Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Sundial by Catriona Ward

68 reviews

bowenlacar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

lauraslittlebooknook's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

Wow. This book.

I love Ward’s writing style - it’s so atmospheric and intense. You’re never really sure that you actually know what’s going on, which makes this unputdownable as you try to get to discover the secrets laced throughout this story.

It’s a quite read, with short chapters and multiple points of views spanning two timelines. It gives us narrators we doubt, and a story that will keep you guessing right up to the end.

Yes, there’s some depiction of animal abuse and, as an animal lover, I didn’t exactly enjoy reading those parts, but you’re not supposed to. This is creepy, it’s gothic, it’s horrifying and it’s brilliant.

The story is so unique, with so many twists and turns and jaw dropping reveals. I devoured it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

simplyammee's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Violence, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

midnightgremlin's review

dark tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Mental illness

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

bi_n_large's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder

starrysteph's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Sundial is a twisted, dark, psychological horror novel. Catriona Ward has a unique imagination and way of evoking unease through her storytelling. This is one of those books that I read in one sitting, put away to let things simmer, and then leapt out of the shower in a maddening haze with fresh theories. It's a novel that will sink its teeth into you and leave you disturbed and trembling.

The setup is an unassuming tale of domestic dysfunction, though it soon elevates and spirals into the realm of horror. We follow Rob, an English teacher & mother struggling with her deeply unstable family. Her husband Irving is abusive and dangerous, her older daughter Callie has been acting strange, and her younger daughter Annie is sweet and frail. 

Callie has begun to display some peculiar & disturbing behavior - she's collecting and displaying animal bones, talking to imaginary creatures, and may wish to harm her little sister. Rob feels she must take action and flees with Callie to Sundial - her family's compound in the Mojave desert - in an attempt to improve their bond and understand Callie's behavior. (Irving wholeheartedly disagrees.)

Once they arrive, the plot expands in a flash and Rob's tumultuous history is slowly revealed. As dark secrets come to light, Rob knows she's at a critical decision point for her family's safety.

We as readers are constantly being manipulated, tossed back and forth by the unreliability of the characters’ minds. Catriona Ward is skilled at sharing little specific moments that illuminate the core of a person (thinking of the French restaurant scene here). Though are a lot of plot threads, it is overall a straightforward story. 

 
The setting is excellent - you feel the grittiness and expansiveness of the desert. The depiction of the Sundial compound is also really well done; I could picture every part of it.

One of the big thematic questions is nature vs nurture, specifically in regards to violent impulses . Some of the characters tackle this through extreme medical experimentation (huge trigger warning for animal cruelty & death, specifically with dogs). Though many of the actual instances of cruelty happen "offscreen", please be wary if you are sensitive to depictions of animal harm. 

The one section of the books I couldn’t quite get behind were Rob’s fictional inserts. I understood why she was writing them (an emotional outlet and a safe place to unpack guilt and trauma), but I wasn’t sure why we needed to read them or how they were meant to enhance the story. Yeah, yeah, they're metaphors, and I suppose they offered some foreshadowing, but I much preferred the “in-story” clues and action. 

 

A second gripe would be the character of Irving - in a book with so much richness, he stands out as a flat villain. If we’d gotten even a morsel of his history or thought patterns or any additional depth, he would have been a more believable antagonist.

Overall - I enjoyed Sundial (if enjoyed is even the right word to describe the experience). I'll be chewing on these concepts for a while (I have some THEORIES!). 

 

CW: animal cruelty, animal death, animal medical experimentation (extreme - involving dogs), death, murder, self harm, blood, child abuse, emotional abuse, gaslighting, physical abuse, medical trauma, grief, infidelity, mental illness, miscarriage, pregnancy, self harm

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

venusbloo's review

The ideas are muddled.  Most of what I read was just descriptions of varying degrees of domestic abuse/violence and child abuse/neglect.  There seemed to be some supernatural background elements, but it didn't get explained by nearly halfway through the book.  I peeked at the end, and that did not help explain anything at except it appeared the major conflict between the mother and daughter was resolved even if other conflicts in the story weren't.  Just a strange book that I didn't really vibe with.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

nicoles_reading_corner's review against another edition

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child abuse and Miscarriage

nwecker's review

dark medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Drug use and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

It's a definite horror book with a lot of psychosis and psychological terror tossed it.