CCRLD Book Reviews

The Last House on Needless Street

by Catriona Ward

Marketed as a horror novel, Last House isn’t quite what you’d expect. There are no ghosts or slashers, just a single man living with his cat…who may or may not be behind a string of disappearances in the area. This book will keep you guessing until the very end, with a twist so interesting I won’t dare hint at it here! Interestingly, we get narration from multiple points of view: the possible kidnapper, a woman who is convinced of his guilt, and the wonderful Olivia the cat, whose favorite activities include spending time with her human and reading the Bible.

Bullet Train

by Kotaro Isaka

An assassin boards a train to do what should be a simple job, but when you’re the self-proclaimed “unluckiest assassin in the world” a simple job ends up being anything but. It turns out he’s boarded the same train as Lemon and Tangerine, an assassin duo escorting the son of a mafia boss; and the Prince, a middle-schooler with the heart of a sociopath. This book is going to be a movie starring Brad Pitt, so if you read it first you can brag to all your friends!

The Chosen and the Beautiful

by Nghi Vo

A surreal and magical experience, The Chosen and the Beautiful is based on F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and told from the point of view of Jordan Baker, reimagined as a Vietnamese adoptee. In Nghi Vo’s vision, Gatsby’s parties of new-moneyed excess become dreamlike affairs where high society casts illusions and drinks cocktails laced with demon blood. Even knowing everything will end in tragedy, readers are kept entranced until the very end of the party.