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soobooksalot's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Catriona Ward is the author version of the 🤯 emoji.
I was thrilled to receive an ARC of her latest, Looking Glass Sound - thank you Tor Nightfire!
This is my fourth Ward read, and I was originally hooked with The House On Needless Street. She has the flair for taking straightforward-sounding stories and making them entirely unique and unpredictable.
Main character Wilder Harlow spends his summers at a seaside cottage in Maine, with friends Nat and Harper. Idyllic summer days are muted by killings in the area by the Dagger Man.
Looking Glass Sound is told in multiple viewpoints and timeframes, from Wilder, Sky Montague, and Pearl. There's metafiction, autofiction, blurring and layering of events and reveals - it all works in tandem with gorgeous and dark writing.
As with her other books, it needs to be experienced. Recommended!
For release on Aug. 8.
I was thrilled to receive an ARC of her latest, Looking Glass Sound - thank you Tor Nightfire!
This is my fourth Ward read, and I was originally hooked with The House On Needless Street. She has the flair for taking straightforward-sounding stories and making them entirely unique and unpredictable.
Main character Wilder Harlow spends his summers at a seaside cottage in Maine, with friends Nat and Harper. Idyllic summer days are muted by killings in the area by the Dagger Man.
Looking Glass Sound is told in multiple viewpoints and timeframes, from Wilder, Sky Montague, and Pearl. There's metafiction, autofiction, blurring and layering of events and reveals - it all works in tandem with gorgeous and dark writing.
As with her other books, it needs to be experienced. Recommended!
For release on Aug. 8.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
whatsemilyreadin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Catriona Ward has quickly become one of my favorite living writers. She has mastered such a specific atmosphere throughout her books (at least the two that I have read) that hangs over you like a haze, even after you’ve finished. When I read Sundial earlier this summer, I had a hard time forgetting the way that it made me feel. Even now that dread sits in my chest, and Looking Glass Sound has made me feel no differently.
This was comped, at least to me, as Stand by Me meets Shirley Jackson, and I’d be remiss not to confirm this comparison is correct. Wilder is sixteen when his parents first bring him to Whistler Bay, to the cottage that his uncle lived in up until he died, and he’s determined that that summer, he’ll get a girlfriend, and he’ll write every day. Then he meets Nat and Harper, a local fisherman’s son and a rich British girl who summers in Maine, and his plans fall askew – in more ways than you can possibly imagine. Women are disappearing, and have for as long as everyone can remember, and there’s someone slipping into children’s rooms in the night to do nothing more than photograph them with a knife against their sleeping necks, but nonetheless, and rightfully so, people are frightened. It all comes to a head the summer before Wilder is meant to head off to college, and what happens will linger in his life until the end of it.
I love how many different narratives Ward is always able to weave together. You think you know exactly what’s going on, but she’s always one step ahead, and when she finally reveals to you how all of these stories align, it’s like you never actually understood what was happening at all. This could get confusing at times, but I was never lost for too long, and I came to understand that when I was lost, it was because Ward wanted me to be. And that ending! This is my favorite Catriona Ward novel so far, and I can’t wait to delve further into her backlog.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abortion
rhiannonafternoon's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I've never finished a book and wanted to go back and reread it immediately, but this one nailed it. Once I found out how it ended, I wanted to go back and see everything through that lens. Who do stories truly belong to? Who is the villain here (besides the serial killer)? Ward kept me intrigued and questioning every page with her mysterious writing. This is a great summer getaway thriller.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
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