Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Looking Glass Sound

I absolutely devoured this book. The story does a great job of making you question yourself, questioning what is right. I can definitely see myself reading this again.

My only complaint is I wish those dove a bit deeper into commentary on how we talk about true crime. It touched on it briefly a couple of times, mentioning that it was never really their story to tell, but I would have loved more of that.

If you enjoyed this, you should read Devil House by John Darnielle. It's very similar in a lot of ways!

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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

This is like the perfect summer horror novel. You have sun, sand, sea and tumultuous summer friendships.

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!

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jlneuber's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc; the following thoughts are my own.

Didn’t hate it, but definitely didn’t love it. It was hard to believe the age of the primary narrator in the first portion, because the writing just didn’t fit how young he was supposed to be. When time progressed, it was easier to read, but then it felt like a bit of a slog. The last third gave me whiplash, and not in a *fun* way. It became difficult to follow and more ridiculous the further you got.
Catriona Ward has beautiful writing, and I’d love to read more from this author, but I just don’t think I’m a paranormal or paranormal adjacent thriller person.
All of this said, I also wish I had waited for more reviews or done more research before requesting this title, because the last half is trigger city for me, which I think contributed to my lack of enjoyment. I didn’t take anything away, rating wise, because that’s my fault, but just something to note for myself and others for future book requests.
TW: suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, alcohol abuse, and panic attacks

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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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rhiannonafternoon's review against another edition

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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.

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