— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Looking Glass Sound
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Catriona Ward
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Psychological Horror/Thriller
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 20th April 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4/5

‘Writing is power,’ she says. ‘Big magic. It’s a way of keeping someone alive forever.’
‘Why would someone want to live forever in a book?’ ‘
Maybe they don’t. Maybe the writer keeps them prisoner.’ She leans in, puts her lips to his ear. ‘You can trap someone in a book, their soul–make a prison of words. A cage.’

This book was wild!

This is the kind of complex horror story that you could reread over and over and notice something new each time. It has so many layers and subtle nuances that overall it comes across as really clever and well thought out. This book seems to start as a thriller and then transcends into horror, however the psychological aspect stays the same throughout. Even now, all I can think of is what was true and what wasn’t?

This book is centered around a serial killer called the Dagger Man, and a trio of friends, Wilder, Harper and Nathaniel, and how the effects of one summer catching a serial killer ruins their whole lives.

It starts with Wilder saying ”I plan to fall in love this summer” and how it ends currently feels beyond my comprehension. Love definitely factors into it. But, so does murder, magic and literary theft.

Some parts had me really confused, it’s really the sort of book that you have to stick with (and perhaps reread) for everything to make sense. Whilst this sounds like a lot of time and effort, I found it so worth it, I flew through this read regardless of how baffled I was at times.

There’s a phenomenon in art known as The Droste Effect, where a picture recurs in itself until you could theorize that it has an endless loop. Looking Glass Sound embodies this, which is why the story feels psychologically complicated, but it’s still ridiculously entertaining.

I honestly found it unputdownable, and at the end I found my mind floating adrift at sea, trying to ponder what happened on the shoreline.

𝑲𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉 @ 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒉 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒚
🧚‍♀️🤍

Goodness, this is a hard review to write. I'm not new to Catriona Ward's writing, having read The Last House on Needless Street and Sundial, so I was excited to receive an advance copy of her latest book Looking Glass Sound which will be published in April.

I think Looking Glass is a very apt description of this book. Once you drop into this world, you keep falling deeper and deeper. This is a book within a book within a book, and each version feels familiar and yet skewed in some way. You sort of know where you are and yet not and at times it can be challenging to keep up as it's easy to lose your footing.

How can I tell you more? It's complicated. It starts like a coming-of-age story, with what I thought were the most beautifully written characters. I totally fell in love with Wilder, Nat and Harper. They find themselves in a gorgeous, yet somewhat eerie setting. After an event occurs which I won't spoil for you, forget everything you know because the author is going to mess you up big time. This is a book about dark obsession, about not being able to let go of the past, and what it means to write a book about something you can't forget, even if the story is not yours to tell. There's horror, death, betrayal, hauntings, magic and friendship and love. Add plenty of twists and turns and also moments that make you go oh!

The writing is wonderfully dark. Catriona Ward is an inspiration to me as a writer. I'll read whatever she writes.

I'm going to be honest, there were SO many twists and turns in this book that I'm not entirely sure what was happening half the time.

However, I had a great time.

I feel like I need to read this again with notes alongside me, but I also don't think that's the point.

4 stars.

Oh my goodness. What the heck have I read? I need to talk to someone who has read this. Have you read it? Will you read it?

If you’ve read any of Ward’s previous books, you know she has an imagination that is unrivalled (IMO) for horror. She takes you on a journey - most of the time you don’t know what the heck is going on, but you’re there for the ride. This is another fine example of this. There’s lots going on in LGS - and there’s lots of changing perspectives and timelines and half the time you’re not even sure what’s real! It really does put you in a head spin, but in all the good ways.

It’s really hard to review this book without revealing too much of the story, and I really don’t want to spoil all your fun! Just know that it takes you to some dark places - another creepy and trippy tale from the master that is Catriona Ward. And it’s one that you have to pay attention to. But it’s so multi-layered. I’d love to know what the inspiration for this one was!

Thanks to NetGalley, the team at Viper and the author for the opportunity to read this review copy.

This is one of those books that it's very hard to write anything about without giving away spoilers but I will try my best.

The writing hooked me into the story and with each twist and turn it made me both really enjoy the read and hate it as well. It was confusing at times as to where it was going and how some twists developed but after turning the last page I have to admit it was a very well scripted mystery thriller which provided me with a good few hours of entertainment. What more can you ask for really?

The only reason I've given this book 4 stars instead of 5 is personal taste. For me I just didn't love it enough.

Looking Glass Sound is set for the most part in a cosy little wind-swept beach town and clearly that wind swept all the way to Belgium and blew all coherent thoughts right out of my head. What the frick did I just read? Honestly, I have no clue but I do know I loved it!

Okay, so, if you’re at all familiar with Catriona Ward’s writing, you’ll know that she’s the absolute queen of stories that look like one thing but turn out to be something entirely different. Looking Glass Sound is no exception. Fortunately, I know better than to expect anything whenever I pick up a book from this author, I skip the blurb, dive right in and let the current take me wherever it will. If you’ve read the blurb and you think you’ll know what kind of story you’ll get, think again. Or rather, try not to think at all, cos it will make your head hurt.

Looking Glass Sound starts out as a rather innocuous coming-of-age story with three close friends. Think The Wonder Years but make it darker. Where is this going, I wondered more than once. But while that feeling can irk me in some books, here it just kept me intrigued (and not at all amused when I was forced to socialise and had to stop reading).

As the story progressed, I couldn’t help but spout theories. Me, myself and I had some great discussions about what might be happening, even if they did break my brain. I tried very hard not to try and figure things out, but sleuthing comes with reading, even when it’s not a classic mystery or whodunnit but a book like this, that is either a multitude of genres, or a genre all of its own. For the record, I did cotton on to the general gest of the story, but I got all the details wrong.

Looking Glass Sound is my favourite Catriona Ward to date. It is mind-boggling and reality-warping and really rather confusing at times, and I think that might put a few readers off, but it really worked for me. It is both stepping through the looking glass and a trip through crazy town and I mean that in the very best way. If you’re looking for a book to rock your bookish world, this is it. Highly recommended.

Looking Glass Sound is out in digital formats, audio and hardcover on 20 April, with the paperback to follow next year.

Massive thanks to Viper Books and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I'm.a huge fan of Catriona Ward, she got my no 1 book of the year with The Last House and Looking Glass Sound is a whole new level of brilliant crazy.

It's hard to describe you kind of just have to read it but I suppose you could call it a ghost story, a friendship story, a story about the power of books, but overall it is just a powerful and emotional piece of storytelling.

Randomly creepy, multiple layers and themes keep you deeply involved. The characters rock, they mess with your head big time and it flows over you then hits you on the head with a pitch perfect ending that brings the whole thing into sharp focus.

I could happily have read another 100 pages featuring these characters and the place. Looking Glass Sound. Nothing is what it appears to be...

Another no 1? Quite possibly but definitely highly highly recommended.

Looking Glass Sound is a hard novel to review.

I must confess I struggled while reading it. I was a massive fan of Wards Sundial and Last house on Needless Street but I felt I just wasn't connecting with this book in the same way. However having just finished it and stepping back admire it as a whole I realise it is a slower burn and I can hand on heart say that Looking Glass Sound sits equal to her previous work.

Ward weaves many threads into this complicated tale about the nature of writing and shared trauma. Many times it feels like the threads are pulling together only to veer off in an unexpected direction.

The final act is mind blowing and I genuinely gasped out loud at a few of the revelations.

Wards writing style is magnificent, poetic and grotesque in equal measure (I will forever shudder at the word "degloved" after reading this!) she really gets under your skin and creates a constant uneasy feeling that something is just not right.

I cannot fathom how much work she must have put in creating the intricate structure, it truly took my breath away.

In conclusion Looking Glass Sound is a truly astonishing piece of work, I highly recommend it.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a digital ARC to review.

The story opens with Wilder, an awkward teenager, making friends at the beach while on vacation with his family at Whistler Bay. Wilder's new friends explain that the area is renowned for its missing women, while local parents fear for their children's safety at the hands of the mysterious Dagger Man. It's hard to say more without revealing too much, but Looking Glass Sound is a brain-melter of a book. Reading will require your full concentration, and it's one of those stories where you have to flick through and read certain passages again once you know what you know at the end. Catriona Ward's writing is as slick and terrifying as always. Don't read it at bedtime.

Thank you so much to Viper and #Netgalley for my proof copy of #LookingGlassSound

My favourite read this year by far, Looking Glass Sound is as near a modern masterpiece as you will get.

You may be confused at times like I was, you might not know whats going on for large parts but you will enjoy reading every page like I did.

A multi-layered story that is full of surprises, its a thriller, a gothic thriller, a love story, a ghost story, a horror, a book possibly about spirituality - I could go on. Its also a love letter to books and the love hate relationships people have with them.

When I finished Looking Glass Sound I wanted to turn to page one and start reading it all over again. It was utterly compelling and once I knew everything there was to know I wanted to read it again with new eyes. I will certainly be revisiting it again in the future.

I have liked Catriona Wards previous books that I have read but she has brought her writing and storytelling to a new level here. I will be very surprised, even at this early stage if this doesnt end up being my favourite read of 2023.

Many thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.

Okay. So this will be far harder to review than I imagined when I started reading. Not for any bad reason, more that it is a very complex book that it's hard to talk about without giving away the very heart of what makes it unique and special. On the surface this is the story of Wilder Harlow, a young man whose family take a summer vacation at Whistler Bay, one that will change his life and those of his new friends, Nat and Harper, in unimaginable ways. What starts as a simple summer friendship, takes a dark and brooding turn, and a return to the cottage the following year will blow the fragile bonds of their friendship apart as dark secrets are revealed.

This book requires, and deserves, your absolute concentration. I was fooled at the start into thinking that this was a fairly straightforward mystery/suspense, one with darkness at its heart. What an idiot I was. I've read Needless Street. straightforward is not Catriona Ward's style at all. This brooding coming of age drama takes a sinister, horror tinged turn, and becomes far more complex and multi-faceted than I had expected, leading stories within stories and leaving me wondering what was real. It is only towards the end of the book that the full intricacies of this book become clear, not quite a lightbulb moment, more a gradual dawning when everything you thought you understood is washed away with the tide and the truth is what remains on the shoreline.

Characters are really what make this book so special. From the trio of Harper, Wilder and Nat, to the adults and friends who come to inform their lives over the years, they are complicated, flawed people with more than an edge of credibility about them. My feelings towards them moved from sympathy to incredulity, their actions fuelling a myriad of emotions. What happens throughout the course of the book is enough to damage any young mind, and it's fair to say that none of them were exactly operating in a fully stable state of mind to begin with. I love how the author played with this uncertainty about their motivations and actions to add conflict and unease to an already unsettling story. The whole book is essentially about uncovering the same truth that we as readers are searching for, and none of what unfurls is perhaps what any of us were expecting.

The narrative style of this book varies the more we progress through the pages. Told in part from Wilder's own point of view, it is a style which keeps us shielded from the full truth, slowly revealing facts which will in turn prove pivotal in our understanding of what is going on. Or perhaps not. I thought so for a while, but as with everything in this book, appearances can be deceptive. Take nothing for granted and nothing, and perhaps no-one, at face value.

A story of friendships, family, betrayal and murder, this is a complex and haunting mystery that is crammed with atmosphere and suspense. The setting is perfect, the imagery so vivid and wild that it draws you right in. Yes, it is complicated and sometimes confusing, but the further you rear the clearer things become. And it is tinged with the unexpected right to the very last. If you like the authors unique and twisted style, you will love this book.

I really enjoyed Looking Glass Sound!
It was well written and really atmospheric and it kept me guessing till the end.
This was actually the first book I've read by Catriona Ward and I'm really excited to read her other work!
I highly recommend this book!
Than you for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Looking Glass Sound is a beautifully atmospheric, creepy, clever novel about a student whose family comes into an inheritance which includes a haunting cottage off the coast of Maine. With expert use of multi points-of-view and multiple timelines, twists are expertly deployed alongside a hefty emotional wallop. Best to go in reading this one knowing as little as possible for the full whiplash/secrets revealed experience!

Looking Glass Sound is a complex layered psychological drama mystery by bestselling author, Catriona Ward. If you have read this author before then you know what to expect with this one. For most of this book, I didn’t know where the story was going but I didn’t care as the writing style was so good. It was a slow burn and plays with the concepts of storytelling, reality and perception. I love Catriona Ward’s characterization and she makes you feel for each and every character. Told from multiple POV across different timelines, this one is sure to be another bestseller. Catriona Ward is an auto-buy author for me and I look forward to seeing what she puts out next.

I love Catriona Ward's work because she is brilliant at getting inside the minds of her characters, it's completely absorbing. This one feels like a love letter to Patricia Highsmith

*I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.*

An unsettling and atmospheric thriller with characters you can’t trust, Looking Glass Sound was just the twisty, turny book that I needed. The writing was dark but emotional, and the plot was intriguing from the offset, with Ward building tension through small moments between characters that were strange and unnerving. At some points of this I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but it had me turning pages to try and find out what had happened. The different perspectives of the past really made this for me, and were a great way of revealing more about the events that had occurred. My only issue was that I was sometimes left feeling a bit confused, but if you’re the kind of person who loves working things out this will definitely be up your street!

Very creepy, very atmospheric and very, very good.

I spent most of this novel going where is this going??? The plot seemed lost and I wasn't as gripped as I normally am by Catriona's incredible novels. But I kept persevered and I'm very glad that I did because there was a very satisfying conclusion and suddenly it all made sense.

Looking Glass Sound is yet another example of how Ward is just an absolute master of psychological horror, and how the way her words pour onto the page is absolute genius. I knew I was going to love this because Ward’s writing style is just so beautifully poetic for such dark situations, and it never fails to blow me away.

This book follows Wilder Harlow as his family go to stay at his late uncle’s house in Whistler Bay before selling it. The small town setting, as well as the cottage itself, is very eerie and holds an air of the supernatural, with stones that whistle in the wind. Wilder meets Nat and Harper on the beach one day, and we follow these friends as they face various horrors both in childhood and adulthood. It’s also the story of Sky, Wilder’s friend from college, who steals Wilder’s unpublished memoir notes and turns them into a bestselling novel.

As always with Ward’s books, what may seem a simple storyline at first is always opened up into a world of horror and complexity that you could never expect. What may seem like a mystery in the beginning with friendship and trauma, turns into something so much deeper and darker as the book goes on.

There are times when you as a reader will be as confused, if not more, than Wilder in his attempts to uncover the secrets of his past and present. Just like Ward’s previous books, this is a novel that requires so much attention to follow the intricacies that she weaves into the text, that somehow all come together to unveil something entirely mind-blowing at the end. It is perhaps not the easiest book to read if you aren’t used to this writing style, but it is so worth the confusion headaches to reach that utterly satisfying and yet shattering conclusion.

I knew when I read Rawblood that Catriona Ward was going to become one of my favourite authors. I've now read all of her books, and this is yet another masterpiece - for me, this author can't put a foot wrong, and I would read her shopping list at this point.

In 1989, Wilder Harlow and his parents make the trip from New York to Whistler Bay for one last visit to a recently deceased family member's cottage. There, Wilder meets the beautiful and enchanting Harper, and local Nat Pelletier, and the three form an intense summer friendship. The only shadows are the local boogeyman known as the Dagger Man, and the missing local women...

We then see Wilder at college, still obsessed with the nightmarish final events of that summer, and prone to panic attacks. When slowly he begins to build a relationship with his roommate, Sky, Wilder finally begins to come out of himself, and address the horrors of Whistler Bay. But then Sky betrays Wilder in the worst way...

...and there I will stop describing the plot for fear of giving anything away, as this is most definitely a book you should go into without knowing too much! Suffice to say it is beautifully written, expertly plotted, and completely chilling.

Looking Glass Sound is an apt name for this novel - it feels at times like we the reader go through that looking glass into another world which may look like ours but is subtly, horribly different. A story within a story, twists that literally leave you reeling (and rereading, in my case!), and beautifully drawn, terribly flawed characters.

This one will stay with me. Catriona Ward is just on another level.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for granting me a free ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not quite sure what I've just read but "Looking Glass Sound" by Catriona Ward is brilliant. Unlike some of her previous novels which seem confusing and then you work out what is going on, this one just gets more complicated over time. However, just go with the flow as it is lyrically stunning. Who is writing which characters? Which version of the story is true? Who cares! It's Catriona Ward and a pleasure to read, and read again!