Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Sundial by Catriona Ward

52 reviews

dale1997's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Pregnancy

othersociologist's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, and Miscarriage

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

misscassylee's review against another edition

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

reburkah's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship

thehmkane's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

cassilynn's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Blood

letmeinthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Murder, and Pregnancy

ronan_lesh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

starrysteph's review against another edition

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