4.5 stars.

Wow. Where to start with this one. This was a very strange book and at first I wasn't sure I was going to like it. There was a moment when I did consider a DNF, but I'm so glad I stuck it out. The Last House on Needless Street is a creep fest with the strangest plot, unreliable narrators, and just a whole host of WTF.

The construction of this book is brilliant. I didn't see it when I was in the middle of the read, but the last third just blew everything apart and made this book stellar. I did put a few of the pieces together along the way, but I was SO far off on a couple of things. The characters are just a jumble of screwed up and they're mostly unlikable, but they're also incredibly intriguing and overly damaged in a way that had me both totally turned off by them and not able to look away.

The plot is disjointed, creepy, and just plain weird. The narration moves through several points of view...none of which is reliable...and a timeline that feels incredibly disorienting. There is a definite ick factor and the story made my stomach turn more than once. I felt this story to my bones in some places and ran a gamut of emotions during my read.

The Last House on Needless Street is not a read for everyone, but if you like to be totally sketched out by your reads and enjoy being confused for a good majority of the narrative...this is for you. Haunting, damaging, and full of trigger warnings. It feels weird to say I liked the book...it feels a little twisted given the contents...but I did enjoy the journey of reading and I am in awe at the absolute talent that went into its construction. Brava to Catriona Ward.

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *