Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

26 reviews

rachelunabridged's review

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

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

hannaheinhorn's review

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

2.5

I listened to this on Audible and really disliked the male narrator’s speaking style. This book reads a bit YA. I had seen this book talked about as “literary horror” and truthfully, I wouldn’t consider it “literary” in the sense that it wasn’t very sophisticated, which in this case, was something I was hoping for. I didn’t hate it, but the ending did cheapen it for me. I wanted much more story on the dagger man and cared so much less about the kids who were investigating the story.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

foramen_magnum's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This right here is why Ward has become my favorite author since discovering Sundial last October. A gorgeous, breathtaking, mind bending book that necessitated a re read of certain chapters as soon as I finished the last page. 

I wasn't into the first couple long chapters as I was reading them-- they read as almost childish, heavily reminiscent of Stephen King down to a Maine setting, a story of two summers told at warp speed. Turns out that was totally the intention, and I'm glad I kept reading. As Wilder & co get older, their stories become more convoluted, more entwined, and more inevitable, relayed through prose whose excellence peeks throughout the book but isn't wholly obvious until the last page.

This is a book best read with no expectations other than a commitment to stick with it to an ending so sharp that you won't realize how deep it's cut you, so I won't say much more... My advice: Embrace being confused. Go on the journey. Re-read.

 The Dagger Man awaits.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing and Abortion

librarianjennifer's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

Would anyone else like to talk about the last 50 pages of this book?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

_cheshirecxt's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, and Death of parent

enchantressreads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Suicide

keen's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad

• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Torture, Abortion, and Pregnancy

perkyanda's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

Really interesting way of playing with format and structure, interesting characters and take on writing and authors. At times the

repetition/recursion

gets tedious and teasing out

the actual narrative gets meh

but overall it’s an enjoyable read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

zosiablue's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

"Being old kind of takes the magic out of things....it's sad. But also a relief."

This is about trying to write your way out of tremendous grief and it is beautiful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Grief

Minor: Bullying and Pregnancy