Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Looking Glass Sound

I could not tell you a lick of information on what I just read. I feel like I should have taken notes and come at this like a detective to understand anything. It just wound up being too overly intricate for me, more like a messy book version of Inception + a little witchcraft than what I think the author probably intended.

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a_novel_craving's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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rachelunabridged's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense 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

4.25

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emmonsannae's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was a trip!! The setting and ambiance were exquisitely crafted—I think that was the best part of the book. C.W. pulls off the ‘story-within-a-story’ strategy well in a way that doesn’t bore or unnecessarily confuse the reader, and by the end of the novel this setup adds several brilliant layers to the (in my case) unexpected conclusion. The last 50 pages were pretty wild. Though I guess it’s technically a horror story, I didn’t find the book scary so much as haunting with a lowercase h.

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theliteraryhooker's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.0

This is a tough one. The first 2/3 of the book was an easy 5 star. I love Ward's writing style and I was completely engrossed in the coming of age story tinged with murder. But then the plot jumps ahead and veers wildly away from the tone of the first portion of the book in the last 100 pages or so, and I just didn't care for it. I found it confusing and repetitive, and it took away a lot of what made the first 2/3 so impactful for me.

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foramen_magnum's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This right here is why Ward has become my favorite author since discovering Sundial last October. A gorgeous, breathtaking, mind bending book that necessitated a re read of certain chapters as soon as I finished the last page.

I wasn't into the first couple long chapters as I was reading them-- they read as almost childish, heavily reminiscent of Stephen King down to a Maine setting, a story of two summers told at warp speed. Turns out that was totally the intention, and I'm glad I kept reading. As Wilder & co get older, their stories become more convoluted, more entwined, and more inevitable, relayed through prose whose excellence peeks throughout the book but isn't wholly obvious until the last page.

This is a book best read with no expectations other than a commitment to stick with it to an ending so sharp that you won't realize how deep it's cut you, so I won't say much more... My advice: Embrace being confused. Go on the journey. Re-read.

The Dagger Man awaits.

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mmccombs's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced

3.5

Unsure exactly what to make of this one! I enjoyed the first half or so, coming-of-age story meets a serial killer reveal. But once it got overly meta I kind of lost it. I had a hard time with how this book was organized and felt that there was maybe one too many layers. I lost track of who was real and what had actually happened, which was the point and did make that piece of this story effective, but from a pure “did I enjoy that” perspective I did not. I did think it was an interesting indictment of the true crime genre and the writing made for some great lines and tangible atmosphere. But on the whole I’m leaving this book feeling a bit frustrated by the ending and unsatisfied.

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elle_e_d_light's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

That ending sort of made everything fall apart. It also just left me really confused.

Still liked it more than Needles Street though.

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