TWO-CENT TUESDAY

Well, here we are, four months (egads) since my last post. I have nothing to blame but wellness (or lack thereof), pandemic brain and malaise, family emergency and probably just sheer lack of gumption. I have a ton of catching up to do and I don't want to let good titles get short shrift because my act hasn't been together, so...

Below are a few (somewhat) brief $.02 opinions about books I've read or listened to recently. This first catchup set happens to include some of the best books I read this year. I hope you'll consider one or two for your own TBR stack if they strike your fancy.

The Last House on Needless Street, Catriona Ward

Just as a few poets sent me down my recent(ish) poetry rabbit hole, Stephen Graham Jones sent me down something of a horror trek. I'd heard nothing but raves about this one, so when it came across my desk I was curious and anxious to dig in. Man did it blow my expectations out of the water and spun my head around (heck, even Stephen King was blown away). Ted lives in his boarded up family home with only his part-time daughter (Lauren) and a cat (Olivia). Or does he? Dee believes Ted is hiding her long-vanished sister Lulu inside and is bound and determined to get her back. What you think you know, you don't. Some of what you guess might be right, but it doesn't matter because (1) there will be layers and layers on top of it and (2) Ward goes about peeling back the truth in such a loving, horrific, suspenseful way that you will want to read it all over again when you've finished, just to read it with that new education. By far one of the best books I've read this year and another stellar work that has me on the steadfast path to more "horror."

When Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street first came out, it had tons of buzz. It's rare that you'll find a long synopsis of it anywhere, too. That's probably because it's nearly impossible to say a lot about it without giving anything away. So I won't be doing that here either.

What I can say is that the book alternates its narrators between Ted, Lauren, and Olivia (a cat). We also learn about a child who has been kidnapped and her sister who won't give up the search. But nothing is as it appears.

For me, I didn't really understand the buzz. Once you figure everything out (I didn't find it too difficult), you'll realize that this has been done before. All in all, The Last House on Needless Street is a perfectly fine read, but not an earth-shattering one.

MY RATING - 3

Stephen King's glowing review of this book is all the recommendation you (and I) need. This book kept me on my toes until the very end.

This book shredded my nerves, seriously. I don't even know how to categorize it: is it a psychological thriller, a gothic novel, a horror story? Its genre-bending nature is not the only subversive thing about "The Last House on Needless Street." The book defies tropes, keeping the reader guessing and wondering until they reach the end and are utterly surprised by the outcome. I appreciate how, instead of having a single, shocking twist, the story slowly unravels to reveal its core. I will be recommending this to all of my friends who appreciate well-crafted creepy novels.

An evocative, dark gothic horror tale that creates an escalating anxious sense of unease and tension without the need for gore. Harken back to eleven years ago, when Dee’s little sister LuLu disappeared, fracturing both herself and her family. Was she kidnapped or murdered, or was there a terrible accident? Dee is obsessed with Ted Bannerman…. even though he had an alibi for that horrific day, she feels he is the key in discovering her sister’s fate …. and maybe … she is still alive.
Ted Bannerman lives in a boarded-up house on the end of Needless Street, facing the overgrown and inscrutable forest. He lives with his talking cat, Olivia and occasionally is visited by his daughter, Lauren …. who races around the house on her bicycle .. but doesn’t venture out, after she has arrived. Neither Olivia or Lauren like to habitate the same room together. Ted is not employed and frequently overindulges his alcohol intake. His life takes on added tension and pressure when Dee moves into the abandoned house next door. He cannot comprehend having a neighbor or her intentions. Certainly nothing is actually what it seems!
Ted is haunted by thoughts of his mother …. her apparent statements and how she raised him.
When birds appear dead in his backyard , he thinks back to accusatory small animal deaths in his past. …. real or imagined?
Catriona Ward crafts a riveting complex tale told through the eyes of multiple unreliable and untrustworthy protagonists, while effectively intertwining multiple time lines that create multiple unpredictable reveals, culminating in an extraordinary denouement …. that no one will anticipate. Chapters alternate with the thoughts , actions and possible implicated motivations and psyches of Ted, Lauren, Dee, and the beloved talking cat, Olivia. This is my first venture into the oeuvre of this multi-award winning writer …. I look forward to downloading her previous tales. Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan - Tor / Forge Books for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review.
…. at. readersremains.com ….

My brain had a hard time staying interested in this book. There is a lot going on in this book that you need to pay attention to and I was trying to read it during a week where my mind was very preoccupied.

That said, I enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to reading Sundial but I will make sure that I read that book in a bath tub with lots of bubbles and no distractions so tat I can concentrate and enjoy every aspect of Catriona's writing.

Okay, I thought this was a certain type of book, horror, murder, etc. I could not have been more wrong! Yes, there were some of those elements and I was turned off at first by Olivia's parts because I could not get my head around a religious cat and so stopped reading it for a bit but then I picked it back up and my mind was blown!

There are twists within twists and I ended up devouring the book because as soon as I came to a certain conclusion about what happened with Lulu and Ted and Dee Dee and what was still happening, it was upended and I had to keep reading to find out the real truth. This book was totally different by the end and was very good. I even got to liking Olivia.

I definitely recommend reading this book and I wonder what Catriona Ward will come up with next and if it can even come close to this twisty mindbending book!

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me wanting answers and unable to put it down for long. I would definitely recommend to my readers!

What a delightfully unique way to tell a thriller and shed light on grief and mental health. I could not put this book down! The format is confusing at first, but it keeps you interested and guessing at every second.

[#partner @tornightfire @netgalley]

📚B IS FOR BOOK REVIEW📚

📔Title: The Last House on Needless Street
🖋Author: Catriona Ward
🗓Pub Date: 09.28.21 (U.S.)

🗂Genre:
Psychological horror/thriller

📖Plot:
An unlikely trio lives in a boarded up old house at the end of Needless Street: a man named Ted who who drinks too much and loses time, his daughter Lauren who is not allowed outside when she visits, and their cat Olivia who is particularly fond of reading The Bible. Used to living a solitary life, Ted doesn’t know what to think when Dee moves into the house next door. And he certainly doesn’t know what to do when she starts digging around looking for clues to the disappearance of her sister years ago …

‼️Trigger Warning:
Major trauma, child abuse, murder, self harm, suicide

🗝Themes:
Mental health, abuse, resilience, survival, duality of man

💭Thoughts:
I knew this was going to be a different kind of book going in, and it definitely is, which I’m here for. The first half moved very slowly for me, though; I found it quite repetitive. The second half grabbed my attention much more. While the structure and premise of the novel is unique and well-done, the twists were more or less predictable for me. I think this is one that folks will either love or not, but I would definitely give another of Ward’s books a try. The writing is solid.

🗣Recommended for those who like:
Room by Emma Donoghue, A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson, Paul Tremblay, Gillian Flynn

Ted lives in a run-down old house with his cat, Olivia, and sometimes with his daughter, Lauren. Ted has ... 'issues.' Could it be the obvious alcoholism? Or is it something more? He sees a psychologist regularly, but rarely tells the truth.

The woods behind the house hold secrets - secrets Ted is afraid will come to light when diggers and tractors wind they were behind the house and into the woods.

The cat knows many secrets, and Lauren never leaves the house when she's there.

Their awkward status quo is disrupted when a new neighbor, Dee, moves in on the dead-end street. Dee is the sister of a young woman who went missing years ago. Dee is convinced that Ted, the man behind the boarded-up windows at the end of her street, is responsible and she'll do anything to prove it.

I'm always on the lookout for a good horror novel and The Last House on Needless Street definitely fits the bill.

Author Catriona Ward sets us up first with our main character, Ted. We can feel something is 'off' about him right from the start and much of the book is a slow reveal into more and more of the man and what has caused him to behave the way he does.

But the book has multiple points of view, including that from the cat. The Bible reading cat seems to be the most observant of all the characters, and perhaps the most reliable as well. Even more so than the obsessed Dee.

The book is a study in character and psychosis and it's quite haunting. Ward really establishes a tone for the book using characters and her work here should be a stellar example of how to create mood.

One of the more intriguing aspects of the book is how Ted is established right away and as readers we think we know him or at least his 'type.' And here again it's the cat who keeps us focused, not settling in too early in thinking we know exactly what's going on because ... well, a cat. Why are we getting the cat's point of view?

But as the book goes along and more and more is revealed about Ted, we really do think we understand the direction of the book. The presence of Dee is sort of an 'ah ha' moment and yeah, we know exactly what's going to happen now.

Except we don't.

I think it's safe to say that the majority of readers will not accurately predict the ending (especially if they haven't read a bunch of reviews) and isn't that ultimately what we want? To be tested and surprised and entertained along the way?

At one point, maybe two thirds of the way through, I felt like the story stalled just slightly - that we had stopped getting new information and were repeating aspects of Lauren's character. But this was just a passing moment.

Readers should be aware that there is some pretty gruesome child abuse described herein.

Looking for a good book? Fans of horror and well-written, character driven fiction will gleefully devour The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

What a roller coaster read. Disturbing and intriguing by turns, I thought more than once in the first couple chapters that there was no way I could finish this book. I persevered because it was very intriguing - it's told in alternating chapters from Ted, Dee, and Olivia (an apparently religious cat). By the end I read for hours at a stretch because I had to know the truth of it all.
The book is extremely well-written. I thought I had it figured out fairly early on, ended up questioning my theories by thre middle, and even though I ended up being partly right, I was still surprised by the revelations in the end.
There is little profanity, and considering the subject matter, everything is handled very appropriately. There are several descriptions of incidents of child abuse (physical & psycholigical abuse) that are disturbing, but the author doesn't go into any more detail than is necessary to convey what's happened.
Definitely out of my normal realm of fiction, but ultimately a good read.

This book was creepy and dark and oh so addicting!
The Last House on Needless Street kept me on the edge. It has the perfect amount of horror and mystery. It wasn't cheesy like so many books can be, it was downright spooky and succeeded in making me jumpy at night when I was attempting to go to sleep.

I can't wait until Catriona Ward comes out with more books, she's officially on my list of favorites!

This was a really unique book! This is horror and dark literary fiction that takes place in a spooky house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods where a family of three lives. There’s a teenage girl who isn’t allowed outside… a man who drinks alone in front of his TV, burying his head in the sand, and a house cat who loves napping and reading the Bible. An unspeakable secret binds them together, but when a new neighbor moves in next door, what is buried out among the birch trees may come back to haunt them all. I'm usually wary when I hear that a book as the POV of an animal, but I think it was used well here. It took me a minute to understand where this all was going, but it came together in a perfectly spooky way. Would read more from this author!

i LOVED the odd & dark tone to this and really enjoyed the weirdness of reading from the perspective of a cat. it took me a bit to get into because of the strange style but once i was into it, i was INTO it.
i was torn on the twist for a while as it's something that is too often overdone and disrespected in thrillers & horrors, but after reading the authors note and discussing with several people i really do think i love this book. the twist was shocking and i loved what the book had to say overall. truly almost an "anti horror" horror.

Books like this one are some of my faves: very strange and weird to begin with, then as the story starts to unravel everything comes together. The atmosphere is creepy and chilling and the dialogue at times is unsettling. Sounds good right? I thought so. And I mean, there’s a cat. I was sold. If you find yourself confused in the beginning, just keep going. I promise that ending is worth it. Although this one won’t be for everyone, I enjoyed this unforgettable and unique story. P.S. make sure you read the author’s note because she provides some backstory on why she wrote this book and I found it fascinating.

Simply not my cup of tea. Intrigued for a moment until I became confused. This mindset lasted throughout the rest of the book. That unsettled feeling while reading never quite let me connect.

A story surrounding an abduction of a young girl 15-20 years ago. It was never solved and the young child was never found, alive or dead. Her older sister was with her that day and she has never forgiven herself for not keeping a closer eye on her. Decades later she is determined to figure out where her sister is and who took her. She won't stop until she finds her dead or alive.

I assumed incorrectly this would focus primarily on finding out what happened to the child. Also, that it would be told with more suspense. It's very difficult prose to follow and multiple POVs which for some you are constantly guessing from who's or what. There is another story being told as well in conjunction with the first. Its purpose is never quite known until the very end. While it was a significant part of the complete book, I found the abundance of vague hints and being in the dark more than not made for a diminished reading experience. Overall, I simply couldn't figure out what exactly was happening, what had happened, and what was going to happen. Therefore, I ultimately was not invested one way or the other by the time the book ended.

The ending itself was surely not typical. However, the entire book itself was completely unexpected compared to the synopsis. Some would describe the delivery as unusual and clever. On the same token, it could be described as odd and lacking tangible substance. Overall, I came to the conclusion that it was an attempt to create a very dark whimsical tale. Unfortunately, when mixing this cake up, the whimsy was left out while a cup of depressing was used when only a teaspoon was needed.

*Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge via NetGalley for the digital reader copy.

This book started out slowly and picked up pace as it went along, getting stranger and stranger. We follow different points of view, of a cat, a child, and a grown man, all living in one house. As memories and events collide secrets are spilled and horrible truths are revealed. Sometimes the enemy isn’t who you think it is. Sometimes they’re closer than you realize, and that’s terrifying.
This was a dark and heartbreaking read and it ended on a twist that I did not see coming at all. It’s a slow start but we’ll worth it to push through to the end.

This was a very engaging book with lots of twists. I was hooked from the beginning. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, here came another twist. I loved the character development.

This book has gotten great reviews, and the writing was fantastic. However, I did not see the book the same light that many of the reviewers did. I found the book's final revelation to be too gimmicky, reminding me of movies--and there have been so many!--where the protagonist's true identity wasn't known.