Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

4 reviews

purstiltski's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, Murder, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Self harm, Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Abortion

hannaheinhorn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I listened to this on Audible and really disliked the male narrator’s speaking style. This book reads a bit YA. I had seen this book talked about as “literary horror” and truthfully, I wouldn’t consider it “literary” in the sense that it wasn’t very sophisticated, which in this case, was something I was hoping for. I didn’t hate it, but the ending did cheapen it for me. I wanted much more story on the dagger man and cared so much less about the kids who were investigating the story.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, and Mental illness

perkyanda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Really interesting way of playing with format and structure, interesting characters and take on writing and authors. At times the

repetition/recursion

gets tedious and teasing out

the actual narrative gets meh

but overall it’s an enjoyable read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Suicide, Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Homophobia

savvylit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Catriona Ward is an expert at intricate and difficult-to-guess plots. Looking Glass Sound is no exception. In fact, this may be Ward's most layered and mysterious novel yet. Looking Glass Sound features several distinct and immersive perspectives. Ultimately, though, Wilder's youthful point of view is the one that readers spend the most time with. And his characterization is unparalleled. Wilder's outsider status is painfully palpable; I often felt as though I could have been reading one of my own teenage diaries.

For a significant portion of Looking Glass Sound, I was wary about the length (352 pages). I found myself getting so invested in one narrative that I couldn't imagine what Ward would do next. Luckily, I decided to trust the process and eventually, it was all tied together in a surprising way - just like I'd hoped. This is the fourth book of Ward's that I have read and I have come to expect character-driven unsettling tales that burn slowly and conclude in an explosive way. Looking Glass Sound definitely met those expectations! I can't wait to see what Ward publishes next.

Thank you @netgalley @tornightfire and @catward66 for the advanced copy of Looking Glass Sound in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying