Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

14 reviews

shamelessbibliophile41's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Grief, Suicide, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Death, Murder, and Death of parent

hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent

Minor: Pregnancy, Abortion, and Abandonment

a_novel_craving's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Death, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Self harm, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Suicide, Alcohol, and Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Abortion

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Grief, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Stalking, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

Minor: Infidelity, Bullying, Sexual content, and Cursing

foramen_magnum's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Cursing and Abortion

mmccombs's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, and Panic attacks/disorders

_cheshirecxt's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, and Death of parent

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.

---

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

zosiablue's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

"Being old kind of takes the magic out of things....it's sad. But also a relief."

This is about trying to write your way out of tremendous grief and it is beautiful. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Minor: Bullying and Pregnancy

gondorgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death of parent, Medical content, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Grief, Violence, Death, and Gore

Minor: Bullying, Pregnancy, and Animal death