Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Sundial by Catriona Ward

41 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

sarah_bettina's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Confinement, Death, Child death, Blood, Miscarriage, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence

jesselyn's review

dark sad medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Blood, Toxic relationship, Gore, Death, Confinement, Mental illness, Infidelity, Grief, Drug use, Addiction, Self harm, Death of parent, Violence, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Drug abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Gaslighting

lebishop13's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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

5.0

This is very possibly the most terrifying book I've ever read. It's definitely going to keep me thinking for a looooong time. Read it, so we can think about it together. 

From the start, Rob's relationship with her husband, her family, and the world around her is bizarre and kind of skewed. You can't quite put your finger on what is so unsettling. Every time you find something else out, you have to just keep asking yourself, "but why?!"

And then the pieces start coming together. And you can't look away. But are they coming together? The two narrators are so at odds with each other, you really don't know who to trust. 

I can picture this as movie with a really strong color palette that changes as the plot progresses or depending on whose POV you're in.

There's also some really great unspoken commentary on the ethics of science which was the cherry on top of this thriller. 

Read this if you like thrillers with the house/setting as a character, along with unreliable narrators, and a dash of ethics thrown in. 

TW: abuse - child, spouse, animal

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Miscarriage, Death, Death of parent, Addiction, and Self harm

bookish_af's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, Confinement, Murder, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy, Bullying, Child death, and Medical content

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

Please check trigger/content warnings. 
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 

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Content Warnings

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

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

sasisaskia's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Death of parent, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

annie_reads_books's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Torture

Moderate: Drug use, Confinement, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Gore

asolis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, and Grief