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leahopkins's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-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
5.0
I picked this book up more by chance, but I am really glad I did. It is less of a horror book and more of a slightly bizarre thriller with some paranormal tones (?), but it was still captivating from start to finish!
The characters are all very fleshed out and layered, they are all pretty unlikable (except maybe Mia), and literally none of them are good people. Still, you can understand why they do the shit they do (to some extent at least), so that made me hate them less.
There are so many themes/images used again throughout the story (mirrors, maggots, clocks) which made the whole writing very cohesive. The author was also very good at leaving small clues everywhere (especially in the Arrowood chapters), but mixing them up with red herrings. I was so captured, putting tabs on everything I thought was important to the plot, and writing down all my new theories. Most of them were wrong. But I loved going through all of my notes again and understanding what they were really alluding to.
Most of the twists were very surprising, but made so much sense at the same time (I said "ohhhh" way too many times). The only twist I really didn't like was the last one ( aka Annie being the evil child and not Callie ), I felt like it undid a lot of what the author had established before. I almost lowered the rating because of this, but since it was literally just in the last chapter, I decided to just pretend like it never happened. At some points, I also thought the overall topic of what is happening at Sundial seemed a little far-fetched, but reading the Author's note and seeing it was based on actual events, I feel like that critique can't hold itself. Overall, there were a couple of those little moments where I thought "is this realistic?", so maybe 5 stars is a little too generous of me, but I really, really enjoyed the reading experience, so I feel like they are justified.
Also I have a theory I will not budge on and that I just need to put out somewhere: Callie kept talking about Rob touching her eyes as if adjusting contact lenses, even though she doesn't wear them. And in one chapter, it says something about Rob thinking about getting coloured contacts and just continue living as Jack. I don't care what anyone says, I think Rob is actually Jack who just pretends to be Rob, because Rob was killed by 23. I will die on that hill.
PS: please note the content warnings because there are a lot!!
The characters are all very fleshed out and layered, they are all pretty unlikable (except maybe Mia), and literally none of them are good people. Still, you can understand why they do the shit they do (to some extent at least), so that made me hate them less.
There are so many themes/images used again throughout the story (mirrors, maggots, clocks) which made the whole writing very cohesive. The author was also very good at leaving small clues everywhere (especially in the Arrowood chapters), but mixing them up with red herrings. I was so captured, putting tabs on everything I thought was important to the plot, and writing down all my new theories. Most of them were wrong. But I loved going through all of my notes again and understanding what they were really alluding to.
Most of the twists were very surprising, but made so much sense at the same time (I said "ohhhh" way too many times). The only twist I really didn't like was the last one (
PS: please note the content warnings because there are a lot!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Miscarriage, Infidelity, and Mental illness
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Panic attacks/disorders
c_adams's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Domestic abuse, Death, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
jinjejik's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I still don't know the purpose of the arrowwood chapters. they didn't add anything. I found them annoying and wanted 'em to be over to get back to the actual story. kept thinking I was missing something, that there was a deeper meaning, but no one online seems to have a better reading.
otherwise, the story had some interesting concepts and of course Ward's twists and turns. always like a book that keeps me wondering and guessing. I feel like the author really does not like dogs lol and i almost had to put the book down. it also has a v open ending, like in the middle of a scene.
notes/thoughts I took while reading:
they really got an MRI machine in the middle of the desert..
mia is experimenting on the dogs to remove bad/angry/vicious genes activated by suffering and terror.
I'm sure this is for Jack/whatever runs in their family to make them see the pale ones who make them do bad things. that is different from the dogs tho, how is that research supposed to translate?
what suffering has Jack/Callie endured to activate their genes? why only the oldest daughters? esp when Rob has endured significant suffering. I doubt the mad dogs have a supernatural element to their madness, at least it doesn't seem that way.
Rob and Jack's mom died when they were 4. was she sacrificed? did she have the ailment? it's weird she's from Britain, how will that play in? an English curse lol her being from a wealthy English family. I can't figure out the dad..seems like he's just a white American hippie? while Mia is Black from the South.
similar to the last house on needless street with family curses that make you hurt people. both books take place in US, but curses come from Europe (England and Italy). Last House takes place is wooded Washington, opposite from the California desert. same coast
"I dont know how to get out've situations I don't like."
all the shit about england was made up! Jack made up memories of mom. Falcon and Mia adopted them from psycho meth heads Lena/JACKlyn and Bert/ROBert. (we don't know how the twins ended up with the meth heads and I'm still unclear on why they wanted so many kids just to torture em..unless pale voices told them to??)
theory: they adopted the twins because of something in their blood, like the dogs
( WRONG! the twins were adopted first. Rob tried to kill Jack with a screwdriver and strangle Mia with wire...so Mia began experimenting on dogs in an attempt to "fix" / "save" / change the twins )
"I mistake intensity for passion"
Rob and Jack go from oneness and total understanding to basing life choices off of how much it will hurt the other. (we learn that this is intentional on Jack's part, her way of protecting Rob is to get Rob to leave)
I thought Jack was gonna be sacrificed, but I'm pretty sure she ODs. they still haven't explained why she couldn't leave sundial. (wrong again lol jack couldn't leave because the click stopped working on her)
they're both pregnant by Irving?? I should've seen that coming.
book starts off being mostly about Rob and Callie then becomes mostly about Rob and Jack.
Rob admits she'll continue to do drugs/heroin? while pregnant. (it's the only thing that helps since the click didn't work on her) the "puppy" farm was eventually taken over by drug dealers, that's where Pawel got the goods for him and Rob. I guess he'd had the click too.
pale Callie is real?! Rob had a miscarriage due to Jack beating her.
where does Rob get the money to buy truckloads of shit for Jack's baby?
jack gets one chapter like Marx got one chapter
Rob is dumb af to try to trick Callie..I don't understand why she wanted to lock callie in her room. I understand she's debating on whether or not to give her the last click.
after everything is out to Callie and she's locked Rob in her room:
pale Callie says "which one of them is she, Jack or Rob?" I don't get this. why does pale Callie visit but pale jack doesn't?
otherwise, the story had some interesting concepts and of course Ward's twists and turns. always like a book that keeps me wondering and guessing. I feel like the author really does not like dogs lol and i almost had to put the book down. it also has a v open ending, like in the middle of a scene.
notes/thoughts I took while reading:
mia is experimenting on the dogs to remove bad/angry/vicious genes activated by suffering and terror.
I'm sure this is for Jack/whatever runs in their family to make them see the pale ones who make them do bad things. that is different from the dogs tho, how is that research supposed to translate?
what suffering has Jack/Callie endured to activate their genes? why only the oldest daughters? esp when Rob has endured significant suffering. I doubt the mad dogs have a supernatural element to their madness, at least it doesn't seem that way.
Rob and Jack's mom died when they were 4. was she sacrificed? did she have the ailment? it's weird she's from Britain, how will that play in? an English curse lol her being from a wealthy English family. I can't figure out the dad..seems like he's just a white American hippie? while Mia is Black from the South.
similar to the last house on needless street with family curses that make you hurt people. both books take place in US, but curses come from Europe (England and Italy). Last House takes place is wooded Washington, opposite from the California desert. same coast
"I dont know how to get out've situations I don't like."
all the shit about england was made up! Jack made up memories of mom. Falcon and Mia adopted them from psycho meth heads Lena/JACKlyn and Bert/ROBert. (we don't know how the twins ended up with the meth heads and I'm still unclear on why they wanted so many kids just to torture em..unless pale voices told them to??)
theory: they adopted the twins because of something in their blood, like the dogs
( WRONG! the twins were adopted first. Rob tried to kill Jack with a screwdriver and strangle Mia with wire...so Mia began experimenting on dogs in an attempt to "fix" / "save" / change the twins )
"I mistake intensity for passion"
Rob and Jack go from oneness and total understanding to basing life choices off of how much it will hurt the other. (we learn that this is intentional on Jack's part, her way of protecting Rob is to get Rob to leave)
I thought Jack was gonna be sacrificed, but I'm pretty sure she ODs. they still haven't explained why she couldn't leave sundial. (wrong again lol jack couldn't leave because the click stopped working on her)
they're both pregnant by Irving?? I should've seen that coming.
book starts off being mostly about Rob and Callie then becomes mostly about Rob and Jack.
Rob admits she'll continue to do drugs/heroin? while pregnant. (it's the only thing that helps since the click didn't work on her) the "puppy" farm was eventually taken over by drug dealers, that's where Pawel got the goods for him and Rob. I guess he'd had the click too.
pale Callie is real?! Rob had a miscarriage due to Jack beating her.
where does Rob get the money to buy truckloads of shit for Jack's baby?
jack gets one chapter like Marx got one chapter
Rob is dumb af to try to trick Callie..I don't understand why she wanted to lock callie in her room. I understand she's debating on whether or not to give her the last click.
after everything is out to Callie and she's locked Rob in her room:
pale Callie says "which one of them is she, Jack or Rob?" I don't get this. why does pale Callie visit but pale jack doesn't?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Murder, Child death, and Death
thegayestghost's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Violence, and Animal death
Moderate: Addiction, Vomit, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Cursing, Gaslighting, Blood, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Death
racl's review
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-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
4.25
Heavy subject matter all around, but I really enjoyed the way the story unraveled, revealing the truth bit by bit in ways that never felt out of the blue. Every revelation feels right rather than done for shock value.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Grief, Mental illness, Animal death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Self harm, Pregnancy, and Infidelity
Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use
elle_e_d_light's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
4.5
Like Ward's other books, this book is DARK. If you are sensitive to animal cruelty or domestic abuse, you should probably stay far away from this book because it has both of those throughout the whole story.
If I had to categorize this book, I'd say it best fits into Psychological Horror. Emphasis on the "horror". I won't say I enjoyed reading it—I hate animal cruelty—but I thought it was very well written and very good for the genre. I think I liked "Little Eve" a bit more than this, but that's because I loved the more gothic feel of it. I can't decide if I think this one is slightly better written. I liked "Little Eve" and "Sundial" far more than "Last House on Needless Street", which I didn't much care for. From the other reviews I've seen, it seems to be that the more someone likes "Needless Street", the less they like "Sundial" and vice versa.
While I thought this book was good, it's really not the type of book that one recommends to people. At least not without several content warnings.
If I had to categorize this book, I'd say it best fits into Psychological Horror. Emphasis on the "horror". I won't say I enjoyed reading it—I hate animal cruelty—but I thought it was very well written and very good for the genre. I think I liked "Little Eve" a bit more than this, but that's because I loved the more gothic feel of it. I can't decide if I think this one is slightly better written. I liked "Little Eve" and "Sundial" far more than "Last House on Needless Street", which I didn't much care for. From the other reviews I've seen, it seems to be that the more someone likes "Needless Street", the less they like "Sundial" and vice versa.
While I thought this book was good, it's really not the type of book that one recommends to people. At least not without several content warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse and Medical content
Minor: Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, and Trafficking
Part of the plot deals heavily with the MKUltra experiments—specifically the remote controlled dogs part. It was animal cruelty of the highest order. But anyway, the animal cruelty and testing in this book is based off of real-life events.sunshinestark's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Domestic abuse, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Addiction, Child abuse, Murder, and Blood
kamreadsandrecs's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
So I picked this up because I needed a bit of a break from the Pink Carnation reread I was doing, and what better to cleanse my brain than a horror novel right? So I fed a handful of picks through a randomizer, and Sundial was the one that popped up, so I settled in and got started.
And did any of you know it was possible for horror to have layers? BECAUSE THIS BOOK HAS LAYERS. IT IS A VERITABLE LAYER CAKE OF HORRORS. AN ONION EVEN.
First layer - What it’s like being in an abusive relationship, and what it takes to survive in one, and then later, what it takes to escape from it.
Second layer - Learning that what you thought was your past, your history, was utterly untrue. This is utterly terrible because so much of what makes us who we are is our past. So if you find out that what you thought was your history is, in fact, untrue? That sort of thing is horrific - especially so when you learn that your ACTUAL history is nothing short of nightmarish.
Third layer - Learning that you were altered without your knowledge, and that it was done “for your benefit” and “for the benefit of the world.” First, imagine finding out that who you thought you are is NOT who you actually are, and then follow that up with the whammy of learning that you were ALTERED in order to, supposedly, keep yourself and everyone around you safe. Imagine not having this explained to you. Imagine not being ASKED if this is what you wanted. It was just DONE to you.
Fourth layer - Finding out that you may in fact be a monster - and that the monster inside of you might be coming out once more to destroy everything you love and care about.
Fifth layer - Looking at your own child, and wondering if the monster you harbored inside you is also in them, and that said monster is beginning to manifest.
When I finished this novel I kind of stared at the ceiling of my room because WHAT IN THE ACTUAL EVERLOVING FUCK? What makes this even more powerful is that the above layers of horror are also twined around themes of siblinghood and motherhood: how it’s possible to love, hate, and even fear your siblings and/or your parents, and how parents can love, hate, and fear their own children.. Most media portrays the sibling and parent/child dynamic as straightforward, but this story really tackled the complexities and nuances of those relationships.
So overall, this book is an amazing, nightmarish read. The slow reveal of the utter horror of the truth at the heart of the story, the peeling back of all those layers of history were immense fun, especially backed by the themes of siblinghood and parenthood that formed the thematic backbone of the story overall. The twists were great too: I didn’t see them coming, but they also made sense in the overall context of the story. This was absolutely the cleanse my brain needed, and I’m also going to have to shovel more of Ward’s books onto my TBR, because this was INCREDIBLE.
And did any of you know it was possible for horror to have layers? BECAUSE THIS BOOK HAS LAYERS. IT IS A VERITABLE LAYER CAKE OF HORRORS. AN ONION EVEN.
First layer - What it’s like being in an abusive relationship, and what it takes to survive in one, and then later, what it takes to escape from it.
Second layer - Learning that what you thought was your past, your history, was utterly untrue. This is utterly terrible because so much of what makes us who we are is our past. So if you find out that what you thought was your history is, in fact, untrue? That sort of thing is horrific - especially so when you learn that your ACTUAL history is nothing short of nightmarish.
Third layer - Learning that you were altered without your knowledge, and that it was done “for your benefit” and “for the benefit of the world.” First, imagine finding out that who you thought you are is NOT who you actually are, and then follow that up with the whammy of learning that you were ALTERED in order to, supposedly, keep yourself and everyone around you safe. Imagine not having this explained to you. Imagine not being ASKED if this is what you wanted. It was just DONE to you.
Fourth layer - Finding out that you may in fact be a monster - and that the monster inside of you might be coming out once more to destroy everything you love and care about.
Fifth layer - Looking at your own child, and wondering if the monster you harbored inside you is also in them, and that said monster is beginning to manifest.
When I finished this novel I kind of stared at the ceiling of my room because WHAT IN THE ACTUAL EVERLOVING FUCK? What makes this even more powerful is that the above layers of horror are also twined around themes of siblinghood and motherhood: how it’s possible to love, hate, and even fear your siblings and/or your parents, and how parents can love, hate, and fear their own children.. Most media portrays the sibling and parent/child dynamic as straightforward, but this story really tackled the complexities and nuances of those relationships.
So overall, this book is an amazing, nightmarish read. The slow reveal of the utter horror of the truth at the heart of the story, the peeling back of all those layers of history were immense fun, especially backed by the themes of siblinghood and parenthood that formed the thematic backbone of the story overall. The twists were great too: I didn’t see them coming, but they also made sense in the overall context of the story. This was absolutely the cleanse my brain needed, and I’m also going to have to shovel more of Ward’s books onto my TBR, because this was INCREDIBLE.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Blood, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Child death, and Gore
rachelwierick's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Blood, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting
dale1997's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Violence, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Addiction, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Emotional abuse