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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
I wasn't particularly enthused by Looking Glass Sound after I reached the halfway point. It felt like Ward was trying to do something big, and multi-layered, but instead left many unfinished parts. While there is a conclusion, it's not very clear how we got there. Each individual portion reads nicely, but when it's compiled, it feels like it lacks direction.
When people ask me for psychological thriller recos, I used to point them towards Gillian Flynn. From now on, it will be Catriona Ward. From the first page she creates such an eerie atmosphere and puts you on edge. Nothing is real, everything is real.
Be warned there are 3 stories within this novel, very Inception-ey. As a reader I never knew what was real and what was fake, what were the characters' memories versus fiction. Ward kept me completely off balance! I was that Always Sunny in Philadelphia meme, you know the one I'm talking about, Charlie with the red strings everywhere....and I still got the ending wrong.
Pick this book up! Read it, then read it again! Thank you Tor Nightfire Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC!
3.75 stars!
Be warned there are 3 stories within this novel, very Inception-ey. As a reader I never knew what was real and what was fake, what were the characters' memories versus fiction. Ward kept me completely off balance! I was that Always Sunny in Philadelphia meme, you know the one I'm talking about, Charlie with the red strings everywhere....and I still got the ending wrong.
Pick this book up! Read it, then read it again! Thank you Tor Nightfire Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC!
3.75 stars!
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Catriona: *Marvel vs Capcom 2 voice* I’m gonna take you for ~ R I D E ~
More than anything, I am confused. This book hurt my brain a lot! I think I get what happened… but I’m not positive.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first the 50% was 5 stars LOVEDDDDD. The second half was like so confusing WTFis going on nothing making any sort of sense. They should have ended the book at the 50% would have been a 5 star read.
Ooooh yeah, this is my kind of weird mixed with my favourite themes and used some very cool techniques to play with the structure of the story.
Our main character is a writer also working on a memoir about his summer spent at a cottage where some murders happened and how he's felt since. It plays a lot with the theme of "who has the right to write about tragedy?"
Our main character is a writer also working on a memoir about his summer spent at a cottage where some murders happened and how he's felt since. It plays a lot with the theme of "who has the right to write about tragedy?"
When Wilder’s parents inherit a cottage on the Maine coast they decide to take a vacation before putting the home on the market. There, Wilder becomes friends with Nat, a local who lives with his fisherman father, and Harper, an English society girl who is holidaying with her family for the summer. They spend their days on the beach and in the water, creating memories that will bind them together for life.
The novel begins with an excerpt from Wilder’s memoir, looking back on his time at the cottage where we begin to find out about the trio’s relationship and also some troubling local events. Several women have disappeared and in seemingly unconnected events a predator is photographing sleeping children in their beds before leaving the picture for the family and police to see.
I absolutely loved this book and stand by my previous statements that Ward is some kind of genius! It’s the sort of novel you want to inhale but should probably take your time with and will definitely need to read again to fully appreciate. Throughout the book I mainly felt confused and unsettled and no other author has quite the same impact on me, you just have to go with it and trust that it will all come together at the end.
I’d describe this book as a gothic horror with elements of magic and ghosts . It’s a very literary novel and has a different feel to Ward’s previous two books that she’s most well known for. Something it does have in common though is the strength of the characters who you get to know intimately and the strong sense of setting and atmosphere that becomes almost claustrophobic at times.
I really can’t recommend this book enough, it’s a challenging read but one that I’m still thinking through long after finishing it!
The novel begins with an excerpt from Wilder’s memoir, looking back on his time at the cottage where we begin to find out about the trio’s relationship and also some troubling local events. Several women have disappeared and in seemingly unconnected events a predator is photographing sleeping children in their beds before leaving the picture for the family and police to see.
I absolutely loved this book and stand by my previous statements that Ward is some kind of genius! It’s the sort of novel you want to inhale but should probably take your time with and will definitely need to read again to fully appreciate. Throughout the book I mainly felt confused and unsettled and no other author has quite the same impact on me, you just have to go with it and trust that it will all come together at the end.
I’d describe this book as a gothic horror with elements of magic and ghosts . It’s a very literary novel and has a different feel to Ward’s previous two books that she’s most well known for. Something it does have in common though is the strength of the characters who you get to know intimately and the strong sense of setting and atmosphere that becomes almost claustrophobic at times.
I really can’t recommend this book enough, it’s a challenging read but one that I’m still thinking through long after finishing it!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes