Caitriona Ward is a writer capable of total immersion. From the first few pages of this book you are completely in tune with her characters thoughts, feelings and motivations. This is a strange tale, moving fluidly from a seemingly commonplace domestic drama to a world of cult like behavior filled with mistrust and abandonment. Despite the complex themes however the eventual working out of the plot is skillful and engaging.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would. After devouring Catriona Ward's previous novel, The Last House on Needless Street, I was looking forward to seeing what she could conjure up next. However, I found this narrative convoluted and, after a great and intriguing beginning, the middle felt bloated and the climax was confusing.
As a fan of the author, I don't feel comfortable sharing this opinion on social media. I hope that's okay. Please let me know if there's anything I can do in order to support this wonderful author and her work, even if not all of it hits the mark for me.

From the very beginning you just know something dark and sinister is going on and it’s from here that this idea is built on slowly but steady.

It’s told from Rob and Callie’s points of view, alternating chapters between them with many of the chapters going back in time to when Rob was a child herself and living at Sundial. It’s definitely a slow burn but the author really uses this to increase the fear, although what to be fearful of wasn’t always clear and that’s what made this story so fascinating. You know something bad has either happened or is going to happen but I just couldn’t figure out which direction it was going to take.

Again, similar to her previous book The Last House on Needless Street, it’s hard to go into too much detail without giving anything away. The story is built up and up until the final few chapters when everything comes together with a twist and lots of action. Whether I was a fan of the twist I’m still not sure – after all the build up I think I was expecting something truly shocking!

Overall if you’re after a dark and mysterious read then I do recommend this one.

Reading Sundial by Catriona Ward is the emotional equivalent of being savaged by a pack of wild dogs...or coyotes. It is a tense, and imaginative book and hits the reader in all the right places.

I found it hard to take to Rob initially because it was clear that of her two daughters she preferred Annie to Callie and this made for uncomfortable to reading., especially when we learn that Callie knows this to be the case as well. Then we learn about Callie's disturbing collection of tiny bones and it becomes easier to understand Rob.

"I worry about her physically, my fragile second child, in a way I don't about Callie. Annie is small for nine and people often assume she is younger. Callie worries me in other ways."

I love the way the author slowly unfurls the story piece by piece so you are never quite sure what is coming next and also about what has gone before. This was added to by the fact that I was never quite sure of Rob's reliability as a narrator, who was she before? Who is she now?. Is she to be trusted? Is she unstable? Most importantly, is she a danger to her daughter? And, if she is can we as readers condone this danger?

"There are other, older stories, but they are about a Rob who is dead and gone. I walled her up, sealed her off in the dark. Maybe she starved and died down there. A hopeful child buried beneath the desert sand. Maybe that's a good thing."

The characters in this book are all quite unsettling and that is one of the things that makes it a stand out book for me.

An offbeat, uneasy narrative finds a home in the Mojave desert - the location of Sundial felt to me almost as much a character in the story as Rob's two young daughters Callie and Annie. The story is told from multiple narratives and mostly in flashback, with a lot of wrongfooting and foreshadowing sewn in.

There are a lot of themes in this book - MK Ultra, nature or nuture, animal abuse, hippy counterculture - but it never feels overburdened or out of place. The story unfolds neatly and hauntingly although the pace does drop in places and I often felt like an observer to the story rather than being absorbed into it.

I think creating a feeling of dread is a really important part of good horror. You go into a house and strange things happen is just weird. If you are told the house, you are about to go in is known for inexplicable scary phenomenon then you can already feel your heartbeat faster and the hairs rise on the back of your neck before the front door even opens. As a strange scientist once said it is all about antici…..pation. In Catriona Ward’s splendid new novel Sundial, we get a family on the edge of disintegration wrapped with the tale of two young women in the desert living a very unique existence.

Rob has two daughters with her husband Irving. They live in a pleasant middle class home; have respectable outward lives and from the outside all looks very normal. However, Irving has a history of infidelity; Rob and Irving constantly row and get to the edge of violence; Rob’s daughter Annie is very ill and fearful while the older daughter Callie is obsessed with murder, talks to mysterious ghosts and their behaviour is getting worse and worryingly Rob is shocked to find some very disturbing artwork in her room. Rob is concerned that her family history is about to repeat itself. Rob takes Callie to Sundial out in the desert her family home and where so many secrets have been buried but it is now time to both tell her own story to Callie and decide what must be done about her alarming daughter while Callie grows increasingly fearful that her mother is now very dangerous and there is no one around to save her but herself.

Sundial is a masterclass in weaving two compelling stories together to create something truly special. In our present it’s the toxic atmosphere of Rob’s modern family that starts the novel. Under the veneer of a well to do family we soon feel the family on the edge of something terrible erupting be it Irving’s temper, Callie’s escalating and worrying behaviour or Rob’s increasing urge to do something she may regret. The reader very much can sense the brittle glass under the feet in these early scenes. Then we quickly get to Sundial and in this strange isolated home with the graves of her parents and many dead animals around her she tells Callie of her childhood we get a haunting family mystery as we find Rob had a twin sister named Jack. They lived with their parents Falcon and Mia plus many animals all of whom are buried around them. The family worked with animals for various experiments, and we soon realise this story sounds a little too good to be true. What are the experiments? Where is Jack in the present and why do the facts not add up? Here we get a rapidly disintegrating sister relationship where the two often felt they were each other’s world and now each starts to think about escape which neither can fully let the other move on from. There is a constant sense of a soon approaching tragedy in both plotlines and the sense that the past definitely influences the future – the question the story asks is how?

Fear not I am not going to tell you gentle reader! What I can say is that Ward uses Rob and also Callie as her primary narrators of the story in the past and future. Rob as an adult, a teenager and Callie as a bewildered and disturbed teenager trying to make sense of her family and her won worldview. We sense both have secrets and only through the story’s progression will these finally come out. We know the answers will not be good and the sense both of them holding back their emotions makes you sense something will soon erupt. Ward uses little repeating motifs to show the links in the story and also starts to twist them as the story darkens. A night-light, a little coyote pup found in the desert, secret messages recorded in the bit of an apple; and we even have small interludes of Rob’s boarding school fan fiction stories that use some increasingly familiar names that when it all comes together to create a strange dreamlike reality that feels on the cusp of turning into a nightmare as these signs mean different things. The central theme is do our childhoods forever haunt us in our actions? We clearly can see terrible things are coming we just don’t know what and in this very well paced tale we sense its not far away. That what creates the sense of dread as I didn’t know which character I can trust and what am I not yet seeing but is making feel quite uncomfortable.

There are little lines that suddenly make you feel the step you were about to tread on has been removed and you’ve just gone too far to stop… It’s a deliciously wicked piece of guiding the reader into the maze and suddenly you realise you are definitely not where you thought you were anymore. Thriller fans will love the tension and dark family secrets while those who enjoy speculative fiction may eb able to read the story in slightly different ways. Both will hugely enjoy it once their pulses come down. The way is all clicks together in a different picture to the one I originally expected but equally worrying was both dark and magnificent.

Sundial is like a tale being whispered to you by various characters over a campfire in the desert. The kind of tale that makes you increasingly aware you’re now sitting in the dark miles from anywhere and you don’t really know who these people are anymore nor what they plan to do once the story ends. It cements Ward as one of the most interesting dark thriller writers around and definitely one of this year’s best reading experiences. Hugely impressive and I strongly recommend it

Well I think we can now officially say Catriona Ward is THE go-to writer of modern psychological horror.

This is my third Ward and I've really enjoyed them all. How to sum this one up...? Dark, twisty, emotional, dark, creepy, sad, exciting, dark. And oh yeah, it's pretty dark. It feels like every character in a Catriona Ward book is completely and utterly fucked-up!

As ever, I won't spend long on the plot - Rob is a woman with a current fucked-up family whilst also trying to come to terms with her childhood fucked-up family. You now know why I don't have a job as a blurb writer.

There's scientific experimentation, abuse, violence, death, destruction, despair and cultish/hippy weirdness - the usual Catriona Ward fare. :-) I did think at times this one was a little too similar to the other two books I've read, particularly Little Eve. I guess you could say that very close (fucked-up) sisters and controlling (fucked-up) paternal loons are a theme in her work.

The book was slow to get going but the second half was a rollercoaster ride and I was desperate to see how it played out.

Things I could have done without? The story within a story added nothing for me and was just a distraction/mild annoyance. And the final twist felt like one beat to many to me - there's a danger of Ward going M. Night Shyamalan and always looking for the big twist when sometimes it may not be needed.

In summary, this one is, yep, fucked-up. Looking forward to the next one!

La publicación de La casa al final de Needless Street ha cambiado por completo y para bien el rumbo editorial de Catriona Ward. Sus primeras dos novelas tuvieron un notable reconocimiento por quienes se acercaron a leerlas. Sin embargo, el salto a nivel de promoción, ventas y comentarios que la autora ha dado con sus últimas dos obras ha sido impresionante. De ahí la expectación con la que se recibe este Sundial que llega al mercado ingles en estos días.

Rob es una mujer que teme en lo que puedan convertirse sus hijas. Callie colecciona huesos pequeños de animales y habla con amigos imaginarios. Annie es su hermana pequeña y teme lo que la mayor pueda hacerle. La relación de Rob con su marido Irving es sumamente tóxica y desemboca en que ella se lleve a Callie a Sundial, un enclave en medio del desierto del Mojave donde Rob se crio desde pequeña.

Sundial es una novela que tiene ciertas similitudes temáticas con La casa al final de Needless Street. Tras el viaje de Rob y Callie a Sundial empezamos a conocer el pasado de Rob en esta población donde sucedieron cosas terribles cuando ella era pequeña. Esos sucesos nos permiten entender la relación entre madre e hija que se repite en la línea temporal del presente entre ellas. En cierta manera esta es una novela hermana de aquella, con cercanía en cuanto a los lazos y traumas familiares, especialmente en cuanto a los hijos, aunque lógicamente muy distinta en cuanto a su desarrollo.

Es precisamente la relación entre madre e hija el detonante de buena parte del componente de terror de esta novela. Un vínculo que a la madre le trae a la memoria su época de niña y adolescente y los eventos que tuvieron lugar en Sundial. Un lugar que además tiene una relación directa con algunos experimentos que se realizaron durante algunas décadas de locura en la segunda mitad del siglo XX en los EE. UU. Gran parte de la novela, posiblemente unos dos tercios, sucede en el pasado, cuando Rob vivía en Sundial. Es ahí donde la semilla de lo que sucede en el presente comienza a brotar.

Como podéis deducir, el componente psicológico está muy presente en esta historia. Desde el principio de la lectura me fascinaba como todos los personajes de la novela son sospechosos de cualquier cosa que nos podamos imaginar, desprendiendo un mal rollo que no deja de tener lugar durante gran parte de la obra. Todos parecen asesinos, maltratadores, abusadores, etc. Da igual la edad del personaje. Por supuesto, no puedo revelar ninguna información mas para no caer en el spoiler, pero las sospechas sobre lo que realmente está sucediendo y qué va a suceder irán cambiando de un lado a otro continuamente a lo largo de la trama hasta llegar a un buen final.

La novela cuenta con un importante número de sorpresas y giros que hacen que no puedas dejar de leer hasta su final. De la misma manera, es posible que Sundial sea una novela menos sorprendente en sus revelaciones que su anterior obra, pero su ambientación y eventos resultan tan interesantes que hizo que mi interés se mantuviera mas uniforme que en aquella.

En Sundial, las relaciones madre-hija del pasado y presente se entrelazan en acciones y experimentos que, centrados en un caluroso desierto lleno de secretos, genera una historia hermana de su anterior novela con una identidad propia que te engancha hasta un truculento final.

I never had any idea where this was going, and any time I tried to guess, I couldn't have been more wrong. Like any good psychological thriller, not one of these characters is likeable. This made it even more challenging to predict what would happen because who in this cast of terrible people could be the good guy we're supposed to be rooting for?

I finished Sundial with more questions than I started with, and while I usually hate that, the genius of this narrative - the secrets and twists - made it entirely acceptable. I'm not going to give anything away, but the manipulation and suspense make this well worth the read.

"I am filled with a heart-stopping anxiety, made worse by the suspicion that I am the architect of my own destruction."

https://lynns-books.com/2022/03/10/sundial-by-catriona-ward/
4.5 of 5 stars
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Can’t tear your eyes away

Sundial is a twisted, psychological horror story that held me riveted to the page. In fairness to new readers of Ward I’m not going to bandy around words such as ‘loved’ or even it’s much maligned cousin ‘liked’. This is not that sort of story. This is a tale instead that will keep you bound to it until the final page turns when, in full possession of all the whys and wherefores, you can close the book, let your heart return to a semblance of normality and try to recover the sleep you’ve lost over the past ‘x’ number of nights that you read into the early hours.

I don’t think this is a story that I can really say too much about in terms of plot without spoiling it so I’m going to go easy on descriptions. Basically, try and imagine an almost picture perfect family, husband (Irving), Wife (Rob) and two daughters Callie and her slightly younger sister Annie. To the outside world they have a lovely home, good jobs, a caring relationship and a perfect white picket fence existence. Take that fly on the wall view and instead you see an incredibly toxic, dysfunctional family who are all pulling and pushing against each other in such hateful ways that their life is barely tolerable. Add into the mix a lot of secrets from the past and some eventual reveals that quite literally left me gaping like a fish. What more can I say, this is horrible horror, it’s brutal in parts, spooky in others, ridiculously scary as it reaches its crescendo and frankly gripping in a heart in your throat type of way.

Firstly, the characters. Well, I certainly struggled to like any of them initially which seems to have been the author’s intentions. Ward has gone for a ‘let’s throw everyone into the hideous mixing pot, I liked this approach to be honest. You’re initially on your guard, you’re puzzled about what’s going on with everyone and then like peeling back the onion layers you slowly discover the character motivations and with the revelations, and understanding they inspire, you see certain characters in a whole new light.

The story is told in an interesting way. We jump back and forward in time with Rob to witness her upbringing and her present dilemma. What can I say about Rob’s backstory – not much without giving things away unfortunately. But, by way of background, Rob and her twin sister lived a very alternative style of life growing up. Brought up in the most remote, and perhaps unusual circumstances. Their home is in the desert, they’re homeschooled and lead a very sheltered life – one that starts to fray a little when the girls become teenagers and start to push at the boundaries. On top of this their home is also used for scientific experiments which are a little bit horrible to say the least. Callie also jumps in to narrate at certain points and her chapters are quite spooky. And there are a few chapters interspersed that are a story within a story.

The writing is, well, brilliant. I love the way this author tells a story. She’s got a wicked imagination! Her descriptions are perfect, she sets a scene with ease and she has the ability to create tension and fear that you can almost taste. The desert setting was something of an inspired touch too, it lends itself so very well to the overall feel.

Overall I found Sundial a compelling read, it’s definitely dark, it has more twists and turns than a twisty turny thing and it’s literally impossible to put down.

Now, I will just mention here that if you’re thinking of picking this one up you need to be aware of certain elements that may be upsetting, particularly abuse and animal cruelty.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

‘You can't escape the desert. You can't escape Sundial.’

My thanks to Serpent’s Tail/Viper for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Sundial’ by Catriona Ward in exchange for an honest review.

Also, thanks to The Pigeonhole for hosting a group read. It was helpful to be able to share thoughts and feelings with fellow readers.

I was intrigued after reading ‘The Last House on Needless Street’ to see where Catriona Ward would go next. Still, nothing could have prepared me for the weirdness that is ‘Sundial’.

Rob Cussen fears for her daughters, Callie and Annie. Rob sees a darkness in her elder daughter, Callie, who collects animal bones and whispers to imaginary friends. She fears what Callie might do to Annie and so she takes Callie to Sundial, located deep in the Mojave Desert. Sundial is where Rob grew up.

In turn Callie is becoming increasingly afraid of her mother. Rob is not only looking at her strangely but seems determined to tell Callie the secrets of her past including the history of Sundial. This is revealed slowly through flashbacks.

No further details to avoid spoilers, though readers of a sensitive disposition should be aware that there is content likely to be triggering. Even the author admits that ‘Sundial’ is rather over the top, describing it as Grand Guignol. Also, one of her inspirations was the C.I.A’s infamous MK-Ultra project and its experiments in behaviour modification.

The narrative moves between a few viewpoints in the present and past and slowly builds up a harrowing picture of the events that took place there. While the novel opens in a suburban setting familiar to readers of domestic noir with the relocation to Sundial it quickly moves into psychological horror territory.

‘Sundial’ is not really the kind of novel that I would describe as enjoyable. It is dark, shocking, and chilling. Yet when I read horror whether supernatural or psychological, pulp or literary, I expect to be disturbed.

So, well done Catriona Ward for seriously creeping me out.

A special mention for the dramatic cover art that sets the tone for the novel.

I

This book is tough to review!!

I feel like you need to know as little possible going in because this was nothing like I was expecting. After readign Needless Street, I was expecting a unique, dark tale and that is precisely what I got!

I can't say I actually liked the story, it was pretty disturbing in places and while I don't personally like to give trigger warnings, you could find them if you wanted to check them out before reaidng, but it was definitely compelling and made me want to keep reading.

This was a difficult read in places and Catriona Ward once again shows how she isn't afraid to explore dark and disturbing topics. The family are all shown to be multilayered and have elements of this darkness around them with none of them being truly good. The topics explored aren't suitable for all and there were some points that the story made me feel grimey and dirty with what was being discussed and how it was being discussed. The switch between the present and the past was done well and those chapters helped make sense of the present-day situation. The final section was done well and i liked how the whole idea of all is not as it seems was continued until the end.

What I think :

I was a little unsure about this book when I heard about it. I had tried to read this authors first novel ‘The last House on Needless Street’ but failed at the last hurdle both times, I found the content (There is child cruelty involved) was somehow affecting my mental health and had to stop reading.

I must admit I struggled all the way through this book, (yes I did manage to finish this one !) I am a little unsure as to why. Maybe it’s because this time there are depictions of scientific practices of cruelty to animals (which never has and never will sit right with me) or maybe its the spousal abuse.

But anyway, on the whole I found this novel disturbing and intriguing all at the same time, it also left me not really knowing what to think. I wouldn’t say it was a horror story, not at anytime was I scared, but I was weirded out a couple of times. I found this book a little bit like a car crash on the motorway, you know what I mean, you’re on a journey and you see an accident at the side of the road, you know you shouldn’t look as you go past but you just can’t help yourself. That’s how I felt about this novel. I found myself really wanting to finish the book to find out what happens but at the same time finding it all quite odd and not wanting to know !!

All in all I think I this novel has been very well written and I give it 8/10 (5 stars)

Wow, what a book! This book had me on the edge of my seat and dying to read on to see what happens next. I didn't expect this story to keep me so engaged, I didn't want to pit it down. Loved Catrionas writing style as I did in The Last House On Needless Street. Can't wait for her next book!

Sundial by Catriona Ward is a chilling and twisted tale of dark family dynamics, gripping yet repellent at the same time and I was completely hooked by it.
Rob is afraid of the darkness she sees in her daughter Callie, and afraid for her fragile younger daughter Annie. Her relationship with her husband is strained almost beyond breaking point , and when she fears that Callie has deliberately tried to hurt Annie, Rob decides to take Callie back to her own childhood home, Sundial, deep in the Mojave desert. Rob's memories of Sundial are complicated to say the least, and the truth about her childhood there is one of the reasons she fears for Callie.
Callie is a smart girl, she notices how differently her mother has been looking at her lately , so she is nervous about the trip to Sundial and what could actually happen there, she needs to make her mother understand she has only been punishing Annie to make her better.
This is a disturbing book that kept me on the edge of my seat, the less I say about the twists and turns the better other readers will enjoy it, but I can say the twists and turns definitely kept me turning the pages late into the night. The characters are fascinating, but certainly not likeable and the author makes it very difficult for the reader to know which , if any, of them can be trust
There are some graphic descriptions of animal injury, childhood abuse and violence that readers may find disturbing, this book really examines the darker side of humanity and I would not recommend it for the faint of heart.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Catriona has done it again.

Fantastically creepy.

This is a tale that is expertly plotted.

Twist and turns with a dark and gritty undercurrent.

I just love Ward's writing style. It's almost gothic horror but with a modern twist.

Sundial is a story that I could imagine being adapted for the big screen.

As the reader, there is no way that you can know the direction that the story is going to take. The narrative from mother and daughter both mesmerising and terrifying at the same time.

This is one of those books where I can't say too much as it would spoil the impact of the tale.

But if you were a fan of the authors first novel, you are going to LOVE this one!

Sundial is an intricate psychological thriller that keeps us guessing on the intent and scheming of an array of chilling characters. The frightening machinations and location of the story make for a restless but intriguing reading experience filled with horror and abuse.

Rob is married to Irving with two young daughters, Callie and Annie. Callie is distant with Rob, talks to imaginary friends, and collects tiny bones.

“‘One of our children just tried to kill the other,’ I say. The reality of it sends cold fingers down my spine. ‘Mothers pass things down, don’t they?’ Irving’s voice is soft. ‘The secrets I keep for you, Rob.’”

Their family life doesn’t feel normal, never mind the disturbing childhood Rob experienced with her sister Jack. The story takes us into both worlds and timelines, which Rob and Callie cleverly narrate. Trying to resolve suspicions regarding Callie, Rob takes her to her childhood home in the Mojave Desert, to a complex called Sundial.

The history of Sundial, with its animal abuse, physical abuse, drug abuse, and Rob’s malignant memories of her childhood with her sister, paints an ominous atmosphere of horror and dark secrets. Watching the story unfold filled me with fear as incidents result in a gory outcome or near miss. The unpredictability and complexity of the story, while intriguing at times, was also difficult to follow.

I think this is one of those experiences where you get the sense the author forgot about her readers and let the convolutions of her imagination take her into a space that not everyone followed. Reflecting on the story, I understand how all the pieces finally fell into place, but how I got here, I don’t know. There was another ‘irrelevant’ storyline within the story, as if I wasn’t confused enough.

Catriona Ward is a master storyteller that commands such rich and vivid prose that it is a joy to read, and this is best seen in her previous book … ‘Needless Street’. She does dare to dive into dark and horrific tones that keep you in terrifying suspense. What Needless Street brought was a mind-blowing psychological twist, but in this novel, the twists were too confusing and not as compelling. The story’s momentum dropped significantly in the middle sections and nearly resulted in me giving up.

I can imagine how this book will see significant differences of opinion, and I wrestled with the rating; probably closest would be 3.5 stars. I want to thank Serpent’s Tail / Viper / Profile Books and NetGalley for providing a free ARC in return for an honest review.

Sundial by Catriona Ward
I give this book 4.5 stars

Rob fears for her daughters. For Callie and Annie.She sees a darkness in Callie and decides to take her back to her own childhood home, to Sundial,
Callie is afraid of her mother. Rob has begun to look at her strangely. To tell her secrets about her past that both disturb and excite her.
You can't escape the desert. You can't escape Sundial…….

I devoured this book and was utterly gripped by the unsettling and dark psychological/horror storyline.The author is such an excellent storyteller, l loved how as you read deeper the layers were gradually peeled back to reveal the disturbing truths about Robs past and Sundial.Plenty of cleverly constructed twists and turns kept me guessing till the very end.
Fantastic!!
With thanks to Netgalley,Catriona Ward and Serpent's Tail / Viper / Profile Books, Viper for my chance to read and review this book

Wow this was a tricky one to rate. Sundial is a stand-alone contemporary horror-suspense novel set in inland California. I requested it because I’d seen all the rave reviews for The Last House on Needless Street last year - I bought a copy but haven’t got around to reading it yet - and this was also getting lots of stars. Unfortunately, by the time I got to it, I noted lots of DNFs, low stars and warnings about all the animal abuse, so I started it apprehensively to say the least, but it’s published today, and I wanted to make up my own mind. I liked it better than I expected, but can’t say I enjoyed it.

When Rob Cussen discovers that her difficult older daughter Callie has tried to poison her younger sister, she decides to remove her from the toxic influence of her emotionally sadistic unfaithful husband for a visit to her remote family home in the Mojave desert. Years before, something terrible happened there, and only by facing her past can Rob save her family - or can she?

This was a complicated twisty story about some truly repellent people. I don’t read much horror, but devoured enough Stephen King novels when I was younger to see where the comparisons are coming from. It’s not an easy read - it’s all first person present, there are no chapters, just character perspective and timeline shifts, and there’s a strange and completely pointless book within the book which added nothing to the story. The middle is also very slow and the characters so unpleasant that while I wanted to know what was going on with them, I didn’t care remotely what happened to them - and then to cap it off there’s that inconclusive ending. It is well written though, and the whole creepy-child/conflicted mother premise reminded me of 2018’s equally polarising Baby Teeth/Bad Apple. I think all the people who gave up on it did themselves a disservice as the last quarter is undoubtedly the best.

For a book with so many trigger warnings attached, I found it less disturbing than expected. Much has been made of the animal abuse - and there’s no denying that what is done to the dogs in the name of science is horrific, not to mention the many dead animals and live maggots that litter the plot - but it’s not done through cruelty, and that made it less upsetting to read about than I expected. There’s plenty of cruelty to people, though, and mentions of child harm, drug misuse, domestic abuse, and more that I won’t mention because spoilers. The horror is quite muted, however, and it’s not as gory as it sounds. The sciencey bits didn’t make a whole lot of sense but I do get what was supposed to be going on.
Was it a good book? Yes, for the right reader. Will I read Needless St? Probably since most reviewers have compared it favourably to this. Would I read this again? No chance. 3 stars it is.

Thanks to NetGalley and Viper books for the ARC. I am posting this honest review voluntarily.
Sundial is published today.