main character), Lauren (Ted’s daughter), Olivia (a cat), Night-Olivia (another cat), and Dee (a grieving woman looking for her lost sister). Ted is an introvert who loves to spend time with his cat and his daughter, but always (and strangely) separately. We learn about Ted’s terrifying relationship with his mother and how her coldness affected him growing up. Dee is a girl who lost her sister when she was very little and has been spending her life trying to locate her kidnapper. Their lives intertwine like a cat’s tail around your legs and you cannot help but feel for every single character.

I was very impressed by Catriona Ward’s ability to convey such empathetic characters. They were touching, relatable, and unreliable. I was so intrigued by the character of Ted’s mother that I would love to see a whole book dedicated to her history alone. The dive into Ted’s mental state where he is losing time and seeing the world in a different way, was fantastically drawn up. The Afterword section was very welcome and only further proved that there was much research and heart put into creating the characters in this book.

I absolutely recommend this to anyone who enjoys psychological horror, true crime, and drama.

This book nabbed my attention from the first page. And just when I thought I had a bead on what was going on, it changed again. Wow! Loved it. I won't give away any spoilers, but if you love true crime or fiction about serial killers, you have to read this book.

Wow...

This book...

Okay, let me start by saying I'd seen this book all over Twitter and Instagram. I didn't really know what to expect other than it was a popular book being read by a lot of reviewers, so it must be engaging. What I got was so much more. Ward is putting on a clinic for writers. The writing, the plot, the characters, the twist...Holy guacamole the twists!! It's a dark book with really intense topics, and every time I assumed I knew what was happening, I was proven wrong. It's a book the explores mental illness.

It sticks with you.

Honestly, it wasn't at all what I was expecting, and that's always a pleasant surprise. If you like unsettling horror, this is for you!

Wow! What a ride! Every time you think you know, here comes another surprise! Well written, well researched, and unputdownable!

This is the best book I have read in quite a while! The writing is superb, the story is unique, & the twists & turns are unforgettable.

Well I didn't expect that. A fascinating story, woven together in a truly unique way. The trauma and horror lives in the edges, sort of like the peepholes of light. Actually the horror of the book lives in the truth, that this sort of abuse and terror exists and monsters are real.

Quality of Writing: 8/10
Pace: 7/10
Plot Development: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Enjoyability: 9/10
Insightfulness: 10/10
Ease of Reading: 7/10
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’d like to thank Netgalley for the advanced reader copy of this book.
This book was not what I expected it to be. I thought I was walking into some kind of creepy murder mystery thing, but that’s not even close to what I got. I got something so much better.
The characters in this book are very rich. The only one I had a real issue with was Olivia, the cat who reads the Bible. She’s a good character, but I was always confused as to how she fit into the story. Why was she necessary? Now, if you stick it out, you understand everything in the end, but for the first half of the book, I almost gave up; it was so confusing.
The writing is very well woven and complex. I’m impressed with the author’s ability. There is a lot of confusion in the beginning, but I decided by the end that that was warranted in the book.
Nothing is what you expect in this book. I didn’t see most of the twists coming, whatever ah thought it was at the beginning, it wasn’t that at the end. Thank you Ward for taking me on such a journey with your characters.

I stopped reading about a hundred pages in. One of the big twists felt painfully obvious to me, and unfortunately I wasn't compelled to carry on to prove myself right.

The Last House on Needless Street was wonderfully written, delightfully complex and so very horrifying! I consider myself to be a rather jaded, experienced reader, yet with this book I found myself at a loss as to what was going on throughout most of the book, which only added to the suspense/creep factor. I loved it! This is the book that I will be recommending to folks looking for a read that will keep them up at night. A great read and many thanks to netgalley and the publisher for letting me read and advanced copy.

Gosh, I feel completely stunned after reading The Last House on Needless Street. It might have been the first time reading a horror/psychological thriller where I didn't know where to place my loyalties. The characters in this novel were all so deep, incredibly sad and easy to care for.

Broken. This novel falls into you in broken, jagged pieces. You'll scramble to try and fit the them back together, to figure out this great puzzle and have answers. . . you'll be wrong. Some pieces are all wrong and from a different puzzle all together.

This story was meant to be told by Ted, Dee and Olivia and to truly understand you'll need to hear it exactly as they remember it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan for the eARC.