A truly mind-bending horror thriller!

The Last House on Needless Street is a wonderful blend of horror and thriller than will wrong-foot you again and again.
More modern horror novels: booksandbao.co...
*****
Support me on Patreon: / booksandbao
Visit my website: booksandbao.com/
TikTok: / booksandbao
Twitter: / booksandbao
Instagram: / booksandbao

[@Ashmont27]

Very impressed by your ability to talk about this book without spoiling it 😅 so happy you enjoyed this one! It's one of my favorite reads this year!

[@kelleylovesbooks5688]

Catriona Ward is an auto-buy author for me. Everything she writes is unique and unsettling. Always a great ride. I'm so glad you liked this!!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I can’t wait to read Sundial!

[@kelleylovesbooks5688]

@@WillowTalksBooks - it is another wild ride.

[@KawaiiKoala197]

If you liked this one please read Sundial. I liked it just as much if not more and it's a Gothic Thriller/Horror in the desert.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I’ve got it ready to go!

[@expertbooksmuggler]

This book was my intro into Ward's work and I LOVED IT! This author really excels at writing unreliable narrators and super twisty plots.

[@Amoscrts]

I just finished this, and it was amazing! I loved the twists, and I loved the way I moved from fear to deeply felt compassion. I did not guess anything, and I really enjoy it when I’m kept scrambling. Olivia was such a sublime character, too!

[@jesscaemily291]

Wow you explained this so well! I'm pretty new to horror / thriller and this is one of the first I read and it really got me hooked. I borrowed it from the library and immediately went and bought a copy when I'd finished it. Catriona Ward is definitely on my must-buy author list now.

[@rachel1021]

It makes me happy that your outfit matches the book. 😊

[@WillowTalksBooks]

An honest but very happy accident! I need to do this more!

[@bonnieheckman5049]

I do believe this will be a 'put down what I am reading & read this one' moment. This book sounds really good to me. Also, I am glad you were able to have your next treatment. I can tell how important this is to you. Thanks, once again, for a great recommendation.

[@MOON-pe4jm]

I gave this a 4 star and a year later i continue to think about it on a regular. Its one of my favorite books. So good!!!!

[@bobbykeniston7240]

Great review, and another rec I look forward to reading. Also, when you talked about how the boarded up windows made you shudder, I laughed, thinking it a clever play on words. But, of course, "shutter" and "shudder" only sound the same....so I probably made up the pun in my mind.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Haha I like it. Unfortunately those words sound very different in my accent 😅

[@bobbykeniston7240]

@@WillowTalksBooks Good point! Growing up in rural Maine, our double "tts" are interchangeable with the "dds". Ayuh! (That's how we say "Yep" when we don't say "Yep").

[@Pestopasta_]

I can hear my bank account crying once again Willow, you could sell me grass and I’d run to buy it😩

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Hahaha what a compliment!

[@leslietriestodoart479]

Hi Willow. Just wanted to say I've been following your videos for a few weeks now and it's amazing how we have exactly the same tastes and take on things. The only difference is that you're way more articulated than me to express those takes. I love your recommendations so much!!! You're the best booktuber by far. BTW I'm french but currently live in Brussels. I know you had a terrible experience here. It's too bad cause it's actually a great city. If you and your partner ever want to try again under better conditions and with a guide, hit me up, I'll be glad to show you the real good sides of the city.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Omg I love meeting people with the same great tastes in books! And thank you so much for the offer! In all my travels around the world, Brussels is the only bad time I’ve had and I’d love to fix that 😊

[@leslietriestodoart479]

@@WillowTalksBooks It happens sometimes you just get unlucky. I think we have the same tastes in travel too. I especially love Japan and I did live in Korea for a while too. I think you just didn't got the right guide for Brussels. First of all there is quite a few awesome bookshop here, including one where you can eat and drink among the books. Looooots of great coffee place. The only proper Ramen I tasted outside Japan. Wonderful museums for all tastes. Great parks and gardens. And so many cherry trees blooming in the spring. No seriously I think you missed a lot. You have to come back !

[@sarahoatley906]

I think you explain and talk about this so we’ll I’m loving this book 📕

[@01189]

ordered the book just because of the title + thumbnail without starting the video yet lol

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Wow, that’s cool!

[@addoworkman2173]

I suggest listening to the audio book too, it adds a whole new dimension to the experience. I listen to audiobooks as I work and it was SO hard to put this one on pause! It's amazing.

[@katereinsch4789]

This book really did my head in. You made me read it and you owe me two nights and a day now because I couldn’t stop. I had my theories and also suspected that Ted had been physically and emotionally abused by mommy but the real story was waaaaay above my head. I’m still shaking with all the revelations from the last chapters. A really weird thing (special to the kindle app) then also happened: The book ends with the first chapter of another book. This chapter is written from the perspective of “Rob” who now seems to be a female … and I was so much thrown in confusion and thought, oh my god, now what’s wrong with Rob? But it was another book. 😅 still, maybe I need to read that as well. Thank you for the intro to Catriona Ward.

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

This sounds amazing. I will be reading this. Thanks for the review!

[@heyabxo]

This is an awesome review - especially loved your thoughts on the first vs. third person narrative styles! You’ve got a new subscriber; looking forward to watching you other content.

[@Nixx0912]

I'm always in for a good twist, that's why I like Keiko Higashino he still manages to surprise me. That's sounds like perfect read for my long weekend next week. (Not that my pile, especially the library one doesn't give me bad conscience).

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Oh I still have to read Higashino!

[@geslinam9703]

I’m about 3/4 thru this one. I was a little perplexed in the beginning, what with the cat narrative and the jumping around…but now that I know what’s going on, it’s pretty good.

[@embalmingfluids]

i’ve been watching your videos for a while so i figured maybe it’s time for me to finally comment on how happy it makes me to see another enby talk about my favorite thing (books!). also you’re so nice i almost feel like we could’ve been friends in school :)

[@BumbleWings]

I didn't know I needed to read from the perspective of a gay cat, but I need that in my life

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Her chapters are charming and strange and funny :)

[@Countravendark]

My sister gave me this book for my birthday but i first have to finish my read on The Strain before I will start on this one. Can i say you have such beautiful hair 😍?

[@wjamimah7772]

Also I was warring with myself with this compassion and simultaneous hatred of Ted you know? But all through that I just kept NEVER wanting Dee to get any closer. I was mad at Ted but I still wanted to protract him from Dee

[@lunacat6]

Love your reviews. You're wonderful Willow.

[@wjamimah7772]

Was the twist that you figured out early: *dont open this if you’ve not read* That Ted and Olivia were the same entity? I figured that part out around the time you stated.

[@ashwinirajgopal]

Okay I looooove that jacket & it looks really cool on that yellow ❤

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Accidentally matching the book 😅

[@erickbolden2584]

Truely a gut wrenching read with all the child abuse that happened in the book.

[@CestKevvie]

OMG YAY LHR!!! Ooh I've been wanting to read this book for so long!!! Oh, but I'm not the biggest fan of the Gump-like p.o.v. Like in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, her childlike narrative didn't work well with me, so now I'm less sure this is the book for me. Love the twist with the cat perspective that's so cute!! Still want to give it a try!

[@pollyfoofoo8703]

Sounds really good and unique!

[@mwont]

It was a refresh take on morder/kidnapping genre.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Ok

[@SM-vr8dz]

I’m getting into horror, and I feel like I’m gonna like this.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Good to hear!

[@humma0]

If you're reading horror this month, I would like to recommend Gideon the Ninth, which is actually the first book in a sci-fi/fantasy horror series (The Locked Tomb). I completed the series last month and am still thinking about it. It's about queer space necromancers and that's all I will say; you really should go into this series without knowing anything - it's a wild ride 😁

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I read and loved the first one a few months ago. I added it to loads of articles around our blog as well :)

[@x-11116]

Awesome!

[@jenniferlovesbooks]

I really enjoyed your review. I liked the book but I admit that I felt like how the book is blurbed gives too much away. It said something like 'you think you've read this story before but you're wrong'. So once you know what it's not I felt like it was kind of obvious what it is. But I still enjoyed it. I also really liked Sundial.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

That’s a fair point! Blurbs are a really tricky business

[@noahpeters7228]

I read “Orpheus Builds a Girl” at your recommendation, and it was nothing like you said to me:/ I feel like I wasted time reading 300 pages when the whole story was the exact same in real life. There was no “dark twist” on the tale- it was a retelling. Not a big fan of that one

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Oh well

[@IssyWatson]

I like you 😊

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I like you too 😊

[@dionnasoares8332]

I just finished it. It was ok. I think Matt Ruff wrote a better book with a protagonist did.

[@markhnk]

OK, that review was so intriguing that I had to stop watching it half way through. I want to read this one.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Great news! I promise the video doesn’t contain anything I’d consider a spoiler though :)

[@markhnk]

@@WillowTalksBooks Stopping reviews for thrillers is more of a standard reflex :) I fully trust you on spoilers. Never had any issues with your reviews.

[@sargonyousif]

We definitely didn’t read the same book. For me, it was not scary or jarring or any of the feelings you said. The only thing I liked about it is the mental health talk. It was too long and pointless.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Oh well

[@amnu2012]

First, thank you so much for reviewing this book! It's been at the back of my mind for a while and I've been unsure if I should dive in. Second, a question for you: In your view, what differentiates a thriller from a mystery? I'm very confused as to what makes one different from the other and they seem almost synonymous to me. Please help. 🫠

[@WillowTalksBooks]

In my mind, “thriller” is a much broader term. A mystery is typically a cosy and focussed story with a clear and simple premise: a mystery to solve. A thriller is often darker in tone and broader in scope, focussing on getting into the minds of characters and maybe having a larger conspiracy to unearth, rather than one simple mystery

[@amnu2012]

@BooksandBao Thank you so much for the explanation! I really appreciate it. This definitely helps me to better understand the difference and gives me food for thought on expanding my reading. Take care!