In essence, a daring novel that is hard to describe in simple terms. Ted is a reclusive and often unsettling man whose sole company rests on his teen daughter and an evangelical - yes, you read that right- pet cat. As we navigate this novel through the eyes of varying narrators and perspectives, we slowly unravel the dark truths behind this strange family, a neighbor in search of her long-lost sister, and a local child kidnapping case that remains unsolved. Truthfully, this novel didn't rock my world. The reveal was predictable, but well excuted and this novel stands out as one of the few horror books that actively subverts and challenges the genre's ableist traditions. Through a wide array of strange and unique characters, Ward creates a careful and sensitive examination of mental illness, loss, and trauma. This novel explores the darkness and tragedy of the psyche- not much of a horror, but perhaps a multilayered mystery instead. Overall, this book didn't rock my world, but I can understand why it would thoroughly impress others.

4.5 star review coming to scariesthings.com
I loved this book! So many twists and Olivia was one of the best characters I have read in a log time. I also appreciated the afterward where the author explained some of the process of this story

Oh man, this book did not go in the direction I expected it to go in at all and I love it when books can completely catch me off-guard. Instead of having a twist happen suddenly at the end, the twist in this book unravels slowly throughout the entire story in a way that’ll have you like, ‘waaaiiiiiiiit just a minute here...’ This book was beautifully written and full of interesting characters that will endear themselves to you and take you by surprise.

A haunting, creepy and rapidly unfolding horror story. It is one of the few books that I had trouble pausing because I was so curious and intrigued-- a good measure of a horror/mystery book. The tale is written in a way that captures you, makes you care for the characters and cheer for a good ending.

In the dark house at the end of Needless Street, we meet Ted, a rather forlorn man who cares for his sweet cat and his daughter. He is a recluse in a boarded up, shabby house. A young girl disappeared 11 years ago and a number of young boys have also not been found near a lake nearby. One of his neighbors is the older sister of the Girl with Popscicle who disappeared. The author makes us care for Ted, his daughter, the older sister and a few other neighbors. We are drawn into, trying to understand how all this connects.

As a psychologist, I am intrigued by the emotions that I felt as I suspect different solutions to the story. How cleverly written, how complicated life is. Do not assume you know what is going on.

I also appreciated the author’s extra material at the end which helps make sense of this incredible mystery and the complicated way that we humans survive.

What a ride! I could not put this book down! You won't see the twists coming! This book lives up the the hype! So many clichés, but in this cases - they are all true!! I really can't say enough good things about this novel.

THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET introduces us to Ted, who is little off, a recluse living in a messy house, dining on pickles and peanut butter. He lives with his bratty daughter, Lauren, and a clever, bible-reading cat named Olivia. And the troubling memories of his mother. We also meet Dee, the sister of a young girl who disappeared many years ago. All of their stories intertwine and merge. Secrets and truths are divulged, making it impossible for the reader to tear themselves away from this book. (I read this book everywhere - sneaking in paragraphs here and there. I could not stop thinking about the story and characters! I was totally obsessed!)

Catriona Ward is the sort of writer I can't get enough of. Each character in this book was expertly crafted, the story was compelling, and the twists were cunning.

I can't recommend this book enough. If you love a mystery, you will not be disappointed.

Thank you Netgalley and Tor/Nightfire for the opportunity to read and review the e-ARC of this book! I'm definitely buying a copy when it comes out in September. I already want to read it again.

This review has spoilers.

I really tore through this book but ultimately I think it was not for me. I was intrigued by the comparison to one of my favorite authors (Shirley Jackson), and I love a suspenseful horror novel. The twists and turns were really surprising, but it was pretty uniformly excruciating to experience. This was because of the content rather than the prose, the latter of which I found to be really fresh. I think I was expecting something different, as I probably wouldn't have picked this up if I had realized how deep this book would delve into horrific child abuse. I recognize now that it's signaled a little bit in the description ("A teenage girl who isn’t allowed outside, not after last time") so perhaps that's on me, and after all, I was too deeply sucked in to put it down. I appreciated the empathy that the author displays for Ted and all of the other characters throughout the story, and in her note at the end, so more than anything I have to conclude that I was just not the right reader for this book.

It's been a long time since a book has reeled me in and left me so oblivious to the outside world like this one did.

This book was the epitome of horror in a way that I never expected it to be and I am still reeling. This is one my favourite books of the year.

Beautiful and horrible.

Rarely do I struggle to find words about a book that I loved, but I find myself in that position right now. THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET blew me away.

There are many narratives here and several threads to follow-most of which lead down spoiler lane. But after mulling it over, here is what I've come up with:

This tale is beautifully written and I was immediately drawn to these characters and making assumptions about them. The author's skills in character building are nearly unmatched, and I had clear pictures in my head of all of them. Them being: Ted the awkward man who's overweight, and lives in a boarded up house; Lauren, Ted's daughter, who is rarely seen outside because it's much safer for her inside; Olivia, Ted's cat. Olivia likes to read the bible, worship the lord, nuzzle up to Ted and she doesn't go outside either. Lastly, there's Dee whose sister disappeared back when Dee was a teenager and that event has loomed over her life ever since, like a huge dark joy-sucking shadow.

The entire book is written in such a way that the mysteries keep piling up and the reader begins to wonder how all these secrets are going to be disclosed before the story comes to an end. But have no doubt, dear reader, when these secrets are unleashed it will leave you off centered and a bit stunned.

A sublime book of psychological dark fiction, both beautifully crafted and well told, I know that I'll be reading this book again. Even though it has already divulged all of its secrets to me, there is a certain joy in reading thoughtful, powerful prose. Beyond the enjoyment of the story itself, is the joy of words and how they are put together to create a flawless narrative. A narrative that, in the end, may have made this black-hearted horror lover break down and cry. Maybe.

You know what? I just can't do this book justice with my measly words, so I'll just say that THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET has earned my highest recommendation!

*Thank you so very much to Tor/Nighfire and to NetGalley for the e-ARC. paperback ARC and the audio ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*

Honestly, this was one of the best books I’ve read in the past five years. At least. I was absolutely riveted from beginning to end, staying up well into the wee hours of the morning in order to finish it. Compulsively readable, lyrical, bittersweet, ultimately hopeful. The subject matter is not for everyone, but I firmly believe those who pass up reading it miss out on a story of survival, adaptation, and humanity amid inhumanity. “The Last House on Needless Street” is an absolute triumph.

Lots of "twisty" thrillers either have a twist you see coming from a mile away, or one that's so nonsensical that it undermines the rest of the plot. Not so here. NEEDLESS STREET is a marvel, a Russian nesting doll of a book that slowly unfurls its reveals one by one without ever losing its deep sense of dread. You really don't get the full picture of what's happened until almost the last page, and it's an amazing ride the entire time. If you've been looking for a book that grabs you by the throat, this is it.

This is one of those books that starts as one genre and then completely switches to something else. I’m not sure if I like experiencing that switch, but I stuck to it due to the characters. I was invested in them more than the plot. More than a scary book, this is a story of survival. Survival isn’t clean cut and organized- which is something to remember as you flip the pages and the truth unravels.

Wowza! What a story!

All these things are true. And yet they are all lies...

When I first starting reading this, I was instantly intrigued!! A missing girl, a cat that reads the bible and a man with mental health issues! Bring-it-on!

And she does! Catriona Ward brings it on in this book. Try to go in knowing as little as possible. The synopsis is all you need to begin this book.

Because things get interesting and then *BAM* your socks will get knocked off. I loved how original this book was and how it was told. I enjoyed all the characters, but I will admit, Olivia the bible reading cat won me over! Holy Moly, a bible reading cat! Why yes! Aren't all cats’ readers? They sure like hanging out in bookstores. But I digress.... Did I mention this book has a bizarre feel to it? No, well there is a bizarre feel to this book. An uneasy feel which permeates throughout the book.

Initially, we know two things: a young girl has gone missing while enjoying the day at the lake with her family and a man named Ted lives in the house, he grew up in. He is basically reclusive and has mental health issues. I am being purposely vague as a.) I want readers to go in blind and b.) I think knowing too much will ruin parts of the book for you.

Whew! What a book! Again, go in blind. Along the forty percent mark, I started thinking hmmm....and wondering.... believing I had some things figured out..... Then the author brought it a little further in the book. There is a part where everything will make sense, you will understand why things feel bizarre, now things are becoming clear.... but not everything, not yet! Ward is not giving away the farm- all at once. She still saves some until the end.

This was a highly creative, original, and well thought out novel. Plus, it has a fantastic 'aha' moment! My head is spinning! I cannot wait to read what Ward writes next.

If this book is not on your radar, it needs to be!

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

There is a lot of discussion about this book, and The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward certainly deserves it. It is very hard to classify this book - part thriller, part horror, part gothic - it has many different layers that Ward slowly peels away to reveal its twisted truths.

The reader is introduced to Ted, somewhat of a recluse, who lives in a boarded up hoarder house at the end of Needless Street. This street has easy access to the forest, where Ted likes to disappear to frequently. Ted also lives in the house with his cat, Olivia, and his daughter, Lauren. New neighbour, Dee, moves in and begins spying on Ted, while she works through her own demons. While the plot goes much deeper, it is better left discovered by the reader.

Ward plays with character identity deftly and is skilled at creating meaningful identities for the characters and then subverting them. While at first I felt the different POVs were distracting (particularly the one of Olivia the cat - I mean, did I really want to read the POV of the cat?), they are significant and resolve at the end. I am not a fan of the unreliable narrative trope, but Ward's novel is much more than that. It is well paced, and there were many times when I was questioning what I was reading, but the ending is magnificent. I have no doubt this will become a classic and sit alongside The Haunting of Hill House.

Thank you to Netgalley and Nightfire/Tor for an ARC in exchange for review.

Very compelling, but the twists were disappointing and a little hackneyed from POV. Well written, but not for me.

Thank you for the chance to engage in this challenging and complex horror/thriller. I appreciated the author's faith in the reader to engage in the multiple perspectives, complicated timelines, and the exploration of mental health, trauma, and often misunderstood aspects of psychological disorders. I wonder though if this faith is too much for some readers to handle as for me this book was too hard to process, I found the writing style to be challenging in a way that did not help me fully appreciate the author's goals and intentions and the sections from Olivia (cat) were hard to appreciate, particularly the early chapters. This is simply my thoughts, I respect the creativity, intention, and goals of the book but for me the execution did not work for me.
I hope this book finds the right audience, readers who want complex narratives and dark, but important, takes on trauma and mental health and readers who appreciate an intense shifting first person narrative.

I quite enjoyed this. It took a few turns I didn’t see coming and was refreshingly different. It also felt familiar, making use of real life traumas that horrify and change us. Overall I think it’s a successful horror story.

When I started this novel,  I did not really know what I was getting into. (This happens most of the time with me. I rarely read synopsis, reviews, or blurbs until I am halfway through any book. I decide what to read based on author, publisher, and sometimes cover design. Since The Last House on Needless Street is one of the flagship titles of Nightfire, a new horror imprint of Tor, I picked this up rather quickly.) I just knew the first line of the synopsis is, “This is the story of a serial killer.” When the first chapter is from the perspective of the serial killer, I knew that I was hooked. The voice of the Ted, from the very beginning sucked me into the story. Most readers of horror have a bit of an obsession about serial killers so for a novel to start from the perspective of a killer, instead of a cop or even a victim, is a gripping start. After reading further, the three main narrators, separated by chapters, are Ted, the killer, Dee, a woman who is looking for the man that killed her sister and has tracked the suspects down to Ted, and Olivia, Ted’s cat. Olivia’s chapters are almost feline but also insightful in a way that reflects the thoughts of what a cat might be like when they stare at you. 

The last house on Needless Street, Ted’s house, is boarded up, dark, dusty, and a little surreal. There are things in the house that hold memories that influence Ted’s behavior, and as a whole, it does not feel like there is anything concrete about the house, Ted’s life, and the story as a whole. Everything seems to be very slippery. Catriona Ward writes this is such a way that makes it as confusing for the reader sometimes as it is for the characters. There are some great passages that do not make much sense. There are details of the house that shift and change based on the narrator. There are events that change based on the perspective of the one telling the story, like to the point where sometimes one character is completely wrong about what just happened. Sometimes this story feels like a large puzzle that has been dumped on the floor, and we have to take the time to put it all together. 

If you are a reader that likes a straight forward plot and do not like being completely confused by the story, this probably is not the book for you. Fortunately many readers like the challenge of not really understanding everything that is going on, hoping that the ending reveals the whole picture. In the case of The Last House on Needless Street this happens in a solid way, but there are so many nuances that Ward uses that this book begs to be reread. The first experience is mind-blowing, but the second could make this your favorite book of all time.

I have received an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

First word that came to mind after reading this: WOW! I was essentially speechless and needed to get my thoughts in order.

Ted lives in an old house that is dirty, uncared for, and on the verge of being decrepit. He shares the house with his cat, Olivia, and his daughter, Lauren...when she’s able to visit. He values his privacy for many reasons and is not happy when a suspicious woman moves in next door.

As the synopsis states:

“All these things are true. And yet some of them are lies.”

Told from multiple perspectives, including Olivia the cat, I couldn’t determine if I was enjoying what I was reading. I was confused at times, and yet I had this propulsive need to flip the pages as my mind tried to process the bizarre events.

And then everything comes together. And it is a DOOZY!

This has got to be one of the most original novels I’ve ever read, and it’s brilliant how author Catriona Ward lays everything out and makes it all work splendidly and cohesively in the end.

I really can’t say too much about this one without giving anything away, but I’ll just say you should read it to believe it! I have no idea what genre I would put it in. Psychological Horror? Thriller? Something else? NO CLUE!

I may have to read this, or at least parts of it, again to fully wrap my head around it. It’s a mindf- - k, and I can understand why it seems to be one of the most anticipated books for many readers.

There are triggers, but I won’t discuss them here as I don’t want to spoil anything.

4 stars, but may move up as I am really still processing this SMART story. You do NOT want to miss this one!

Thank you to Tor Nightfire for sending me a widget of the ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published in the U.S on: 9/28/21.

Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com

I admit that in the first bits of this I couldn't help but to think that this just wasn't going to be my kind of book at allll, but I'm glad I finished it and got to experience the story as a whole. Big thank you Tor Nightfire and the author for the digital copy I was gifted.

Though there are horrible things that happen in this book, I'm not sure I would readily classify it as horror. I only mention this because horror-genre hungry readers may need to adjust their expectations going in. There IS a bit of a mystery/thriller element as readers will try to figure out what exactly happened to the child that went missing at the lake as well as whether or not Ted was involved, but it's more of an exploration of survival and trauma in the guise of a horror/mystery read.

Familiar with the trope that lies within this book, I did see one of the big reveals coming very early on but it in no way detracted from the story nor did the book become overly predictable - it still had several reveals and devices that surprised me and kept me guessing. I'm attempting to be as spoiler-free as possible so I apologize for the vagueness here, but I did have concerns regarding the trope being harmful to the individuals that it applies to. The author does go on to explain in the back of the book her time, research, thought process, etc. that went into this book, and that she hopes she has done said individuals justice. This is my hope as well and I'm interested to see how it is received (hopefully well!) by those individuals.

To wrap up my ramblings here, this book surprised me and I liked it. I can see why others have raved about it and I'm interested to see how I feel about the book as I continue to process it (just finished it last night, it takes a whiie for things to sink in - ya know?).

Man. This book.
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Synopsis:
"This is the story of a serial killer. A stolen child. Revenge. Death. And an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.
All these things are true. And yet they are all lies...
You think you know what's inside the last house on Needless Street. You think you've read this story before. That's where you're wrong."
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From the very beginning, this book sets you off-kilter. It's strange, disjointed, disconcerting. Nothing is as it seems and you know that but you just can't quite grasp how to make it fit.
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The story is a Russian nesting box of horror, layers and layers of varying truths to sort through. Every bizarre character is fully realized, broken and beautiful, strong in their fragility.
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I could not stop reading this. It was so bizarre, so intriguing, so complex, that I simply had to discover how it would end.
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Frightening? Yes, on many levels. Also sad and disgusting and painful and heartbreaking. I will be thinking about this one for a long time.