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selkelite's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Having read a couple of her other novels, it’s interesting to note just how obsessed she is with siblings, especially siblings who swap places in the plot and hide deep dark secrets about their relationship with each other. I’m not sure the ‘twists’ here were entirely successful — but I did feel the characters strongly as whole people, which is impressive when the plot is quite so outlandish as it is here.
Side note: this book needs an enormous trigger warning for animal cruelty and animal death.
Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Domestic abuse
a_novel_craving's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Grief, Animal death, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Death, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, and Self harm
aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
4.0
Quite enjoyed this. The twists and turns kept me interested along with the sister dynamic. Will def be checking out more from the author.
If you choose to listen to audio with the ebook, just a heads-up some wording is different from each other. Minor differences but could potentially throw someone off
Graphic: Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Blood, Miscarriage, Medical content, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Violence
Moderate: Trafficking, Vomit, Kidnapping, Self harm, Torture, Confinement, Cursing, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Medical content, and Child death
Minor: Murder
noemi_qu's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Violence, Addiction, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Trafficking
hfrancesh's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Miscarriage
lspishock's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
sasisaskia's review
- 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
Graphic: Pregnancy, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Death of parent, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
carl_still_reading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
It explored toxic family dynamics really well and reminded me of Sharp Objects and the inspiration it draws from it.
However I did find the flashbacks and Arrowood sections to be slow,weird and sometimes boring. Whilst I appreciated the explanation of Rob’s childhood, I wish the flashbacks were shortened down and the Arrowood sections taken out, as the story within a story didn’t really add anything to the main story it was trying to tell.
Overall I did enjoy my time with Sundial and the ending definitely had me shook in typical Catriona Ward fashion.
Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
livlamentloathe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a very long book, and I wasn’t interested at turns. I put Baby Teeth down for the very reasons I didn’t enjoy the start of Sundial. But this story swerved past the ease of mom and daughter dislike each other. It kept going and going and going. When you think you know the truth, there’s still more buried. And ya know, isn’t that just the way (of people)? We’re all more complex than what others see us as. Callie doesn’t know everything about Rob, and Rob doesn’t know everything that is Callie, or Jack, or even Annie. The only simple thing is Irving. Trust a man to be violent and predictable.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness
Moderate: Self harm, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, Infidelity, and Physical abuse
Minor: Death, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Murder
honestlysean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Child abuse and Addiction