Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

5 reviews

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

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

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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

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Grief, Kidnapping, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, and Violence

Minor: Abortion, Sexual content, Bullying, and Cursing

rhiannonafternoon's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Abandonment, Stalking, and Toxic friendship