Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Sundial by Catriona Ward

25 reviews

kkalicky94's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

melliedm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

A horrifying story of how trauma lives inside of us, centered on mother (Rob) and daughter (Callie) who both appear to suspect one another of being a danger whilst escaped together in an isolated desert retreat.

Sundial was filled with surprises and grotesque imagery, but also managed to be a display of restraint. The book frequently gave us just enough information to draw a conclusion without spelling it out for us, which is a refreshing change of pace. A chilling thriller that kept me flipping pages until I reached the ending.

The story is told through switching perspectives of Rob and Callie, Rob’s past as she recounts details to her daughter, and passages from a book that Rob has written. The only sore spot for me was the latter. I had hoped it would be more relevant as the story continued, but for me it served to interrupt the pace. 

Other than that, I loved this read. Make sure to check the content warnings before picking it up, though, because it definitely deals with many big trigger items (albeit quite deftly).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

actias_luna's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• 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 abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Gore and Miscarriage

simplyammee's review

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Violence, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

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

nisima's review against another edition

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

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

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.

archaicrobin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Catriona Ward does an amazing job of writing thrillers that keep you on your toes. I had no idea what was happening, who to trust, how it was going to end, and I loved it! Sundial is a sci-fi, horror, thriller with so much going on I really recommend going in with as little knowledge as possible so you can enjoy the twists and turns. Big warning on animal cruelty though, there are a lot of dogs and animals being mistreated in this one and that is definitely something I don’t like. However, the animal cruelty in this was very relevant and not random or thrown in for shock value, and ties in with the themes of the novel. 

If you’re up for a crazy thriller/sciFi/horror mashup with beautiful writing, grab this one. I’m still thinking about it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

nicoles_reading_corner's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child abuse and Miscarriage

readmeem's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

2.0

This was not what I expected when I read the description. However, there is nice build up until the middle of the book, then it went downhill for me. The book was long and drawn out. I was left confused in a few places. I struggled to finish it.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

Mental illness, family, twins, abuse, cruelty