Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

21 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

hollispaige's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

Okayyy, I just finished this book and i’m here browsing other readers reviews because i THINK i followed everything but damn….how can i even be sure i know that i fully understood/followed it? 
i’m with a lot of the other reviewers of this one. The first plot line of wilder, harper and nat could’ve been a solid 4-5 ⭐️ read if it ended there. Hell, I even enjoyed the first narrative of Sky, (though his rude ass move made me angry AF). I almost even could’ve been okay with the Wilder returns to the cottage as a grumpy old man story & how that turned out (prob would’ve been closer to a solid 3 ⭐️ at that point.) 

Now the last 30 ish pages really made me second guess if i understood the who’s who of it all. Are Skye, Sky, Pearl & Harper the same person at some point? Was harper successful & they end up “trapped forever” or was that her wishful thinking? Idk like i said, the beginning of this book until the last few chapters could’ve been a solid 3.75 ⭐️ read. However, my rating on this book is a generous 2.75⭐️ (rounded up to 3⭐️). 
Would i recommend it? only to people who really would spend the time reading and attempting to understand/follow it. 

also those long ass chapters? i almost stopped before getting through the first 50 pg “chapter.”

also (last one i promise) was Sky always a female? (it doesn’t matter, but im just trying to figure out if that situation was from the book inside of the book inside of the book)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Infidelity and Sexual assault

shamelessbibliophile41's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.25

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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.

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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

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, and Violence

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

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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

emmonsannae's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Suicide, Murder, Death of parent, and Infidelity

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

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.

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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

librarianjennifer's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Would anyone else like to talk about the last 50 pages of this book?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, and Suicide attempt