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A review by selkelite
Sundial by Catriona Ward
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
3.25
A good fun read, somewhat marred by the comparison to Needless Street, Catriona’s previous and far better outing.
Having read a couple of her other novels, it’s interesting to note just how obsessed she is with siblings, especially siblings who swap places in the plot and hide deep dark secrets about their relationship with each other. I’m not sure the ‘twists’ here were entirely successful — but I did feel the characters strongly as whole people, which is impressive when the plot is quite so outlandish as it is here.
Side note: this book needs an enormous trigger warning for animal cruelty and animal death.
Having read a couple of her other novels, it’s interesting to note just how obsessed she is with siblings, especially siblings who swap places in the plot and hide deep dark secrets about their relationship with each other. I’m not sure the ‘twists’ here were entirely successful — but I did feel the characters strongly as whole people, which is impressive when the plot is quite so outlandish as it is here.
Side note: this book needs an enormous trigger warning for animal cruelty and animal death.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis