Reviews with content warning for Gore - Looking Glass Sound

Catriona Ward captures the immersive depths and fear that can come with the unknown ocean depths like no other author I’ve read. I’d say it’s a great beach read, but maybe not for those who have a touch of thalassophobia.

The first half of the novel had me obsessed. I loved Wilder’s perspective and the atmosphere Catriona Ward created, moving from the New England coast to dark academia and back. Unfortunately, from the 50-80% mark, the storytelling got quite confusing, trying to figure out who’s who, what’s real and what’s not, random time skips, and shoehorned in POVs, which left me feeling discombobulated. And I won’t get into any spoilers, but I have to say I hated the ending, I thought it was such a cop-out.

Thanks so much Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for this advanced listening copy! I’d recommend this one, even given the parts I didn’t love, and it’s still a 4⭐️ read for me!

Overall, if you’re looking for a gothic horror read with a summer setting to cap off your August and get you ready for that September academic vibe, this is the one for you!

Content Warnings

soradsauce's review

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This book is ooky spooky. The body horror level is fever pitch in several key scenes that made me cringe. The horrors are numerous but very rarely something innately horrific, instead we get the ooky spooky stuff running alongside the horror of betrayal and the horror of not being the one telling your own story. I'm a fairly new Catriona Ward reader, I've only read one other book by her, but her work is intense, often a puzzle, and scary as hell.
This book is kind of a coming of age book, kind of a coming out book, kind of a murder mystery and also kind of a tale of madness. The madness we get driven to when we don't have control over how our story is told, and the madness that often happens when the universe surprises you with another curveball right when you think everything is going to be okay.
I ranked this 4.5 stars because I do think that about halfway through the book, the pacing fell off. I honestly had a hard time staying focused from about 55% to 75%, and the writing isn't bad there by any means, but Ward's other scenes in the book are so intense and hard hitting, you kind of feel like you need to skim through the introspection to get to the payoff.

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