I don't even know where to begin with this one. Let's start with the official book description:

"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.

In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, lies something buried. But it's not what you think..."

This book is so full of twists and turns, it is going to be hard to discuss much of the plot without giving away spoilers. Let's just say that as we dive into the lives of Ted, Olivia and Lauren (the residents of the titular House on Needless Street) it becomes clear that not everything is as it seems and that there are plenty of secrets being kept both in and out of the house.

I was able to guess some of the plot points but some took me completely by surprise, which I thought was good. I think it was good that there were enough clues to discern some things while the author kept some things close to the vest. By the last few chapters, the reveals were coming fast and furious, and I couldn't stop reading until I hit the last page, needing to know how it ended.

If you're into unconventional, mind-bending, thrillers this is the perfect book for you. It will challenge how you see things and make you think as you go along. I greatly enjoyed reading it!

This is a very hard book to review without spoilers, so I'll keep it short.

Ted lives in a boarded up house at the end of Needless street with his daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia. Years ago, a girl went missing in that neighborhood, and it's widely believed that maybe Ted had something to do with it. Ted's a weirdo, for sure, but to the reader, it's unclear whether or not that's the case. Something strange is going on in that house, but there's also love there. Olivia is the best part of this book, far and away. She's sassy, smart, sneaky, and devoted to Ted. She pines away for the female Tabby cat across the way, causing Ted enough anxiety that he tells his therapist he thinks his cat might be gay. I mean, this book is just strange, but I can't stop thinking about it. It truly frustrated and annoyed me while I was reading it, but the more I think about it, the more I see its genius.

Psychologically disturbing and several WTF moments back-to-back toward the end. I felt really lost for a good portion of this. I got snacked in (ha, pun) with an unsolved mystery that's pretty sad but it was just the tip of the iceberg. I'm so glad I finally got a copy from the NetGalley, otherwise I would have been so pissed if I'd spent money on this book.

Ted lives a secluded life with his daughter, Lauren, and his cat, Olivia; they live at the end of Needless street, before the woods begin. Ted's mother always told him to be cautious and hide who he really is. Now, a new neighbour has moved in next door, and Ted is finding it harder and harder to shelter Lauren from the outside world.

This book was mind bending from beginning to end. I was able to guess a little of what was happening, but was still absolutely surprised by a lot that took place. Just a shocking, scary, thought provoking book about the evil that can reside within a person, or the protections someone else may put in place in order to cope with severe trauma.

The timeframe of the novel jumps around. I thought this would be annoying or I would get confused, but this actually helped to create unease and suspicion. Ted seems like a sympathetic father at first, with a deep fear of his daughter being hurt. However, as the story progresses their house seems more and more wrong. Ominous and threatening. Also, you begin to wonder where Lauren goes when she is not at home with Ted.

Ted is an unreliable narrator, you are not sure what is happening within the house. He is often drunk, and blacks out from time to time. He is worried about his health and hopes to find someone to help care for his daughter (should anything happen to him), but he is also disgusted by himself and fears no one will ever want to help him. He degrades himself often. The cat, Olivia, is adorably feisty and reads the bible. She thinks very highly of herself and loves being a cat. She reveals a lot about Ted and, probably, the most accurate information you receive about the house. She also seems a little bit delusional. Lauren is an emotional child, continuously tearing at Ted, hurting him, angry, and pushes boundaries.

The house itself is a character within this novel, with its boarded up windows and stacks of old items. The ballerina music box, the photo of his family at the lake, the Matryoshka doll that terrifies Ted. The doll reflects the entire novel, the layers, depths, hidden things. The secrets Ted keeps about himself, his mother, his home. The house becomes even more important as the story progresses, as items shift and change within it, as Olivia moves about, as Lauren rides her pink bicycle around the living room. What is it about this house that does not seem right, what is going on with the attack and the basement?

Outside of Ted's story, there is Dee. A young woman in search of her sister who went missing at the lake eleven years ago. She is consumed with the need to find her, or find the person who took her. But, she is also broken, damaged by everything that took place and the aftershocks of it all. Her family fell apart and she is trying desperately to hold herself together. She also has a deep seated fear of snakes, which manifested that day at the lake when she was confronted with snakes in the water. The snakes play a key role in Dee's relationship with her sisters disappearance, their ability to hide, to strike. Dee and Ted's worlds collide when she finds an old article about her sister and a photo of Ted in connection to his house being searched.

A lot of this book is about two children who experienced horrific events and how they build up a story in order to deal with the trauma they are too scared to confront. It is about the influence of a parent and the power of the mind to protect itself from danger. It is also a book about perception, about how a story's telling can lead you to believe something, or how our own prejudices can make us think something that is completely wrong about a person.

This book was unsettling in the best ways, and I highly recommend it for mystery and horror fans alike.

Well, Well, Well,.....Now I feel like Maleficent when she was so shocked by human behaviors! So, this was NOT the book that I thought it was going to be, get ready for a twist unlike all. Get ready to venture into the 'Last House On Needless Street'.

I think what I loved the most about this book was the fact that the author takes you into the world of a serial killer, and child abuse like you have never seen before. And the fact that it takes place in Washington state, from where I grew up!

Ted is a serial killer and just plain fucked up human being.....who is not a good person, and he lives in the last house on Needless Street in a small Washington town outside of Hoquiam and just outside of Seattle. He had a daughter by the name of Lauren and a cat.....a cat that can read the bible. What!? Now i almost immediately put this audio book down, when I heard this! What the fuck is this author on? Drugs I meant. You know that something is just not right with Ted the main character in this suspense thriller when you hear him refer to his mother as 'Mommy' and he is in his 30's!! Okay, did he or does he suffer from Norman Bates syndrome, or is he just immature?

I have to admit, i listened to this in 2 days, and was absolutely mesmerized by the story. Did I really want to listen to a dark tale of child abuse, and or possibly murder and rape? Evidently this possibility did not stop me from going on, and I am glad that I did.

The book ended up surprising the hell out of me, with the fact that what I thought was going on, was so different than what I was thinking. Will you be able to figure out the secrets that are going on in the "Last House on Needless Street"? I can't wait to find out what you think of this one.

4 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛

This story reads like a Shirley Jackson novel, though I was a bit confused by the story progression. There are parts that are still unclear to me that I wish had been explained in the end. Ominous and creepy vibes throughout, it took me until close to the end before figuring out the connection between all of the characters.

Where to start with my review? I honestly don’t know what to say about THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET by Catriona Ward without giving things away which I definitely do not want to do. It's best to go in completely blind with this one. If you are reading this review and you have not yet read the book then step away, avert your eyes, do not pass go and collect $200 until you have read it for yourself. I would hate to ruin any moment of discovery for you throughout this journey, dear reader.

I loved this story. Absolutely everything about it from beginning to end. Masterpiece is not a word I use lightly but that's how I feel about this book. It is a masterpiece. Never have I ever been more wrong about what I thought was going on within a book than I was with this one. It kept me guessing at every turn. Catriona Ward has meticulously crafted a mystery puzzle box of a book filled with clues and misdirects. It all seems so obvious at first but everything is not as it seems. First impressions can be misleading, teaching us not to be so quick with passing judgment.

To quote from the synopsis from the back of the book, “This is the story of a serial killer. A stolen child. Revenge. Death.” But it is so much more than that. This is also a story of long buried secrets and hidden scars. About misconceptions and past traumas and how people learn to cope. A dark foray into the minds of broken and flawed characters.

As I said earlier this book kept me on my toes guessing at what I thought was going on. We finally reached a point closer to the end of the book where I thought all had been revealed, all the cards have been played and we the readers have a full and clear picture of what is actually transpiring, but no. Ward hits us with another twist that literally made my jaw drop in disbelief. Maybe other readers saw this moment coming a mile away but I did not and was completely blindsided by it in the best way possible. It is not often that I get surprised in this way by a book but Ward was able to pull it off without it feeling cheap or like something was thrown in from way out in left field. The revelations come full circle, everything finally making sense, all the puzzle pieces falling perfectly into place. Bravo.

THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET by Catriona Ward is in a word, spellbinding. A dark psychological thriller horror suspense mystery mashup. A puzzle wrapped in a mystery whispered about in secret. Ward demonstrates skillful execution as she slowly peels the layers away to reveal an intricately woven narrative. I don’t really know what else to say and I have probably already said too much. Just know that I loved this book and it has my highest of recommendations. I also suggest reading the Afterward once you have completed the book as it gives insight into the amount of care, time, and research Ward put into this story.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this...... honestly I'm just not sure. This was unlike any thriller I have read. The cats perspective and then all the others was unique and different but maybe not really something I enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t know what to expect going into this novel, and I think that’s the best way to approach it. It’s advertised as a horror, and while there are aspects that might fit that, the story is so much more. When you pick this one up, be prepared for fear but also for grief and love. Be ready for twists but also the consistency of humanity. Be ready to be shocked. Be ready to not be ready.

This was such was a wild ride. I feel The Last House on Needless Street could’ve been pitched/marketed a little differently, it’s not exactly a horror novel. It was definitely creepy and unsettling, but I feel the message it was trying to convey related more to mental health than an actual ‘horror’ story. But overall, I did really enjoyed this book, the writing and the ‘twists’ were well done. I will definitely be checking out Catriona Ward’s next books!

*thank you NetGalley for the ARC and all opinions are my own*

I have heard rave reviews about this book for months, but when it came to them giving a synopsis, no one could really explain it besides saying that there is a POV from a cat. That both intrigued me and turned me off at the same time. For the first 60% of this book I was so lost and had no idea what was going on, but yet couldn’t stop reading. Once I got an actual idea of what was going on, I really couldn’t stop reading and consumed this book in a matter of 24 hours.

I recommend going in to this book blind because honestly, no synopsis will ever truly capture the beautiful oddness that this book is.

The Last House on Needless Street is a spine-tingling page turner! Catriona Ward's psychological thriller is more than meets the eye.
Told from multiple perspectives, (including the cat!), the reader isn't left to shape the story from an unreliable narrator but instead can piece together the mystery from all angles. Just when you think you've figured out what is really going on, you’ll probably realize you were mistaken as the plot takes many twists and turns along the way, bringing it to an unexpected conclusion.
Catriona Ward’s The Last House on Needless Street, which opens 11 years after a little girl vanishes on a family trip to a lake, is released to much-deserved praise from her fellow authors: Stephen King, no less, calls it the most exciting novel since Gone Girl, and “a true nerve-shredder”.
It is the story of a child whose life was stolen, of Ted, the man who may or may not have done it, and of Dee Dee, the sister out for revenge. While the plot sounds straight-forward, it's anything but!
A special thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review which I read on my Kindle, but I've heard the audiobook format is fabulous!
FYI: Andy Serkis & Jonathan Cavendish's Imaginarium Productions were so enthralled with Ward's novel that they scooped up the story and have already optioned the film rights.
But you know how that is....we readers always swear by the book!
Trigger warnings: child abuse, animal abuse, kidnapping, neglect, mental illness

Holy moly this was a good one! Literally not a clue what was going on for the first (at least) half of the book but I couldn’t stop because I needed to know! I got an ARC of this from netgalley and have no idea why I didn’t pick it up sooner. Thank you, netgalley, publisher and author!

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2022 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2022/01/readers-advisory-announce-2022-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

I wasn't sure what to think of this book at first. It had me texting my book buddies to see if they had read it so I could talk about it. Unfortunately, they haven't read it. But they are definitely adding this to their TBR because it was fantastic. I loved the perspective of all the characters and it had me guessing from the start until the end when everything came together. Highly recommend!

Creepy, chilling, spine-tingling goodness is "The Last House on Needless Street". May have to read again near Halloween.

A girl is trying to find her sister, Popsicle Girl (Lulu), she went missing years before. This book was weird to me, the only thing I understood was the mystery about Popsicle Girl. The chapters named Olivia were just strange. The only reason I am still listening to this book is to find out what happened to LuLu. I have no idea what I think of this book, what I do know is that I won't read or listen to this book again. I didn't like any of the characters and couldn't connect to any of them. This is the type of book that doesn't get good til the last few chapters. Not my kinda book. This book read more as a psycho thriller.

My first time reading this author and I am usually all about Stephen King. This book took me away into the past when I was a teenager and life was so very different. The story is about 2 women who are from different times when they come together in South Carolina during the 60's. I have plans to read some of this author's other work.

Here’s the thing: If you go into this book expecting it to be completely original and unpredictable, you’re probably going to be disappointed. I only say that because I’ve seen a lot of reviews describing this book that way, and as someone who thinks that’s just kind of an unrealistic standard for ANY book to attain, I don’t want that to turn readers off if they find it’s not true for them.

That being said, I found this book wonderfully refreshing, beautifully-written, and emotionally captivating. I find that many psychological horrors are written in an almost clinical way, with very little to speak of in terms of character depth and a distinctive tone. I also feel that the stakes in most horror novels don’t feel very high, at least for those of us who read the genre often; when fear, death, and loss are constant threats, they start to lose their effect! I didn’t have either of these concerns with this book. Ward’s writing style had me emotionally invested in each character within just a few pages of meeting them. Each character had a unique voice and personality, so that even without identifying plot points I am confident I would have been able to tell each of them apart without knowing who they were beforehand. I found myself worrying about these characters, not just for their overall survival but for their overall wellbeing, down to minute details—just as if I knew and loved them in real life. The stakes felt high despite the many twists that made me doubt what I thought I knew about the characters/situation, because I was emotionally invested—something I don’t think many horror novels achieve so effectively. For me, that was the source of the horror in this book: facing how terrible, painful, and pointlessly cruel this world can be and finding the strength to stay here anyway. This story was hauntingly beautiful, one that will stay with me for a long time.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit! It required me to pay close attention to details as I read it so that I could keep track of everything that was going on, so I read it a bit slower than other books. The writing style was wonderful and I love the switch between characters. While the story was about tough subjects, it wasn’t described in a way that made my stomach turn or feel it was disturbing. For those that may end up confused, the author does a fabulous job adding an Afterthought chapter that explains the writing behind the book. It was such a thought provoking read!