The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

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…

I received a copy of this from the publisher Viper Books/Profile Books, and Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I’m going to try my best to talk about this book without giving away any spoilers.

This book blew me away. From the start I was drawn in to what was happening, and honestly, until about half way though I still had no idea what was going on! The story focuses on 3 people: Ted, Olivia and Dee.

Ted is the one we hear most from. He lives alone in a little house on Needless Street and his young daughter Lauren visits once in while. We hear from Ted’s childhood, his relationship with his parents, and his life now as a grown adult and parent. Ted is a little bit different from other people, but seems nice enough, keeps himself to himself, and loves his daughter.

Olivia is Ted’s kitten who is the second voice in the story. She see’s everything Ted is doing, she see’s when he comes home drunk, tries to grab her and she claws him. She doesn’t know why they live in a small house with all the windows boarded up, but she wants to be out.

Dee is the third person, and is on the hunt for the person who took her sister when they were little. Dee’s sister Lulu went missing while they were at the water with her parents, and years later no one knows what happened to her still. But Dee has hunches, and is headed back to the place it all happened to find out what went on and if her sister is still alive somewhere.

I can’t say much more except please read this, it messes with your head so much and it all becomes very clear towards the end. It’s brilliantly written and I’m jealous of anyone who gets to read it for the first time!

Sisters by Daisy Johnson

Something unshakable has happened to sisters July and September

Desperate for a fresh start, their mother Sheela moves them across the country to an old family house that has a troubled life of it’s own. Noises come from behind the walls. Lights flicker of their own accord. Sleep feels impossible, dreams are endless.

In their new, unsettling surroundings, July finds that the fierce bond she’s always had with September - forged with a blood promise when they were children - is beinning to change in ways she cannot understand.

Sisters by Daisy Johnson

I bought myself a signed first edition copy of this book as soon as I read the blurb online. I’m not usually a fan of horrors but this one caught my eye. One thing that grabbed my attention is that the girls are 10 months apart in age.... so are my 2 children. I just hope nothing else is similar!

Julie and September are close, very close. It’s a strange relationship, a controlling one, with September Being the one to make decisions for the two of them. They play a game called September says, which is like Simon say, but she gets rather carried away and says things like ‘September says hold your hand under the hot tap for 1 minute’, or ‘September says lie in the middle of the road’. September wants the girls to have a phone between them, not one each. She does most things for her sister, and July is starting to realise it isn’t normal.

Something bad happens which we don’t find out about for a long time in the story, and this is the reason Sheela moves the family to the Settle House, a strange old run down home which has been in the family for a while. The house itself is rather weird, and the girls relationship just made it seem even weirder.

The book started off a bit strange, but by the end of chapter 1 (which was only 27 pages in), it has you hooked, waiting to know what the bad thing that happened is. The story is written without any speech, and is mostly told from the viewpoint of July, which found a bit different at firs but got used to it quite quickly.

A good story which creeps into your mind. It had me hooked, and I read from page 27 to the end in one day!