Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

21 reviews

howorth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Weird

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

mariesbooks's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Bullying, Homophobia, Self harm, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

erinnnn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Holy FUCK this was crazy. Ward’s writing is as beautiful as ever. There is truly nothing I love more than a horror novel that prompts me to reread previous chapters constantly!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

purstiltski's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Abortion

ishouldreadthat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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

Looking Glass Sound is a very strange book. Catriona Ward is one of my favourite authors and a master storyteller and this book was ambitious. It wont work for some readers, but I think she really pulled it off. It's hard to talk about without spoilers! Part coming of age tale, part story of revenge and trauma, it's a book about obsession in many forms. This is one of those books that you'll either love or hate - I can't imagine there's much middle ground! I ended up absolely loving it, despite being tempted to DNF at about 30% (there's a massive shift in the story that I found quite dull). I'm a huge advocate for DNFing but this is a rare case where I'm SO glad I didn't.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Murder

Moderate: Self harm and Blood

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

a_novel_craving's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Abortion

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Stalking

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, and Sexual content

emmonsannae's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was a trip!! The setting and ambiance were exquisitely crafted—I think that was the best part of the book. C.W. pulls off the ‘story-within-a-story’ strategy well in a way that doesn’t bore or unnecessarily confuse the reader, and by the end of the novel this setup adds several brilliant layers to the (in my case) unexpected conclusion. The last 50 pages were pretty wild. Though I guess it’s technically a horror story, I didn’t find the book scary so much as haunting with a lowercase h. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

theliteraryhooker's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

3.0

This is a tough one. The first 2/3 of the book was an easy 5 star. I love Ward's writing style and I was completely engrossed in the coming of age story tinged with murder. But then the plot jumps ahead and veers wildly away from the tone of the first portion of the book in the last 100 pages or so, and I just didn't care for it. I found it confusing and repetitive, and it took away a lot of what made the first 2/3 so impactful for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Torture

Minor: Abortion