actual rating: 3/5 stars

looking glass sound by catriona ward is a deeply atmospheric, haunting novel that explores themes of friendship, betrayal, and the blurred lines between reality and memory. set in a windswept cottage overlooking the maine coast, the story follows wilder harlow, a writer who is working on his final book—a memoir about his youth, the dark secrets he uncovered with his friends in the small town of whistler bay, and a pact that shaped their lives forever.

ward's writing is, as always, gripping and immersive. i found myself drawn into the story from the start, especially with the captivating atmosphere of the maine coast and the slow unraveling of wilder's past. the first half of the book had me fully hooked; wilder’s reflections on his youth and the mystery of the killer stalking the town were intriguing. the audiobook narrator, who also narrated the last house on needless street, did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life with distinct voices, further enhancing my experience.

however, as the narrative shifts and layers upon layers of mystery unfold, i struggled to keep up. the story transitions from a memoir of wilder's childhood to his college years and then into something much more complex, and that’s where i started losing my grip on the plot. there were so many twists and turns, and at times, it became difficult to follow what was actually happening. perhaps my timing with this book wasn't ideal—i'm sure it would have resonated more if i’d read it at a time when i could give it my full attention, rather than trying to piece it together during a hectic period.

that said, looking glass sound is still a powerful read, and i’m sure many will find it much more coherent and enjoyable than i did. the atmosphere, ward’s talent for weaving suspense, and the psychological complexity are all strong points. for me, though, the story became a bit too tangled to fully appreciate. but don’t let my experience deter you—this book has received plenty of high ratings, and i can see why. if you’re a fan of atmospheric mysteries and don’t mind a story that demands close attention, it’s worth giving a try.

Going into this review, I'll admit I'm not exactly sure what happened after the midpoint (which I think was the point of the story anyway), so take my review with a grain of salt.

Looking Glass Sound grabbed me from the beginning. It had mystery/thriller vibes with heavy doses of your typical "teenagers discover something really messed up in their idyllic town." But even with this tropey beginning, Catriona Ward managed to make it interesting (and sinister) enough to really hook you in.

I didn't feel much of a connection to the MMC, Wilder, but somehow the author really made me care about him and his well-being as the story unfolded. And with me being a generalized ~hater of things~, that was quite a feat. Wilder wasn't all that likeable and complained a lot, but eh, he's a teenager/young adult who experienced a highly traumatizing event. I get it.

But what really pulled me into this story with zero intentions of letting go was Pearl's POV later on in the story. Holy shit. At that point, everything I knew was turned on its head.

Either this entire novel was a masterclass in how to write unreliable narrators, or I'm a complete idiot. (Maybe both?? lol)

Anyway, I'm excited to read more of the author's work!

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for this arc.

Reading Catriona Ward is a singular experience. I feel as though I have said that more frequently about several authors recently, and what a gift for it to hold true in so many different ways so much of the year, but there is truly nothing like her work. It’s less suspension of disbelief as required for all fiction to work, more total and immediate enrapture. Looking Glass Sound is, in part, a book about witchcraft as a tool for connection and belief as much as for revenge, and that’s exactly what the reading experience feels like.

To be able to juggle so many perspectives so intricately woven into one another, making every single one sympathetic to one degree or another, is a magic of its own that gets deep into the heart of humanity in a way that Ward excels at with each new book.

Looking Glass Sound is a nesting doll of obsession. Obsession with people. Obsession with stories. Obsession with ownership. It all loops together, in on itself and out again, echoing through the rocks and beckoning you closer to shore. It confronts us with the madness of entitlement to tragedy on a personal and communal level.

It’s life, and death, and eternity. Shaping the destinies and desires, motivations and actions of those around you to fit into a story that best suits the mental palate without making you out to be a monster. But somewhere in all this the truth gets mixed up and lost, fiction blending so deeply with reality it becomes impossible to tell the difference. To own a story, in Looking Glass Sound is to shift responsibility for the darkness inside it to whoever is thought, in the moment, the most deserving of blame.

This is Ward at her most intricately woven yet. By turns horrifying and heartbreaking, Looking Glass Sound works in so many ways, but perhaps most interestingly as a study of humanity at its most vulnerable.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to receive an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for gifting me this advanced reader copy!

This book was a ride! I’ve previously only read one other catriona ward book, the last house on needless street. I was definitely expecting so crazy plot twists in this one, just like needless street. It definitely delivered but it was just different than I was expecting! This book definitely feels like a fever dream and is honestly sometimes hard to follow. But overall it was very enjoyable to me and I absolutely recommend it! I don’t think catriona awards storytelling is going to be for everyone but so far I’ve really enjoyed her works!

Catriona Ward never takes you where you think she's taking you, and that makes for a fun read. While this book is not as artful in its mental manipulations as her very popular book, The Last House on Needless Street, this one makes up for it with an engaging cast of characters. Of course, no one can be trusted, including Ward herself, because nothing is ever what it seems. Every clue invites more mystery, and every answer invites more questions. I never felt quite certain, even at the end, that I fully understood what had happened at Looking Glass Sound--but that's more a reflection on the honesty of the characters reporting events, rather than on the plot. My rising suspicions had me questioning reality itself--something Ward has me do on a regular basis. And I'll keep coming back for more of it.

I am beginning to think that this author is just not for me. There isn’t anything specific that turned me off from this book, I just couldn’t get in to it or really care about what was happening.

3.5 rounding up I think. I liked what this one was trying to do. Ward has a very fever dream type writing style, that keeps me reading even when I am becoming a bit bored. I think the synopsis really did this one a disservice, and made me feel like the pacing was off. I didn't expect so much to be about young Wilder and coming of age, and those parts bored me. I did like the way it came together.

This isn’t my favorite book ward has written. I became a little lost around the half way point in the story. I understand what she wanted to convey with the splashes of sci-fi sprinkled throughout, but it didn’t work seamlessly in my opinion.

If Catriona Ward writes it, I will read it and I will love it. Looking Glass Sound was no exception! Impeccable atmosphere and the plot kept me guessing the entire way through!

Looking Glass Sound is Catriona Ward's newest novel. In a small isolated cottage in Maine, an author recounts the story of a killer who stalked his New England town during his childhood. He writes about how one of his best friends stole his unpublished memoir. As he writes this book, he becomes more and more unhinged, and reality becomes less clear.

This book was weird. I enjoyed the first part of it more than the second part, but there were a few crazy plot twists along the way. If you're a fan of Sundial or The Last House on Needless Street, this would be up your alley for sure.

An amazingly visceral read from a master of twists. Catriona Ward squeezes you into a story that you think you know about only to completely flip it inside out and upside down. The best part is the connection you feel to the characters and the want to be them, and care for them. But do you really know who you want to cheer for?

Wonderfully twisted and morally grey. This was an atmospheric, eerie read. It's rare to find a book so unpredictable and immersive.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ebook. I'm such a fan but sadly this book wasn't for me. I had to DNF after about 40%. Interesting concept but couldn't immerse myself as i expected. 2.5

This was a pretty crazy ride of a novel for sure! I honestly had my expectations quite blown out of the water here (pardon the phrasing..), though I'm not sure the unexpected twists and turns always worked in its favor.

The novel does start a bit slow and predictable, and at first I was rolling my eyes a bit at cliches in the plot and writing style itself. I was not particularly interested in the beginning plot, though from there, the novel does begin to take some unexpected and fascinating shifts in tone and story direction. I was compelled by certain narrative elements (the unorthodox structure, the surprising depth to the main character) and found myself invested despite some early hang-ups. The middle part of the novel was by far the most interesting to me, and I really enjoyed the plot twists and mystery involved. However, as the novel continued on, I found myself more confused than ever -- and while I suspect this was intended by the author, I still did not enjoy the feeling of unraveling this entailed. I had become invested in Wilder's story and arc, and did not find it interesting to learn he was (at least in part) a fabrication of another character's... and the fact that I am not even sure whether that statement is true, though the novel does tell you it is at a certain point, I do not think is a strength but rather a contrivance. I thought the writing style did become more nuanced and enjoyable in the latter half, and I really wanted to like the focus on the female characters in the last quarter. Unfortunately, it all felt too convoluted and pointless to be truly engaging for me anymore. I really did love the concepts and ideas at play, but by the end, the story felt dragged out and overdone, with no real cohesion in its themes or overall takeaways.

Still a very entertaining book that did surpass my expectations in many ways! I would recommend it to big fans of psychological thrillers that don't mind some out-there twists.

Looking Glass Sound was a really good, eerie and intriguing it kept me on the edge of my seat and I definitely couldn’t predict what was coming. I could not out this one down.

This book was really good, it was eerie and captivating. The author knows how to keep the reader confused yet engaged that makes you want to rush to the end. I couldn’t put it down! I love Ward!

Fantastic weird-lit/horror, but I wouldn't recommend to non-horror readers. A compelling but at times difficult read.

I was probably too dumb for this, but at least now I know what deglove means. The audiobook also didn't help with keeping my focus, especially for the chapters about the fragments. I did really enjoy when they talked about who the Dagger Man was though. I just didn't feel connected to any of the characters, and I was uninterested in the plot for most of the book.

I loved this one until about halfway through when I got very confused about who was writing what, who was real and who not, what was fiction and what was "true." It was certainly very compelling and I read it in less than a day, but I think if you're going to pick this one up you should be ready for some mind bending.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I LOVE Catriona Ward’s books. Little Eve, Sundial, and the absolutely amazing The Last House on Needless Street are all excellent books. It’s to the point that Ward is an auto-read for me. Any book of hers, I’ll be checking out. Because her books are so twisty in brilliant ways.

Wilder finally makes friends when he visits a vacation town, but their lives will be twisted together forever when tragedy strikes. Fast forward to college when Wilder is forced to revisit the trauma. And then again as a middle-aged man going back to this town to write his memoir. This plot sounds basic, but oh it’s not. Not even close. It’s a story within a story within a story, on and on. I can’t explain much due to spoilers, but you will never guess where the story goes next. Once again, Ward wrote a book that I could not put down and couldn’t wait to see the next twist.