Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Sundial by Catriona Ward

4 reviews

jrocbutterfly's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

This book passes a little slowly at the beginning but does not take long to Amp up to a full throttle roller coaster. Told from 2 perpecrives, one of Rob and one of her daughter Callie. Sundial is a terrifying tale of the question, does human experience or true nature make a person evil. Or is it a little bit of both. Ward keeps you guessing through the whole book on what is true, what you truly know, and what really happened. 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abortion, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

amethystofblackrose's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Animal death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

nisima's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Torture, Kidnapping, Confinement, Animal death, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abortion

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

Much of the plot and setting revolves around animal experimentation specifically on dogs and a coyote. Things go horribly wrong, and the premise of the experimentation is debateably ableist. The rest of the plot and setting basically revolve around a woman escaping a deeply abusive relationship, and worries that one of her two daughters might be a serial killer. There are multiple violent confrontations. The end is happy but may be too ambiguous for some given the tension.

herbivorehaunts's review

challenging dark medium-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

3.75

I see a lot of reviews touching on how this book is filled with triggering content if you are sensitive to horror involving animals, but little to none talking about the domestic abuse (physical and verbal) in this narrative but heads up abuse and experimentation on animals and women are themes in this novel so if those are things you are sensitive to tread with caution. (TW: discussion of dog abuse/experimentation) Personally, I felt that the experimentation of the dogs was well thought out, added a lot to the story thematically and was not done in excess or gratuitously. I wouldn't say that it is too graphic, or unnecessary to the story, as it is not usually described but implied. Irving's abuse of Rob and his children is far more graphic and was honestly really hard for me to get through, because that is shown and described more. Also this could be pretty triggering for those with family trauma, adoption trauma, or strained familial relationships, especially regarding a sister, so keep all of that in mind when diving in. 

I liked this one miles better than The Last House on Needless Street. Rob and Callie were both incredibly fascinating characters to read from their POVs and overall I felt the twists in this thriller to be more believable and the resolution to be more satisfactory than the previous title published from this author. Even when I haven't liked books from Ward, there's no denying that love them or hate them they sure do leave an impression, which is an impressive feat for a thriller (for me personally!). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty