Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Sundial by Catriona Ward

41 reviews

joy_ong's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Violence, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Grief, and Miscarriage

ommageden's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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

3.75

Sundial is a book that has a lot of weirdness packed into it. Not in like a weird acid trip kind of way but in a way where every few chapters you just keep saying "what the fuck?" In a "you can't believe this kind of abuse is happening and is normalized". 

The content of the book is a bit out there, and it really has a bunch of conflicting ideas, but overall it made for a good read. The ending in my opinion was rather disappointing. I won't go into details but it felt unearned and undeveloped by the characters. 

I enjoyed it, the first half of the book was very good. It just felt like the second half wasted the potential of the ideas the first half brought.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent

reggiethebird's review

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

4.5

It's a thriller, alright. Vivid imagery throughout, and the plot twists and turns till the very last page. Plot twists can sometimes feel unearned, but I think here they were all reasonable, and nothing felt too out of place by the end.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Animal death, Confinement, Death, and Trafficking

Moderate: Trafficking, Bullying, Gun violence, Self harm, and Vomit

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

kelseycanada's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book was slow at first m. After the plot became more clear I couldn’t stop reading it. One of my top reads of the year

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Animal death

thetinybookworm's review

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The beginning really drew me in, but then the middle of the story (which is when you read about the back story and what happened in Sundial) felt a bit sluggish. There were times I was wondering why certain things were happening. Towards the end was when everything came together and I literally gasped when I realized what was going on. It wasn't the horror I was expecting, but in some ways, this was much worse. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child death and Child abuse

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

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

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

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

---

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