Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy in exchange for my review.

This is my second book by this author and was very excited to get this ALC. This one left me dumbfounded and not in a good way. It was unsettling and I think the first half of the book was well done, although complex. Then in the later portion it derailed. The narrators were both very good. I am not sure if it is because I listened to it on audiobook, that it was too complex to follow without the physical book. I may give this a chance to reread and listen when it is released.
3 stars

This freaking book. I was enraptured from the moment I read the synopsis. This book was an absolute delight for me to listen to. I loved the mystery and the atmosphere that Catriona brings to everyone of her book, but in this book it shines as bright as the moon at midnight. I would def rec this book and the audiobook as well. I will def be reading this book again. 4 stars and a def reread!

Thank you @tornightfire and @macmillan.audio for the complimentary ARC & ALC.

This is my first Catriona Ward book. Based on reviews I’ve seen for her previous books, I was prepared for the bizarre. I thought I would be able to follow what was happening, and I did, right until the end; at which point I practically needed diagrams and charts to try to figure it out, and also a chat with @reading.rambo to attempt to put my thoughts in order. This is where it lost a half a star for me. While overall I really enjoyed the book, all the suspense and intrigue; I don’t like to be that confused at the end of a book, that’s where I want things wrapped up. I both listened to and read this, and I think I would recommend just reading it. There are layers upon layers in this story and I think, for me, had I been solely reading it then I potentially would have understood and enjoyed the ending much more.

Catriona Ward's Looking Glass Sound is probably my favorite book by Ward yet. I liked Needless Street and Sundial, but this is a whole new ballgame, I highly recommend it.

Looking Glass Sound is a deeply unsettling horror novel that blends coming-of-age with metaphysical dread. It's drenched in nostalgia for a simpler time that may be far more complicated than any reader may think.

Ward is quickly becoming a must-read author for me, each book takes on a lot and manages to keep a lot of wandering threads untangled, while still leaving readers with a satisfying ending.

Also, thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read!

I never usually do this BUT leave it to Catriona Ward to make me change up my routine . I first READ, Looking Glass Sound. I loved it so much I needed more. So, I requested the audio version, I needed to sit back, relax and have someone narrate it for me so I could plunge my soul into the depths of the madness.

I have zero regrets.

Every time I think back on what I just listened to, I shriek…

It’s Catriona Ward.

We will never be able to predict this wildly talented author. I can still remember the feelings I had after concluding The Last House on Needless Street.

I also remember how Bookstagram took an unspoken oath to one another that we would never review the book in fear of spoiling it for the next reader. Everyone needed to feel that sudden shock and spine tingles . (Still one of the best books EVER)

Then I read Sundial and Little Eve and I was equally as impressed . After reading both of these books I knew I bit the bug . I was obsessed with Catriona Ward and needed to feverishly stalk the internet for signs of the next book…

Well it came

Looking Glass Sound

I can not believe I am saying this, I never ever thought a book would blow my mind like The Last House on Needless Street BUT, it just happened… Looking Glass Sound just slipped right on in to my most favored books .

I am in udder shock and I am at a loss for words .

Five Stars will never do this book justice . This one right here just broke our rating scale.

I’ll never spoil a Catriona Ward book so all I will tell you is that you need to drop what you are doing and immediately run to pre-order this book.

Teaser :

In a cottage overlooking the windswept Maine coast, Wilder Harlow begins the last book he will ever write. It is the story of a sun-drenched summer of his youth and of the killer that stalked the small New England town. Of the terrible tragedy that forever bonded him with his friends Nat and Harper in unknowable ways. Of a horror that has followed them over the years.

Wilder has returned to the town decades later in an attempt to recount that summer's events in his memoirs. But as he writes, Wilder begins to fear his grip on the truth is fading, and events in the manuscript start to chime eerily with the present. He’s even started seeing a dark-haired woman down in the icy waters below the cottage, but nobody else can.

No longer able to trust his own eyes, Wilder begins to fear that this will not only be his last book, but the last thing he ever

As usual Ward writes a bizarre and creepy story with sufficient mystery and angst. An unreliable narrator, an old story, a serial stalker, and betrayal amongst friends. The story of Wilder and the turmoil of his summers spent on the beach with two friends, and the questions he has about the serial “Daggerman” of the Sound.

This story will frustrate you, give you anxiety, and creep you out as parts start to unravel and there become more questions than answers.

Narrator did an excellent job, but it does remind me how much the New England accent grates on the ears!

I really tried with this one but I ultimately came away very confused. There were so many characters and at times they morphed into other characters. The time periods also fluctuated and I couldn’t keep anything straight. I think this one is not best to listen to on audio because of the very complex plot. There were some crazy twists near the end that I enjoyed. I appreciate Ward’s very elaborate writing style.

I don't think I've ever heard a story that pulled me in such extreme directions between love and hate. I was looking forward to this book because I loved Ward's Little Eve from last year. I devoured that book in about a day, because Ward is great at writing a story you don't want to stop reading. My issue with Looking Glass Sound isn't the quality of the writing or of the story but how upsetting and frustrating the tale can be to ingest. I found myself annoyed with the characters, their actions, and the multiple shifts in the story and its presentation of the characters.

But I admire Looking Glass Sound for it all. I know it's been said a million times but this really is a writer's mystery thriller. It felt at times like a love letter to the work of Stephen King, with the content and, of course, the setting. You can see the wheels of Ward's brain, a writer's brain, as you get deeper into the story and it shifts, and then it shifts again and takes you entirely off your feet to pull you right back in just as you get comfortable.

God though, did I dislike/hate basically every character lol This is a divisive story and I see the ratings being just as divisive once it's released and more people read it... don't let any low ratings dissuade you from this novel or Ward in general though - this is the sort of book that will be taught to students some day and I think it's worth a read. Just try not to spoil it for yourself!

This was my first book by Ward and I'm glad I got to listen to it. This is definitely mind bending as advertised. I at first was wary and didn't quite understand what was going, but as more kept getting reveled it was like a Russian nesting doll. Very twisty, lots of betrayal and secrets - I'm not sure I still know what was real lol.

When I finished this audiobook (and honestly, all throughout reading it), I was unsettled. This is the second book I've read by Catriona Ward, and both of them were well crafted and emotionally evocative. Looking Glass Sound threw curve balls at me that I wasn't expecting, and this was a unique experience to read. The audiobook narrators were perfect, especially Christopher Ragland. It included a serial killer, victims, a creepy photographer of sleeping kids, friendships formed in what seemed like an idyllic sort of summer vacation, betrayal, some magic...just so, so, so much. For me, I struggled with this book because I kept getting confused on what was real and what was fictionally created for the book within the book. While the writing was beautiful, it felt disjointed and unevenly paced with an excessive amount of plot lines and dimensions.

Thank you to NetGalley for early access to Looking Glass Sound.

Color me confused? 🥴

Let me preface by stating there is a lot going on in this book. A LOT! My head is still reeling. I’m hesitant to give too many details because I personally think this story is more enjoyable when you only know the basic premise.

During the summer in the late 1980s, “Looking Glass Sound” takes place in a seemingly idyllic town called Whistler Bay on the coast of Maine. The novel starts out as a coming-of-age story for teenaged Wilder Harlow and the two new friends he meets while vacationing with his parents. However, we quickly realize there is a darker, more sinister side to Whistler Bay as local women are frequently being reported as missing and rumors of a serial killer are swirling around town. As the novel progresses, the traumatic events from that particular summer proves too much for the unsettled teens and reality starts to blur with fantasy.

Sounds intriguing, right? Well, that portion of the book I just described is great and I probably would have given the novel 4 or 5 stars had it ended there. Even though the first half read very YA (probably my least favorite genre), I was initially captivated by the atmospheric writing and the creepy plot surrounding the serial killer called the Dagger Man lurking around the seaside village.

However, at the midway point, the entire novel shifts and in my opinion, not for the better. I know the author’s whole schtick is to leave readers perplexed and dumbfounded, but I just felt dumb. 😂
In the last 100 pages, the storyline goes completely off the rails and layer upon meta layer is thrown at you, along with numerous twists. Everything just became needlessly convoluted and overwhelming.

I honestly can’t say I would recommend this one on audio either. As mentioned, the story becomes too complicated in the second half and repeatedly switches back and forth between timelines/narrators. A physical copy of the book would be better to keep track of all this. On top of that, the male audiobook narrator was not my favorite. For some reason, Wilder petulantly shouted at his friends a lot and the narrator chose to convey this through a hoarse whisper-scream that grated my nerves. I would have preferred he just stepped away from the microphone a little bit and actually raised his voice for those parts.

Due to the messy, repetitive second half, I’m forced to give this one only 3 stars. I’m sure I’m the minority here and many will eat this one up, but I needed a tighter plot with a clear focal point.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy!
US Release Date: August 8th, 2023

This one ended up being super confusing to me. At a point, it completely lost me and I couldn't follow what was going on. However, I really enjoyed the first part of the story and wish that was a book all on it's own.

This book centers around our main character, Wilder. I can't fully describe what it was about, but for me it felt like it was in three parts. Wilder as a teenager, Wilder in college, and Wilder as a grown adult.

It begins with Wilder and his family going to stay in a cottage at Whistler Bay for the summer. Wilder is bullied back home in school, and is cautious when two teens befriend him. He quickly becomes best friends with Nat (short for Nathanial), and the girl they both love, Harper. The first part of the book centers around these teens getting into trouble all summer. In the background is the story of "the dagger man" who was a serial killer that haunted the Bay years before. This chapter closes with Nat being severely injured and the dagger man being caught and imprisoned.

The next part of the book is about Wilder in college. He befriends a boy named Sky, who encourages Wilder to visit the dagger man in prison to get closure from his childhood and to help with the book Wilder is writing. In the end, Sky steals Wilder's book and publishes his own.

The last section is where it lost me. Wilder returns to Whistler Bay as a grown adult, still bitter about Sky who found great success with the stolen book. Wilder seems to be losing his mind. He is writing a new book where Sky is a woman. The book flips back and forth between segments of real life and segments of Wilder's book. Then it talks about Wilder being trapped in a book written by the real female Sky, and it keeps going on and on as a book within a book maybe, and I was completely lost on what was actually happening.

Overall, I was incredibly disappointed because the book started out so strong, but then got too confusing to comprehend.

The narrator was fine, but I thought the speaking felt incredibly slow, and I had to speed up the recording for it to sound like normal human speaking.

I always hate when I don't have a good review but I had to DNF this audiobook. I made it to 10% and I just couldn't get into the story and I really didn't like the narrator. If I read the book maybe I would have a better chance of liking it but the narrator for me just made me bored. I will try to go back and try going further at some point. This is my opinion and I see a lot of people liked it so I would still tell anyone to give it a try because they may like it.


Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.

I don't know what I just read but I loved it! For fans of Stephen King and Erin Morgenstern. This book was definitely a psychological thriller!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook!

Catriona Ward is an extremely atmospheric writer. Her characters have such unique, intriguing dialogue that really hooks listeners into their consciousness.

The storyline of this book was a little hard to grasp from the outset. I wonder if a more visual medium would have been better for me -- the writing of the novel, the timeline of the novel vs. the notes in green ink (did it matter what the notes looked like)?

I enjoyed the interplay between stream of consciousness writing and a serial killer drama. This was an innovative way to tie both themes together!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc; the following thoughts are my own.

Didn’t hate it, but definitely didn’t love it. I was hard to believe the age of the primary narrator in the first portion, because the writing just didn’t fit how young he was supposed to be. When time progressed, it was easier to read, but then it felt like a bit of a slog. The last third gave me whiplash, and not in a *fun* way. It became difficult to follow and more ridiculous the further you got.
With regards to the audio experience, the masculine sounding narrator mispronounced “Appalachian,” which is minor, but it made me wince more than once. Otherwise, both narrators did a fantastic job.
Catriona Ward has beautiful writing, and I’d love to read more from this author, but I just don’t think I’m a paranormal or paranormal adjacent thriller person.
All of this said, I also wish I had waited for more reviews or done more research before requesting this title, because the last half is trigger city for me, which I think contributed to my lack of enjoyment. I didn’t take anything away, rating wise, because that’s my fault, but just something to note for myself and others for future book requests.
TW: suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, alcohol abuse, and panic attacks

Looking Glass Sound

I finished this audiobook about a month ago and I am still trying to wrap my head around what “actually” happened. At times Looking Glass Sound is incredibly confusing, but it is also engaging, creepy, nostalgic, and so sad. The narration was absolutely excellent. I couldn’t put it down.

It is hard to review books like this that don’t have a neat and tidy ending. There isn’t a clear cut conclusion. The first half of the book takes readers to Whistler Bay, an idyllic beach town. Which is also the place where women have continued to go missing.

Wilder spends the summer with his constantly fighting parents and finds refuge with his two new friends, Nat and Harper. Together they uncover a dark secret which will change the rest of their lives.

My biggest critique of this book was that it read as two separate stories. Which I can’t help but wonder if it was done purposely as the author uses the “book within a book” trope.

Overall, Looking Glass Sound is a very good book. Any mixed feelings I may have are subdued by the fact that this is excellent writing with layered, authentic characters. For a gothic, summer tale which will continually break your heart- check out Looking Glass Sound.

This novel has it all - murder, love, betrayal, and friendship. I really enjoyed the first half of this book and then it got a little too creepy for me. I stuck with it, but I am sorry I did because I believe the author jumped the shark at the end.

Catriona Ward strikes again with her newest psychological horror masterpiece, "Looking Glass Sound." This one was super eerie, very on brand for Ward.

Set against the backdrop of a desolate cottage in a coastal Maine town, the story unfolds through the eyes of Wilder Harlow, a tormented writer embarking on his final opus. As he delves into his childhood and the difficult to explain events that unfolded over the course of a couple summers, Ward masterfully weaves a tapestry of suspense, blurring the lines between reality and fiction.

Wilder's recollection of his coming of age and the haunting specter of a serial killer takes an unexpected turn when his unfinished memoir is adapted into a bestselling novel by another writer, his closest friend Sky. What follows is a psychological descent into the darkest corners of Wilder's mind, as he questions the boundaries of his own sanity.

Looking Glass Sound really leans into the exploration of memory and its malleability. Wilder's struggle to distinguish between the fragments of his past and the fabrication of his friend's novel serves as a constant reminder that our recollections can be deceptive. The back-and-forth between truth and fiction creates a mind-bending experience- prepare to ask yourself what the hell is going on several times before it all comes together.... and even after that.

If I had one gripe about this book, it's that there were too many conflicting plot points. It did all mingle at the end, but by the time it all made sense I was kind of over hearing the same story several times from different points of view, with changes among each tale. I loved the book, but I feel the fat could have been trimmed a little for a cleaner effect. It was, at times, a lot going on.

I do appreciate Ward's ability to shift between characters as always, however, and I think it could be what she does best. In the end, I loved this book and I think it is her best since Sundial. Looking Glass Sound is definitely a great read if you're looking for something that will leave you wondering and haunted beyond the last page.

I was so hyped for this book and for the first 3/4 of it, that hype was fully justified.
The last act started to slump and feel incredibly repetitive in an almost jarring way.
By the finale, I was completely over it.
It's disappointing how a "big twist" can rip you from the story and shatter everything you had built up while you were there.
Maybe that's what the author intended? Maybe it just wasn't for me.
Regardless, the story-crafting and writing style is top-notch. Looking forward to trying something new from this author sometime.