But then, its a bit of a grey area and it all really depends on your POV how you see her. Ted is an odd sort of a fellow. A stolen child. Do Billie and Brad get together: that is the question isn't it? But the thing is, I did have an emotional reaction to the book due to some personal reasons, which was connected to the mental condition itself rather than anything happening in the book. His daughter Lauren comes to visit from time to time, but they never go out when she does, and their relationship is always tense and often violent. Despite the fact that thousands of people were at the lake that day, he walked up to each woman while they were with friends and introduced himself using his real name. The Last House on the Street: Directed by Adam Berardi. And while Im in the minority who didnt fall in love with Wards prose, story, or characters, I can see why others did. If you get parts of the talking cat in the second chapter, youre probably going to enjoy the book. It is impossible to write a meaningful analysis of The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward (Viper, 2021) without . I listened to this book and I'm glad that I was forced to stay with the pacing of the novel. The Last House on Needless Street is complex and multilayered, but more like a multiverse than an onion. The mothers coldness should have been a big red flag. What's worse, she adds the further cliche of repressed memories/unreliable narrator to the protagonist in order to further obfuscate the narrative. So, when I read about Teds story, the abuse he went through at the hands of his mom, I just couldnt help thinking what might have happened to cause DID and create the person I called a friend. A teenage girl who isn't allowed outside, not after last time. The last house on Needless Street is a boarded-up, run-down shell of its former self. I loved the story, but the audio production made it ten times better. Wayward Magazine features veteran entertainment journalism staff covering new releases in horror and horror-adjacent fiction (mostly books). I can see how people enjoyed the writing. I am overwhelmed. Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street is a shocking and immersive read perfect for fans of Gone Girl and The Haunting of Hill House. His daughter Lauren comes to visit from time to time, but they never go out when she does, and their relationship is always tense and often violent. His daughter Lauren visits occasionally. Ted stayed inside in his own mind whenever his mother was in a bad mood. It made me think of an online friend I had a couple of years ago, who as she confessed to me at one point has DID. This is smart! One particular line in chapter 1 made me guess the first twist, and from then on, the rest was easy to figure out. 'The Last House on Needless Street' is complex and multilayered, but more like a multiverse than an onion. The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward (Author), Christopher Ragland (Narrator) Eleven years ago Dee and her six year old sister visit a lake with their parents. Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Because in my opinion, this is not even close to a gothic thriller. Sounds like some people just expect too much from books these days. No longer must I search my heart for a love that I cannot feel." And yet they are all lies You think you know what's inside the last house on Needless Street. Dee dies from the snake bite. If you're a fan of the dark and mysterious, this book will be for you. As for Dee, while I didnt have any feelings for her, Im not 100% sure she deserved to die as she did. There is also a skill to taking difficult and horrific situations and diffuse care and feeling into the writing, so that the issues raised arent dealt with gratuitously. Horror fiction can scare readers, make them anxious, or upset their stomachs, but the most powerful narratives in the genre manage to create an unshakable sense of unease, and that's exactly what this novel does. ZU VERKAUFEN! Which is disappointing, because I had high expectations going in based on the recommendations of people whose taste I trust in. The Last House on Needless Street is a very dark, atmospheric and disturbing tale about a boarded-up house at the end of Needless Street whose inhabitants include a man who drinks quite a bit, an angry teenage girl who is a recluse, and a cat that seems to have a religious side. Thats not to say I cant appreciate a great thriller or mystery I like watching true crime shows for instance. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Instead, its darkness is primarily rooted in more mental frights: Unreliable narrators, oppressively narrow points of view, and an almost unbearable tension lace through even the most basic scenes. Privacy Policy. To be fair, it was probably always going to be difficult to know precisely how to classify a story that heavily features a very religious talking gay cat, and thats before you get to the potential kidnappings and possible serial murder of it all. The Last House on Needless Street: The Last House on Needless Street follows Ted, who lives with his daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia in an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street. She is determined to figure out what happened and is ready to lay the blame on Ted. I think what I wanted to do with this [story] was destabilize that a little bit.. However, upon finishing the book, I appreciate how the author didnt make Ted the villain of the story after all even if it seemed like it for a long time and that she showed how Teds life was improved with the right medication, professional help, and genuine friendship maybe even love. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. He nails the different voices so well, that you feel compelled to go and make sure that its really only one person narrating. The main character experiences severe childhood trauma and the story we get is the effect of that trauma. I thought long and hard because at first, I wasnt sure if portraying DID in a horror setting was something I was comfortable with. Somehow I had this book spoiled for me and I still decided to read it and still didnt figure out the actual twist til the big reveal and enjoyed the ride. Ward is a talented storyteller, and she shows that here. This article does not joke about Needless Street however: the twist is literally given away for anyone with the least perception or thought process on the first page or two. I've read it and was blown away. Readers are left unbalanced by sequences they dont entirely understand and cant completely trust, armed only with partial and imperfect knowledge., One of my great loves is the Gothic, the fragmented narrative. I never heard from her again although I do think of her every once in a while. Technically, the book was well written and the characters were interesting but the ending was such a cop-out, relying on such an overused trope these daysas the review above notes. The Last House on Needless Street has been called a horror novel or a gothic thriller. You dont get to know everything about everyone. Its futile to resist it. I knock things over, I bounce off doorways. I guessed the twist very early on so kind of disappointed in that respect. Yeah, the mom buried Lulu in the neighbor's yard when the neighbor went on vacation. She pushed down her own guilt and focused that guilt on trying to find her sister and the person who eventually took her away from the scene. Revenge. He also disappears for days at a time and finds himself saying things like "I did some damage when I was out" or realizes he's thinking of the "wrong memory.". Way back in April (it's almost October!) Whilst I had my suspicions fairly early on about what was going on, I still enjoyed every second of it. Learn how your comment data is processed. I find that it is a relief. You made it to the end, which is further than I did. She hasn`t repressed the memories, the guilt of what happened and the fact that she kept it all to herself drives her to find who took her. Regardless if you . He's unemployed and drinks a lot. That was more chilling to think about than a fictional character, and Im honestly not sure what kind of person this makes me. I loved Ward's Rawblood a few years ago but The Last House on Needless Street is such a disappointment, just a cheap series of narrative cheats whose only purpose is to support the oldest and most cliched 'twist' ending in horror fictionwe are seriously supposed to believe that not only does the murder suspect have multiple personalities, but that the dominant one has a name coincidentally similar to the name of a girl who went missing years ago, who was killed by his mother, but not really, she was actually killed by her own sister, who has stalked the suspect and moved in next door, but has repressed memories so she doesn't remember killing her sister, and who gets written out of the narrative by dying of a snakebite, because her greatest fear is snakes, based on a childhood experience which is actually a false memory, and the suspect acts so weirdly throughout because his psychiatrist is mis-prescribing him outdated medication, and who vanishes without explanation once he's exposed, and all of the other child disappearances around the area are just coincidence. (LogOut/ Thats where youre wrong.In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, lies something buried. It used Dissociative Identity Disorder as a plot point. What I got was a distorted story that used mental illness as its major plot point. Those that Ted interacts with are christened with Ted names such as bug man his therapist and Chihuahua lady, one of his neighbours. The book was well written and certainly had its moments but the ending was extremely disappointing. I gave a single nod. Twice in the same day. Kayla and Ellie both suffer the loss of the man they love. The Last House on Needless Street is more accurately comparable to 2016's surprise hit I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Ian Reid. Part horror story, part mystery thriller, and part tragedy, the book subverts a lot of expectations about what a genre story should be and do, unpacking a complex emotional narrative in the midst of a menacing tale of fear, uncertainty, and constantly escalating dread. It is pretty obvious that something isnt right in the house right off the bat. I loved every moment of it and Im keeping the book so I can read it again from a new perspective later on. And a house cat who loves napping and reading the Bible. Change). Any book is up for discussion as long as that discussion is respectful. Revenge. THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET is psychological horror of the highest order, disguised as a Russian doll of a novel, with layer within layer holding new characters and secrets. In the present-day Ted Bannerman lives on Needless Street in a house where all windows are bordered up with planks while the gardens are filled with various treats for the birds . Its inhabitants include a man who drinks a lot, an angry teenage girl who isn't allowed out, and a religious cat. Things are slowly getting out of his control when Dee appears in the house next to his, bent on finding her lost sister who went missing some ten years earlier from the lake. Needless to say, more tears were shed that day while the three Orimura siblings cried their eyes out when they sat together. That might sound confusing, but it's all part of the dark, strange world Ward created for this unsettling story, and it all makes sense. 3 of which have their POV chapters: Ted, Olivia, and Dee. And an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.All these things are true. You think you've read this story before. Hear noises at chasingthesky.bandcamp.com. I figure I might as well share it with you! Just finished this after being recommended it by my SIL. Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street arrived in 2021 riding a wave of pre-release hype the likes of which I don't think I've seen since Justin Cronin released The Passage ten years ago. This book is wearing the disguise of horror. What cat understands English and speaks in slang? Weight: 340 g. Dimensions: 196 x 128 x 34 mm. So therefore, I wont go into specifics on the book, just my thoughts on it overall. I hadn`t read anything about this book prior, just jumped straight in. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. TITLE: The Last House On Needless Street. But his love is for his cat, Olivia. Its a bit un-shelvable.. Please do not copy or reproduce without explicit permission. I think its unnerving to the reader because fiction is supposed to be more organized than that.