Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Sundial by Catriona Ward

26 reviews

sunshinestark's review against another edition

5.0

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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

rachelwierick's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Blood, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting

bookishloz's review against another edition

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

misscassylee's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Animal death, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Child death, Drug abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse

kkalicky94's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

soradsauce's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

rosemarygrace1211's review

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Grief, and Confinement

Moderate: Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Animal death, Death, Addiction, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Animal cruelty

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

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

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

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

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